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I'd have to guess that the disk drives will be the first things to go. The good news is that there are quite a few drive emulation alternatives out there at the moment. However, nothing beats the clickity clack of a 1541.

New 3.5 inch drives are available for the Commodores. Check out http://cmdrkey.com/

No the C=64 has from since 1987 to present has had a few more updates from a company that supported this platform from 1987 to 2001, Creative Micro Designs. In June,2001 CMD sold all the Hardware/Software rights to Maurice Randall who now builds and sells CMD Hardware, both for the C=64 and C=128. CMD's best and last project was to speed up the processing speed of the C=64 and later the C=128. The Processor used is from WDC "Western Design Center" they used the WDC 65C816 16 bit processor, aptly called: CMD Super CPU, they added a small cache chip about 1 or 2 kb so this processor runs at 20MHZ. Later that year CMD also designed a new daughter board that contains a 72 pin Ram module socket, you can plug in 72 pin Ram modules from 1mb up to 16mb of either 60 or 70 ns or Fast Page 72 pin Ram modules will work. So at least with this cartridge accelerator the C=64 and C=128 has up "to" 16mb of Ram plenty for this bobbyist computer. think of it a 16bit processor opens up a whole new world for this computer you say is a useless relic, hardly in recent years since 1996 to 1997 since the SCPU came out new C=64 programs and even OS's have been being programmed. One in particular is an older GUI os called GEOS the latest version of that was V2.0, in 1998 because of the SCPU Maurice Randall a GEOS programmer released a new update to GEOS 2.0 called Wheels OS both offered for the C=64 and C=128 line, At: http://www.cmdrkey.com/ this is also where you can now buy the Hardware that Creative Micro Designs once designed and sold, CMD sold C= compatible hardware and software for 11 years until Maurice Randall bought it all in June,2001. In Germany also there is a small company there called Protovision and they sell new technology or hardware that you can use Hi speed Internet and go onto a Network with a C=64. Also a fella by the name of Jim Brain devised a way to use a certain type of High speed modem, all you have to do is add in a DB9 connector, and plug that into the CMD(Creative Micro Designs) Turbo 232 Modem Interface, and you can then use a new Internet Browser that was released in year 2000 that runs right in the Wheels OS, the Browser is called The Wave offered for both the C=64 and the C=128. With the Turbo 232 (modem interface plugs into cartridge port) you can use an older Hayes external dialup modem for Dialup Internet, hey slow but works why knock it. So you guys say the 64 yes it is ancient but as far as Im concerned was the best damn computer ever made. Also in year 2000 because of having more memory and a faster processor a fella in Austrailia started programming a new OS a mix of Unix and Linux, this new OS will "only" work install and boot with the CMD SCPU (ha ha now you have to buy a SCPU to try it). Anyway This new OS was eventually renamed WINGS OS, it will do Preimptive Multitasking, Plays standard Wave files, renders B&W JPGS, Hires color hi bitmap images, check smtp email, send email, send email attachments, has filemanager, has tools for creating B&W Multimedia movies, etc etc. You again can see what is available with the CMD hardware now owned by Maurice Randall of Click Here Software: http://cmdrkey.com/ Also using Google do a search of Commodore and see the recent activity, because of this new technology (at least we call it that) you can now do things you couldnt do on a C=64 in the 80's, and even with the C=128. Protovision sells a new item that started in 1997 called: IDE64 this small card is a simple IDE controller to use on just the C=64, with this nifty little cartridge you can use any IDE HD mechanism, ATAPI CD-ROM drive, Flash Ram the Flash Ram is recognized as a Hard Drive Mechanism and is super super fast, but the downfall most older games etc sometimes needs drivers or code programmed into the software to recognize the IDE64, or patches to software etc. There in recent years have been new things come along for this aging platform, but by dang I grew up with this computer when I was ab

