<s>
WarpOS	B-Device
is	O
a	O
multitasking	B-Operating_System
kernel	B-Operating_System
for	O
the	O
PowerPC	B-Architecture
(	O
PPC	O
)	O
architecture	O
central	B-General_Concept
processing	I-General_Concept
unit	I-General_Concept
(	O
CPU	O
)	O
developed	O
by	O
Haage	O
&	O
Partner	O
for	O
the	O
Amiga	B-Device
computer	I-Device
platform	O
in	O
the	O
late	O
1990s	O
and	O
early	O
2000s	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
It	O
runs	O
on	O
PowerUP	B-Operating_System
accelerator	O
boards	O
developed	O
by	O
phase5	O
which	O
contains	O
both	O
a	O
Motorola	B-Device
68000	I-Device
series	I-Device
CPU	O
and	O
a	O
PowerPC	B-Architecture
CPU	O
with	O
shared	O
address	O
space	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
WarpOS	B-Device
runs	O
alongside	O
the	O
68k-based	O
AmigaOS	B-Application
,	O
which	O
can	O
use	O
the	O
PowerPC	B-Architecture
as	O
a	O
coprocessor	B-General_Concept
.	O
</s>
<s>
Despite	O
its	O
name	O
,	O
it	O
is	O
not	O
an	O
operating	B-General_Concept
system	I-General_Concept
(	O
OS	O
)	O
,	O
but	O
a	O
kernel	B-Operating_System
;	O
it	O
supplies	O
a	O
limited	O
set	O
of	O
functions	O
similar	O
to	O
those	O
in	O
AmigaOS	B-Application
for	O
using	O
the	O
PowerPC	B-Architecture
.	O
</s>
<s>
When	O
released	O
,	O
its	O
original	O
name	O
was	O
WarpUP	B-Device
,	O
but	O
was	O
changed	O
to	O
reflect	O
its	O
greater	O
feature	O
set	O
,	O
and	O
possibly	O
to	O
avoid	O
comparison	O
with	O
its	O
competitor	O
,	O
PowerUP	B-Operating_System
.	O
</s>
<s>
It	O
was	O
developed	O
by	O
Sam	O
Jordan	O
using	O
680x0	B-Device
and	O
PowerPC	B-Architecture
assembly	B-Language
language	I-Language
.	O
</s>
<s>
In	O
1997	O
,	O
Phase5	O
,	O
an	O
Amiga	B-Device
hardware	B-Architecture
manufacturer	O
,	O
launched	O
their	O
range	O
of	O
PowerPC	B-Architecture
(	O
PPC	O
)	O
accelerators	O
for	O
the	O
Amiga	B-Device
.	O
</s>
<s>
Because	O
AmigaOS	B-Application
was	O
not	O
yet	O
PowerPC	B-Architecture
native	O
,	O
as	O
a	O
stopgap	O
measure	O
the	O
PowerUP	B-Operating_System
boards	O
were	O
dual-processor	O
boards	O
,	O
incorporating	O
the	O
PPC	O
and	O
a	O
68K	B-Device
processor	O
(	O
68LC040	O
,	O
68040	O
at	O
25MHz	O
or	O
68060	O
at	O
50MHz	O
)	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
They	O
carried	O
the	O
PowerUP	B-Operating_System
kernel	B-Operating_System
on	O
board	O
in	O
an	O
erasable	B-General_Concept
programmable	I-General_Concept
read-only	I-General_Concept
memory	I-General_Concept
(	O
EPROM	B-General_Concept
)	O
,	O
a	O
similar	O
kernel	B-Operating_System
designed	O
to	O
allow	O
AmigaOS	B-Application
application	B-Application
software	I-Application
to	O
use	O
both	O
PPC	O
and	O
68k	B-Device
applications	O
through	O
an	O
application	O
programming	O
interface	O
(	O
API	B-General_Concept
)	O
library	B-Library
named	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
AmigaOS	B-Application
still	O
required	O
a	O
68K	B-Device
processor	O
,	O
while	O
the	O
PPC	O
was	O
in	O
effect	O
used	O
as	O
an	O
extremely	O
fast	O
coprocessor	B-General_Concept
that	O
carried	O
out	O
specific	O
instructions	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