No the C=64 has from since 1987 to present has had a few more updates from a company that supported this platform from 1987 to 2001, Creative Micro Designs. In June,2001 CMD sold all the Hardware/Software rights to Maurice Randall who now builds and sells CMD Hardware, both for the C=64 and C=128. CMD's best and last project was to speed up the processing speed of the C=64 and later the C=128. The Processor used is from WDC "Western Design Center" they used the WDC 65C816 16 bit processor, aptly called: CMD Super CPU, they added a small cache chip about 1 or 2 kb so this processor runs at 20MHZ. Later that year CMD also designed a new daughter board that contains a 72 pin Ram module socket, you can plug in 72 pin Ram modules from 1mb up to 16mb of either 60 or 70 ns or Fast Page 72 pin Ram modules will work. So at least with this cartridge accelerator the C=64 and C=128 has up "to" 16mb of Ram plenty for this bobbyist computer. think of it a 16bit processor opens up a whole new world for this computer you say is a useless relic, hardly in recent years since 1996 to 1997 since the SCPU came out new C=64 programs and even OS's have been being programmed. One in particular is an older GUI os called GEOS the latest version of that was V2.0, in 1998 because of the SCPU Maurice Randall a GEOS programmer released a new update to GEOS 2.0 called Wheels OS both offered for the C=64 and C=128 line, At: http://www.cmdrkey.com/ this is also where you can now buy the Hardware that Creative Micro Designs once designed and sold, CMD sold C= compatible hardware and software for 11 years until Maurice Randall bought it all in June,2001. In Germany also there is a small company there called Protovision and they sell new technology or hardware that you can use Hi speed Internet and go onto a Network with a C=64. Also a fella by the name of Jim Brain devised a way to use a certain type of High speed modem, all you have to do is add in a DB9 connector, and plug that into the CMD(Creative Micro Designs) Turbo 232 Modem Interface, and you can then use a new Internet Browser that was released in year 2000 that runs right in the Wheels OS, the Browser is called The Wave offered for both the C=64 and the C=128. With the Turbo 232 (modem interface plugs into cartridge port) you can use an older Hayes external dialup modem for Dialup Internet, hey slow but works why knock it. So you guys say the 64 yes it is ancient but as far as Im concerned was the best damn computer ever made. Also in year 2000 because of having more memory and a faster processor a fella in Austrailia started programming a new OS a mix of Unix and Linux, this new OS will "only" work install and boot with the CMD SCPU (ha ha now you have to buy a SCPU to try it). Anyway This new OS was eventually renamed WINGS OS, it will do Preimptive Multitasking, Plays standard Wave files, renders B&W JPGS, Hires color hi bitmap images, check smtp email, send email, send email attachments, has filemanager, has tools for creating B&W Multimedia movies, etc etc. You again can see what is available with the CMD hardware now owned by Maurice Randall of Click Here Software: http://cmdrkey.com/ Also using Google do a search of Commodore and see the recent activity, because of this new technology (at least we call it that) you can now do things you couldnt do on a C=64 in the 80's, and even with the C=128. Protovision sells a new item that started in 1997 called: IDE64 this small card is a simple IDE controller to use on just the C=64, with this nifty little cartridge you can use any IDE HD mechanism, ATAPI CD-ROM drive, Flash Ram the Flash Ram is recognized as a Hard Drive Mechanism and is super super fast, but the downfall most older games etc sometimes needs drivers or code programmed into the software to recognize the IDE64, or patches to software etc. There in recent years have been new things come along for this aging platform, but by dang I grew up with this computer when I was ab

Used to be made by a company called Creative Micro Designs (the makers of JiffyDOS).

Did they even make hard drives for the C64?

Yup. Commodore made some, apparently, and later, CMD did, too. Those are pretty famous. Also, nowadays, there's this little hack called IDE64 that lets you use any IDE/ATA device, though I believe the disadvantage is that CBM/CMD drives work more or less like floppy drives through ordinary KERNAL calls (ie, plug in the drive, say LOAD "*",x,1, and guess what happens), and IDE64 needs patches to the software.

Didn't GEnei die a few years ago?

No one is still insisting that Paperclip was better than Microsoft Word or OpenOffice.org Write (though I'm sure a few will as soon as I hit "submit"), so apps are out.

Don't forget Geowrite, not only the Best word processor for the C64 & C128, but it was almost as good as the best WYSIWYG word processors that was for the PC and Mac. The only things that kept it down were the fact that it was slow "Not bad for a 1/2 MHz machine; of course, an REU would speed it up a bit " and no built in spell checking "But that was due to the fact of limited memory of the computers"

Other than those drawbacks, GEOS had support for a wide range of printers, also had support for graphics, nothing else on the commodore had anything like that. Amazing what it could do with a 1 MHz Machine, 64K of ram, and Single Density Floppy Drive.

The thing I don't understand is, why did Apple choose to sue Micro$oft over Windoze, GEOS was much closer in terms of look and feel to the Macintosh than Windoze. Windoze had it lame "MS-DOS Executive" and looked nothing like Mac-Os, GEOS had a wastebasket to delete files, Windoze didn't have a similar feature until 95.

Just buying out the "Commodore" name won't allow them to sue abandonware sites. There *might* be something they can do to emulator authors, but that's doubtful.

There is one way they could go after the emulator authors. *cough* DMCA. Yes, I know, no one is bypassing any DRM, but, remember, in the US, if you have Millions of dollars at your disposal, plus with the Tech-ignorant Judges, they can sue someone that is copying from a cassette to CD by using the DMCA as the basis. They could appeal, but, that can only occur if they have enough money to go through the appeal process, but most likely they would just settle out of court or abide by the C&D Letter. I doubt the Vice team would have any money to successfully defend themselves in court with representation let alone go through a lengthy appeal process.

Although it's true that they can't sue the site for hosting Commodore software, they could turn whatever evidence they have over to the IDSA and the members themselves will sue the sites, including c64.com. Of course all of this will push the Commodore emulation scene underground.

One other thing to consider, is there's a chance they might go after companies that still support the Commodore Computers like CmdrKey.comwhich is owned by Maurice Randall that not only sells equipment from when he took over Creative Micro Design, but also sells an Upgrade to GEOS 2.0 that he wrote that takes advantage of the hardware, due to the fact it "May confuse the consumers" into believing that the hardware and software will work with the junk that the company may put out. Remember, in the US, you can sue anyone over anything as long as you have a lot of money.

NES folks have difficulty replacing processor because the sound unit is integrated to CPU...

...otherwise, we would have already seen some mods that would stick in a 65816 (as with Commodore 64) and take the homebrew games to the next level. =)

Yet, it's cool to see someone actually overclocking the thing and seeing what that does to the games! At least that will deal with the slowdown a bit. And, of course, it's at last a chance to see how well Nintendo games were actually coded - the games should work if you make the hardware different, even when the consoles traditionally never have to take hardware differences in account... or even if hardware differences were an issue at all in those days.

There's at least one commercial software developer already out there and active: Maurice Randall. He's got a functioning shell interface, FAX application, and more (be sure to check out "Wheels") for GEOS on the C64/C128. His site can be found at: http://www.cmdrkey.com/

There are also a lot of open source developers out there. Craig Bruce comes right to mind; his site is at: http://www.csbruce.com/~csbruce/cbm/"

There's been an amazing amount of high-quality software created for the C64 and (especially) the C128. GEOS (now found on some hand-helds and phones) cut its teeth on the Commodore 8-bit machines. There have been several superb operating systems designed for them. There are even graphical web browsers available. Yes, web browsers, in the plural.

There's more prior art for this than if someone tried to patent sex. However, if the patent is narrowly worded to apply to only Pocket PCs, that could be different.

It's actually 64 K of RAM about 51 k of it usable. Most Commodore BBSs swap in and out the various sub-programs as needed.

and about an 800K floppy

Most BBS sysops have a hard drive or large RAM drive such as the CMD Hard Drive or RAMLink I started with floppies (which the 5.25" drives were 170 k and the more expensive 3.5" were 800k) but you can only run a text based board (and not a networked one) on such limited capacity.