This	O
causes	O
significant	O
slowdown	O
when	O
the	O
OS	O
task	O
switches	O
between	O
the	O
68K	B-Device
and	O
PPC	O
(	O
a	O
context	B-Operating_System
switch	I-Operating_System
)	O
,	O
because	O
CPU	B-General_Concept
caches	I-General_Concept
must	O
be	O
flushed	O
to	O
maintain	O
memory	O
integrity	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
more	O
CPU	O
switches	O
occur	O
in	O
an	O
application	O
,	O
the	O
more	O
the	O
slowdown	O
,	O
often	O
so	O
much	O
that	O
it	O
was	O
pointless	O
to	O
use	O
the	O
PPC	O
processor	O
,	O
being	O
slower	O
than	O
the	O
68k	B-Device
native	O
binary	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
main	O
workaround	O
for	O
this	O
was	O
to	O
simply	O
avoid	O
as	O
many	O
68k	B-Device
OS	O
calls	O
as	O
possible	O
,	O
or	O
to	O
group	O
them	O
together	O
,	O
but	O
it	O
was	O
difficult	O
and	O
time-consuming	O
for	O
developers	O
to	O
do	O
this	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
WarpOS	B-Device
was	O
launched	O
as	O
a	O
controversial	O
alternative	O
to	O
Phase5	O
's	O
PowerUP	B-Operating_System
kernel	B-Operating_System
,	O
but	O
eventually	O
became	O
the	O
most	O
used	O
and	O
nominally	O
the	O
standard	O
PPC	O
kernel	B-Operating_System
on	O
AmigaOS	B-Application
.	O
</s>
<s>
WarpUP	B-Device
is	O
a	O
high-speed	O
kernel	B-Operating_System
for	O
PowerPC	B-Architecture
versions	O
of	O
Amiga	B-Device
.	O
</s>
<s>
WarpUP	B-Device
forms	O
a	O
hardware	B-Operating_System
abstraction	I-Operating_System
layer	I-Operating_System
between	O
the	O
hardware	B-Architecture
and	O
software	O
,	O
and	O
ensures	O
that	O
the	O
applications	O
function	O
correctly	O
on	O
PowerPC	B-Architecture
architecture	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
It	O
also	O
forms	O
an	O
interface	O
between	O
PowerPC	B-Architecture
driven	O
hardware	B-Architecture
,	O
and	O
68k	B-Device
compliant	O
software	O
,	O
which	O
allows	O
the	O
optimal	O
exploitation	O
of	O
the	O
speed	O
of	O
the	O
PowerPC	B-Architecture
CPU	O
,	O
while	O
making	O
the	O
porting	O
of	O
68k	B-Device
applications	O
as	O
easy	O
as	O
possible	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Several	O
advantages	O
that	O
WarpUP	B-Device
claims	O
to	O
offer	O
are	O
:	O
</s>
<s>
WarpUP	B-Device
is	O
also	O
usable	O
for	O
alternative	O
developer	O
systems	O
such	O
as	O
Modula	B-Language
-	O
or	O
E-compilers	O
with	O
PowerPC	B-Architecture
support	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
This	O
is	O
because	O
objects	O
are	O
not	O
mandatorily	O
created	O
in	O
Executable	B-Application
and	O
Linkable	O
Format	O
(	O
ELF	O
)	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Instead	O
,	O
the	O
Amiga	B-Device
compliant	O
hunk	O
format	O
can	O
be	O
used	O
also	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
WarpOS	B-Device
had	O
similar	O
features	O
to	O
PowerUP	B-Operating_System
,	O
but	O
with	O
some	O
major	O
differences	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Most	O
pertinently	O
,	O
it	O
used	O
the	O
PowerOpen	B-Application
application	B-Operating_System