... am I missing something, have they come up with larger mass storage systems for the C64 or something? Hard Drives now can access beyong 4GB (CMD HD), 20x System accelerators (SuperCPU), RAM Drives up to 16MB (RAMLink), and even ethernet interfaces with web browsers (contiki, the wave, etc.) telnet software still in the works.

(This isn't intended as a troll or flamebait... it's a genuine question....)

Of all the 8-bit followings the Commodore 64 has been one of the most active and innovative over the two decades since the computer was first produced.

One girl genius is taking the 64 a step further.

Not too long ago (though it was several years) I was MUDding over a telnet connection to my ISP using my Commodore 128 in 64 mode using Novaterm hooked up a 28.8 hanging out the back of my Turbo232 cartridge.

In a short break between waxing goblins, the fellows I was adverturing with started bragging about who had the nicest hardware. A few people had apparently recently purchased new x86 hardware, and were bragging about processors, RAM, and video cards. Oooooooh, were they about to catch it.

After waiting for everyone to finish with their brags, I broke out with, "I'm using a Commodore 64."

"No way!"

A few Novaterm and CMDweb (stock now with CMDRKEY.com) links later and I had them convinced.

Though it pains me to say just how geeky that is, to think of the C=128 hanging out online with the lastest Nvidia-equipped Pentiums is pretty humorous.

I would compare the stock 64 speed with it to about a 600 baud terminal connection (not bad for 1mghz displaying in hi-res mode), easy enough to read without stopping the stream (there is no buffer in the web browser, sice contiki uses a lot of the 64's 58k or so of accessible memory.)

With the C64 20 mghz accellerator, SuperCPU (by CMD - now offered by Commodore Key,) the speed matches a modern PC - albeit a slower one.

To sum it up, given the tight memory and small amount of hardware needed now - it sure opens up opportunities for some low-end internet projects. (even grander ones when people with RAM expansions start developing for it) I hope one day someone makes a Commodore C/G BBS and C64 Telenet Client using them or maybe a internet variation of the old Commodore Q-Link network (Q-Link was AOL before they became AOL).

Also with the eventual release of the ultra-cool reconfigurable computer - the C-One (which can use the RR-Net card) and Jeri Ellsworth's (she created the C-One) work on an Apple II interface which I believe also has similar capabilities - you are proably going to hear about a lot more 8-bitters on the internet with their little computers. :-)

But realistically I am hoping 'The Final Ethernet' card (which is just the Ethernet adapter interfaced to the 64) gets developed though, using the Retro Replay Utility Cartridge as an intemediary ads a buch of $$ to the price (I'm a Commodore fanatic, I had to buy one, not everyone would like those prices though.)

Going by your logic, that means Moz should be able to run on a C64* or a C128 (*with a Maxed Out Super CPU, Ramlink, and a HDD).

Since a SCPU has 16MB of Ram and a 20Mhz W65C816S, so logically, it would be comparable to a 320Mhz Pentium with 256 MB of Memory in the PC world, heck with that logic, it might even be possible to port M$ Windoze XP to the SCPU then. ;)

Going by your logic, that means Moz should be able to run on a C64* or a C128 (*with a Maxed Out Super CPU, Ramlink, and a HDD).

Since a SCPU has 16MB of Ram and a 20Mhz W65C816S, so logically, it would be comparable to a 320Mhz Pentium with 256 MB of Memory in the PC world, heck with that logic, it might even be possible to port M$ Windoze XP to the SCPU then. ;)

Going by your logic, that means Moz should be able to run on a C64* or a C128 (*with a Maxed Out Super CPU, Ramlink, and a HDD).

Since a SCPU has 16MB of Ram and a 20Mhz W65C816S, so logically, it would be comparable to a 320Mhz Pentium with 256 MB of Memory in the PC world, heck with that logic, it might even be possible to port M$ Windoze XP to the SCPU then. ;)

It's pretty hard to do proportional fonts on the Commodore 64 due to it's screen layout. Even in bitmapped mode, the screen is still addressed in square 64-pixel blocks.