binary	I-Operating_System
interface	I-Operating_System
(	O
ABI	O
)	O
,	O
in	O
contrast	O
to	O
PowerUP	B-Operating_System
which	O
used	O
the	O
newer	O
and	O
better	O
supported	O
UNIX	B-Operating_System
System	I-Operating_System
V	I-Operating_System
(	O
SysV	B-Operating_System
)	O
,	O
which	O
ensured	O
both	O
kernels	B-Operating_System
could	O
not	O
be	O
directly	O
compatible	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
From	O
version	O
14	O
,	O
the	O
WarpOS	B-Device
kernel	B-Operating_System
used	O
a	O
slightly	O
different	O
multitasking	B-Operating_System
scheduler	O
than	O
AmigaOS	B-Application
(	O
or	O
PowerUP	B-Operating_System
)	O
,	O
based	O
on	O
that	O
in	O
Unix	O
systems	O
with	O
"	O
nice	O
"	O
values	O
,	O
and	O
priorities	O
for	O
its	O
own	O
tasks	O
and	O
processes	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
This	O
was	O
meant	O
to	O
ensure	O
that	O
all	O
tasks	O
got	O
CPU	O
time	O
,	O
and	O
were	O
n't	O
starved	O
of	O
CPU	O
time	O
by	O
compute-intensive	O
tasks	O
(	O
as	O
was	O
the	O
case	O
with	O
the	O
original	O
AmigaOS	B-Application
scheduler	O
)	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
However	O
,	O
this	O
was	O
ineffective	O
as	O
it	O
was	O
still	O
limited	O
by	O
the	O
native	O
AmigaOS	B-Application
scheduler	O
and	O
it	O
did	O
create	O
extra	O
difficulties	O
synchronising	O
with	O
the	O
68k	B-Device
side	O
(	O
particularly	O
for	O
sound	O
)	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
In	O
version	O
15	O
WarpOS	B-Device
introduced	O
a	O
concept	O
called	O
atomic	O
tasks	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
WarpOS	B-Device
also	O
had	O
an	O
inbuilt	O
debugger	B-Application
which	O
could	O
be	O
sent	O
to	O
dump	O
information	O
on	O
any	O
crashed	O
tasks	O
to	O
either	O
console	O
window	O
on	O
screen	O
or	O
to	O
serial	O
,	O
depending	O
on	O
environment	O
variables	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
One	O
of	O
the	O
most	O
lauded	O
features	O
of	O
WarpOS	B-Device
was	O
that	O
it	O
continued	O
the	O
Amiga	B-Device
Hunk	O
format	O
of	O
original	O
Amiga	B-Device
executables	B-Application
in	O
a	O
variant	O
format	O
named	O
Extended	O
Hunk	O
format	O
(	O
EHF	O
)	O
,	O
and	O
implemented	O
the	O
hunk	O
type	O
named	O
HUNK_PPC_CODE	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
This	O
allowed	O
AmigaOS	B-Application
to	O
transparently	O
handle	O
WarpOS	B-Device
executables	B-Application
without	O
needing	O
to	O
patch	O
the	O
OS	O
to	O
recognise	O
them	O
,	O
which	O
PowerUP	B-Operating_System
did	O
need	O
to	O
do	O
to	O
run	O
its	O
ELF	O
file	O
format	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
While	O
elegant	O
in	O
theory	O
,	O
the	O
EHF	O
format	O
's	O
downfall	O
was	O
its	O
lack	O
of	O
widespread	O
compiler	B-Language
support	O
(	O
especially	O
GNU	B-Application
Compiler	I-Application
Collection	I-Application
(	O
GCC	B-Application
)	O
)	O
,	O
and	O
the	O
ELF	O
file	O
format	O
was	O
adopted	O
by	O
AmigaOS	B-Application
4	I-Application
and	O
MorphOS	B-Operating_System
.	O
</s>
<s>
Unlike	O
PowerUP	B-Operating_System
,	O
WarpOS	B-Device
could	O
also	O
produce	O
mixed	O
(	O
fat	O
)	O
binaries	O
with	O
both	O
68k	B-Device
and	O
PPC	O
code	O
,	O
which	O
could	O
run	O
on	O
both	O
Amiga	B-Device
PPC	O
boards	O
and	O
ordinary	O
Amiga	B-Device
systems	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
This	O
practice	O
was	O
very	O
rare	O
due	O
to	O
the	O
programming	O
complexity	O
of	O
doing	O
so	O
,	O
but	O
the	O
picture	O
datatype	O
in	O
AmigaOS	B-Application
3.9	O
(	O
a	O
shared	O
library	B-Library
that	O
loaded	O
,	O
processed	O
and	O
dithered	O
pictures	O
through	O
the	O
AmigaOS	B-Application
datatypes	O
system	O
)	O
was	O
a	O
notable	O
example	O
of	O
its	O
use	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
PPC	O
equipped	O
systems	O
would	O
notice	O
an	O
immediate	O
large	O
speed-up	O
,	O
while	O
68k	B-Device
systems	O
and	O
emulators	O
would	O
still	O
be	O
compatible	O
without	O
having	O
crashing	O
or	O
installing	O
another	O
binary	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
WarpOS	B-Device
had	O
two	O
housekeeping	O
tasks	O
named	O
Defiant	O
and	O
Babylon5	O
,	O
thought	O
to	O
be	O
named	O
after	O
the	O
USS	O
Defiant	O
from	O
Star	O
Trek	O
DS9	O
and	O
Babylon	O
5	O
,	O
its	O
developers	O
being	O
science	O
fiction	O
fans	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Haage	O
&	O
Partner	O
,	O
an	O
Amiga	B-Device
software	O
and	O
hardware	B-Architecture
manufacturer	O
(	O
which	O
also	O
created	O
AmigaOS	B-Application
3.9	O
)	O
,	O
developed	O
a	O
competing	O
kernel	B-Operating_System
to	O
PowerUP	B-Operating_System
named	O
WarpUP	B-Device
,	O
which	O
they	O
claimed	O
would	O
work	O
around	O
the	O
context	B-Operating_System
switching	I-Operating_System
problem	O
,	O
a	O
claim	O
which	O
would	O
be	O
bitterly	O
challenged	O
by	O
Phase5	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Phase5	O
claimed	O
correctly	O
that	O
this	O
hardware	B-Architecture
problem	O
could	O
not	O
be	O
circumvented	O
by	O
simply	O
optimising	O
the	O
kernel	B-Operating_System
and	O
was	O
a	O
limitation	O
inherent	O
to	O
the	O
almost	O
unique	O
board	O
design	O
,	O
which	O
shared	O
the	O
memory	O
bus	O
between	O
two	O
CPUs	O
of	O
radically	O
different	O
families	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
WarpOS	B-Device
versions	O
up	O
to	O
V7	O
were	O
wrappers	O
added	O
around	O
Phase5	O
's	O
PowerUP	B-Operating_System
kernel	B-Operating_System
but	O
starting	O
from	O
version	O
8	O
it	O
was	O
its	O
own	O
PPC	O
kernel	B-Operating_System
running	O
alongside	O
AmigaOS	B-Application
and	O
was	O
renamed	O
WarpOS	B-Device
.	O
</s>
<s>
As	O
PowerUP	B-Operating_System
was	O
on	O
the	O
EPROM	B-General_Concept
of	O
the	O
boards	O
and	O
Phase5	O
could	O
not	O
run	O
at	O
the	O
same	O
time	O
with	O
WarpOS	B-Device
,	O
it	O
had	O
to	O
be	O
deactivated	O
by	O
a	O
small	O
software	O
tool	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
As	O
H&P	O
did	O
not	O
have	O
access	O
to	O
the	O
EPROM	B-General_Concept
,	O
the	O
tool	O
had	O
to	O
make	O
assumptions	O
about	O
the	O
PowerUP	B-Operating_System
kernel	B-Operating_System
and	O
naturally	O
this	O
broke	O
in	O
updated	O