I suppose you'd need a relatively large abstraction layer to do proportional fonts properly. This would explain the high system requirements for the Wave browser, which does do proportional fonts and runs under GEOS/Wheels. (requires SuperCPU w/1 MB SuperRAM)

URL: http://dunkels.com/adam/contiki/links.html

System information and emulators

Commodore 64/128

The Commodore 64 is based on the 6510 CPU, which is a 6502-derived 8-bit CPU. It has 64k of RAM and 16k ROM which includes a BASIC interpreter and some basic I/O services. Graphics is provided by the VIC chip which has 16 colors and a maximum resolution of 320x200 in hi-res mode. It provides a 40x25 raster of characters in character mode. The three voices of digital sound is produced by the SID chip.

The Commodore 128 is an extended version of the Commodore 64 that contains a 8510 CPU which is capable of 2 MHz operation and can address 128k RAM (hence the name Commodore 128). It also has a Commodore 64 compatibility mode which is extremely similar to a regular C64 but with a few minor differences.

The SuperCPU is a 20 MHz 16-bit 65816-based computer that is plugged into the back of the Commodore 64 or 128. It uses the C64 keyboard and joysticks for input and the VIC and SID chips for audiovisual output. The SuperCPU is capable of addressing several megabytes of memory and is usually used together with a 16 megabytes RAM expansion board.

There are no SuperCPU emulators avaliable.

• The VICE emulator is capable of emulating a large number of Commodore machines. It emulates the C64, the C128, the VIC20, most of the PET models, and the CBM-II. VICE runs under Windows, Linux, FreeBSD, and a number of other host systems.
  
• Joakim Eriksson's Web C64 emulator, written in Java, runs as an applet within a web browser.
  
• Per Håkan Sundell's CCS64 emulator works under Windows and DOS.
  
• The ec64 emulator is developed for Linux and was originally written entirely in x86 assembler.
  
• An article by Simon N Goodwin about C64 emulators.
  
• The Commodore emulators category in the Dmoz has more links.
  

Commodore 64/128

There are plenty of alternative operating systems for the C64, mostly written in 6502 assembler. Some of them are far from complete, however, and only appear as dark shadows on a few web pages - MagerValp's SMOS and my own osT are among those.

• GEOS from 1986 probably is the most well-known graphical operating system for the C64. It is still sold commercially by CMDKEY.com.
  
• LUnix NG is an open-source multi-tasking operating system with TCP/IP/PPP-support, a *nix-like command shell, and a number of *nix-like utilities such as ls and cp.
• Craig Bruce's ACE is a text-based single-tasking operating system for the 64 and the 128. It provides a *nix-like command shell, a text-editor, a terminal program for the SwiftLink RS232 interface, as well as device drivers for a lot of devices
  
• GeckOS/A65 is a multi-tasking operating system with TCP/IP support and a *nix-like command shell.
  
• Wheels is a version of GEOS that requires RAM expansion to run.

With its 20 MHz and megabytes of memory, the SuperCPU is powerful enough to run fully-fledged graphical operating systems that rival early Machintosh or Microsoft Windows systems.

• Wings is a TCP/IP-enabled graphical operating system for the SuperCPU. It includes a MOD music player, JPEG viewer, web page download utility, etc.
• JOS is an older version of Wings.
  

TCP/IP and PPP connectivity

To surf the web, send or read email, etc., the first step is to actually get in touch with the Internet. This requires both physical access to an ISP, either via a modem and a phone-line or an Ethernet broadband connection, and the TCP/IP software running on the C64.

There are a number of programs that make it possible to reach the Internet with a C64/C128.

• LUnix NG contains a TCP/IP stack and a PPP implementation which makes it possible to reach the Internet using a modem and a dial-up ISP.
  
• GeckOS/A65 also contains a TCP/IP stack, but no PPP dialer.
  
• My own uIP TCP/IP stack has been used for some time to run a web server on a Commodore 64. uIP currently does not include a PPP dialer.
  
• Novaterm 10 contains a PPP dialer and enough TCP/IP code to be able to run telnet over the Internet.
  

SuperCPU

All of the above mentioned SuperCPU operating systems have TCP/IP support.

• The Wave is a web browser for the SuperCPU (and not for the Commodore 64/128 as the web page claims) that runs under the Wheels operating systems. Here is another page with information about The Wave (that also falsely claims that The Wave is for the Commodore 64/128). The latter page also includes screenshots of The Wave in action.
  

Small graphical user-interfaces (GUIs)

User interfaces for embedded systems range from the simple buttons on the front of a washing machine to those of fully fledged web browser type interfaces on information stations. The underlying technology varies from simple electronic circuits to full-scale PC compatibles.

• PicoGUI is a GUI architecture designed for embedded systems to desktop machines. It does not require any supporting GUI system and can be used on anything from graphical screens to text based systems. Their smallest target system are handheld terminals and the compiled object code size is on the order of hundreds of kilobytes.
  
• Microwindows/NanoGUI is a graphical user interface system designed to run without support from an underlying system. On 16-bit systems Microwindows is about 64k large.
  

The smallest web browsers are usually specially designed for the limitations of embedded systems and other specialized computers such as car navigation systems, set-top boxes and medical equipment. There are also a few small web browsers for old DOS PCs available.

• Interniche's NicheView Portable Embedded Web Browser is probably the smallest full-featured web browser around with its 35 kilobytes code footprint. There is also an additional JavaScript module available.
  
• AU-systems' AU Mobile Internet Browser supports both HTML/TCP/IP and WML/WAP as well as SSL. It occupies 340 kilobytes of code (plus an additional 190 kilobytes for the protocol stacks) and uses 5 kilobytes of RAM when idle (plus 8 kilobytes used by the protocol stacks). Extra RAM is used when downloading web pages.
  
• The Fusion WebPilot Embedded Micro-Browser supports much of the features found in modern web browsers including frames, authentication, and JavaScript. The web page does not specify memory footprint.
  
• MicroDigial's Graphical MicroBrowser supports tables, frames, images as well as FTP as uses 260 kilobytes of code memory and requires a minimum of 210 kilobytes of RAM apart from that. A demo version is available.
  
• The 2net Alice Web Browser is intended for handheld computers and PC based architectures and requires 400 kilobyte of free RAM and 200 kilobytes of code memory. It includes a TCP/IP stack.
  
• WebBoy is a fully-fledged browser with SSL support intended for 386 DOS boxes with more than 4 megabytes of memory. Includes a TCP/IP stack.
  
• The Arachne web browser runs under MS-DOS or Linux and requires at least 1 megabyte of memory. Does not include a TCP/IP/PPP stack.
  
• Lynx is probably the most well-known text-based web browser around. It is ported to many different operating systems and architectures including MS-DOS.
  
• The Off by One Web Browser has been labeled as the smallest web browser ever, but is quite large in comparison with other small web browsers. It is 1.1 megabytes large and requires support from an underlying Windows operating system.
  
• Mirko Sobe's BOSS-X HTML browser for 8-bit Ataris is not a full web browser, but an off-line HTML viewer with hyperlinking abilities written in three days.
  
• The pre-alpha v0.3 GEMWeb browser supports 640x480x16 VGA.
  
• The Atari Phoenix Web Browser is a non-existant vapor-ware web browser project intended for the 8-bit Ataris.
  

URL: http://dunkels.com/adam/contiki/links.html

System information and emulators

Commodore 64/128

The Commodore 64 is based on the 6510 CPU, which is a 6502-derived 8-bit CPU. It has 64k of RAM and 16k ROM which includes a BASIC interpreter and some basic I/O services. Graphics is provided by the VIC chip which has 16 colors and a maximum resolution of 320x200 in hi-res mode. It provides a 40x25 raster of characters in character mode. The three voices of digital sound is produced by the SID chip.

The Commodore 128 is an extended version of the Commodore 64 that contains a 8510 CPU which is capable of 2 MHz operation and can address 128k RAM (hence the name Commodore 128). It also has a Commodore 64 compatibility mode which is extremely similar to a regular C64 but with a few minor differences.

The SuperCPU is a 20 MHz 16-bit 65816-based computer that is plugged into the back of the Commodore 64 or 128. It uses the C64 keyboard and joysticks for input and the VIC and SID chips for audiovisual output. The SuperCPU is capable of addressing several megabytes of memory and is usually used together with a 16 megabytes RAM expansion board.

There are no SuperCPU emulators avaliable.

• The VICE emulator is capable of emulating a large number of Commodore machines. It emulates the C64, the C128, the VIC20, most of the PET models, and the CBM-II. VICE runs under Windows, Linux, FreeBSD, and a number of other host systems.
  
• Joakim Eriksson's Web C64 emulator, written in Java, runs as an applet within a web browser.
  
• Per Håkan Sundell's CCS64 emulator works under Windows and DOS.
  
• The ec64 emulator is developed for Linux and was originally written entirely in x86 assembler.
  
• An article by Simon N Goodwin about C64 emulators.
  
• The Commodore emulators category in the Dmoz has more links.
  

Commodore 64/128

There are plenty of alternative operating systems for the C64, mostly written in 6502 assembler. Some of them are far from complete, however, and only appear as dark shadows on a few web pages - MagerValp's SMOS and my own osT are among those.

• GEOS from 1986 probably is the most well-known graphical operating system for the C64. It is still sold commercially by CMDKEY.com.
  
• LUnix NG is an open-source multi-tasking operating system with TCP/IP/PPP-support, a *nix-like command shell, and a number of *nix-like utilities such as ls and cp.
• Craig Bruce's ACE is a text-based single-tasking operating system for the 64 and the 128. It provides a *nix-like command shell, a text-editor, a terminal program for the SwiftLink RS232 interface, as well as device drivers for a lot of devices
  
• GeckOS/A65 is a multi-tasking operating system with TCP/IP support and a *nix-like command shell.
  
• Wheels is a version of GEOS that requires RAM expansion to run.

With its 20 MHz and megabytes of memory, the SuperCPU is powerful enough to run fully-fledged graphical operating systems that rival early Machintosh or Microsoft Windows systems.

• Wings is a TCP/IP-enabled graphical operating system for the SuperCPU. It includes a MOD music player, JPEG viewer, web page download utility, etc.
• JOS is an older version of Wings.
  

TCP/IP and PPP connectivity

To surf the web, send or read email, etc., the first step is to actually get in touch with the Internet. This requires both physical access to an ISP, either via a modem and a phone-line or an Ethernet broadband connection, and the TCP/IP software running on the C64.

There are a number of programs that make it possible to reach the Internet with a C64/C128.

• LUnix NG contains a TCP/IP stack and a PPP implementation which makes it possible to reach the Internet using a modem and a dial-up ISP.
  
• GeckOS/A65 also contains a TCP/IP stack, but no PPP dialer.
  
• My own uIP TCP/IP stack has been used for some time to run a web server on a Commodore 64. uIP currently does not include a PPP dialer.
  
• Novaterm 10 contains a PPP dialer and enough TCP/IP code to be able to run telnet over the Internet.
  

SuperCPU

All of the above mentioned SuperCPU operating systems have TCP/IP support.

• The Wave is a web browser for the SuperCPU (and not for the Commodore 64/128 as the web page claims) that runs under the Wheels operating systems. Here is another page with information about The Wave (that also falsely claims that The Wave is for the Commodore 64/128). The latter page also includes screenshots of The Wave in action.
  

Small graphical user-interfaces (GUIs)

User interfaces for embedded systems range from the simple buttons on the front of a washing machine to those of fully fledged web browser type interfaces on information stations. The underlying technology varies from simple electronic circuits to full-scale PC compatibles.

• PicoGUI is a GUI architecture designed for embedded systems to desktop machines. It does not require any supporting GUI system and can be used on anything from graphical screens to text based systems. Their smallest target system are handheld terminals and the compiled object code size is on the order of hundreds of kilobytes.
  
• Microwindows/NanoGUI is a graphical user interface system designed to run without support from an underlying system. On 16-bit systems Microwindows is about 64k large.
  

The smallest web browsers are usually specially designed for the limitations of embedded systems and other specialized computers such as car navigation systems, set-top boxes and medical equipment. There are also a few small web browsers for old DOS PCs available.

• Interniche's NicheView Portable Embedded Web Browser is probably the smallest full-featured web browser around with its 35 kilobytes code footprint. There is also an additional JavaScript module available.
  
• AU-systems' AU Mobile Internet Browser supports both HTML/TCP/IP and WML/WAP as well as SSL. It occupies 340 kilobytes of code (plus an additional 190 kilobytes for the protocol stacks) and uses 5 kilobytes of RAM when idle (plus 8 kilobytes used by the protocol stacks). Extra RAM is used when downloading web pages.
  
• The Fusion WebPilot Embedded Micro-Browser supports much of the features found in modern web browsers including frames, authentication, and JavaScript. The web page does not specify memory footprint.
  
• MicroDigial's Graphical MicroBrowser supports tables, frames, images as well as FTP as uses 260 kilobytes of code memory and requires a minimum of 210 kilobytes of RAM apart from that. A demo version is available.
  
• The 2net Alice Web Browser is intended for handheld computers and PC based architectures and requires 400 kilobyte of free RAM and 200 kilobytes of code memory. It includes a TCP/IP stack.
  
• WebBoy is a fully-fledged browser with SSL support intended for 386 DOS boxes with more than 4 megabytes of memory. Includes a TCP/IP stack.
  
• The Arachne web browser runs under MS-DOS or Linux and requires at least 1 megabyte of memory. Does not include a TCP/IP/PPP stack.
  
• Lynx is probably the most well-known text-based web browser around. It is ported to many different operating systems and architectures including MS-DOS.
  
• The Off by One Web Browser has been labeled as the smallest web browser ever, but is quite large in comparison with other small web browsers. It is 1.1 megabytes large and requires support from an underlying Windows operating system.
  
• Mirko Sobe's BOSS-X HTML browser for 8-bit Ataris is not a full web browser, but an off-line HTML viewer with hyperlinking abilities written in three days.
  
• The pre-alpha v0.3 GEMWeb browser supports 640x480x16 VGA.
  
• The Atari Phoenix Web Browser is a non-existant vapor-ware web browser project intended for the 8-bit Ataris.
  

Maurice Randall is working on the next version of GEOS, but the main target is C64s with SuperCPU accelerators (20 MHz 65816 cartridge). The C1 is similar enough that it should run unmodified, but it might not take advantage of the new graphics modes.

Yes, emulators (especially VICE) emulate the C64 almost perfectly. Yes, an old breadbox is only one tenth of the price on eBay. But the C1 is neither.

If you've ever worked with the real hardware you'll know that emulators can't replace the real deal. They're great development tools, and they're great for playing games when the boss isn't watching, but just as MAME is not a dedicated Galaga cabinet, VICE is not a real C= machine.

So why not just get a breadbox on eBay then? Well, I suggest that you do, it's an excellent machine. But then you'll also need to buy a 1541 disk drive to run games and demos. If you want to transfer software to or from the system you'll also need an X1541 cable or a 3.5" disk drive. And don't forget an S-video monitor, as you can't use a normal VGA monitor.

The C1 makes it possible to use common PC hardware like VGA monitors and IDE drives. It has 20 times the CPU power and 512 times the RAM, which is great for us that actually use the machine for things like coding (assemble and test in less than 1 second, sweet). Another important point is that when the original C= hardware starts to disintegrate, the C1 will still be there, as it's all just VHDL code.

This is not a machine for everyone, but there's certainly a market for it. There are still a lot of active C= users in the world, more than you'd think.