versions	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
This	O
led	O
to	O
open	O
accusations	O
by	O
WarpOS	B-Device
advocates	O
and	O
by	O
the	O
author	O
,	O
Sam	O
Jordan	O
,	O
that	O
Phase5	O
were	O
intentionally	O
trying	O
to	O
prevent	O
WarpOS	B-Device
running	O
on	O
their	O
boards	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Phase5	O
also	O
claimed	O
that	O
Haage	O
&	O
Partner	O
abused	O
a	O
free	O
developer	O
board	O
gifted	O
to	O
them	O
to	O
launch	O
this	O
competing	O
kernel	B-Operating_System
(	O
although	O
free	O
,	O
WarpOS	B-Device
was	O
supported	O
almost	O
exclusively	O
by	O
P	O
's	O
commercial	O
StormC++	O
compiler	B-Language
)	O
,	O
and	O
that	O
they	O
had	O
reverse-engineered	O
PowerUP	B-Operating_System
to	O
do	O
so	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
H&P	O
pointed	O
out	O
that	O
it	O
was	O
unavoidable	O
as	O
long	O
Phase5	O
refused	O
to	O
allow	O
users	O
to	O
choose	O
what	O
kernel	B-Operating_System
to	O
put	O
on	O
the	O
board	O
EPROM	B-General_Concept
,	O
claiming	O
that	O
the	O
PowerUP	B-Operating_System
kernel	B-Operating_System
was	O
essential	O
for	O
initialising	O
the	O
boards	O
on	O
boot	O
and	O
erasing	O
them	O
would	O
simply	O
render	O
the	O
boards	O
useless	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Worse	O
still	O
,	O
users	O
were	O
originally	O
only	O
able	O
to	O
run	O
one	O
of	O
these	O
kernels	B-Operating_System
,	O
resulting	O
in	O
much	O
duplication	O
of	O
effort	O
between	O
competing	O
developers	O
determined	O
to	O
use	O
one	O
or	O
the	O
other	O
,	O
often	O
with	O
two	O
versions	O
of	O
software	O
being	O
developed	O
independently	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Despite	O
there	O
being	O
little	O
or	O
no	O
real	O
difference	O
in	O
performance	O
,	O
debugging	O
capability	O
,	O
usability	O
or	O
stability	O
in	O
either	O
system	O
,	O
and	O
it	O
had	O
become	O
patently	O
clear	O
that	O
neither	O
could	O
hope	O
to	O
work	O
around	O
the	O
hardware	B-Architecture
context	B-Operating_System
switch	I-Operating_System
issue	O
,	O
a	O
series	O
of	O
claims	O
were	O
made	O
on	O
each	O
side	O
and	O
much	O
fighting	O
in	O
Usenet	O
followed	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
"	O
,	O
referring	O
to	O
the	O
ELF	O
fileformat	O
)	O
of	O
Hyperion	B-Operating_System
Entertainment	I-Operating_System
CVBA	O
was	O
particularly	O
infamous	O
for	O
his	O
"	O
political	O
"	O
ports	O
being	O
so	O
rushed	O
that	O
they	O
lacked	O
sound	O
or	O
were	O
very	O
unstable	O
,	O
being	O
released	O
just	O
to	O
make	O
up	O
the	O
numbers	O
and	O
produce	O
a	O
list	O
of	O
software	O
greater	O
than	O
that	O
of	O
PowerUP	B-Operating_System
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
impasse	O
between	O
the	O
competing	O
systems	O
was	O
eventually	O
ended	O
by	O
a	O
PowerUP	B-Operating_System
wrapper	O
for	O
WarpOS	B-Device
by	O
Franke	O
Wille	O
,	O
which	O
allowed	O
running	O
PowerUP	B-Operating_System
software	O
on	O
WarpOS	B-Device
systems	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
bitter	O
infighting	O
in	O
the	O
Amiga	B-Device
community	O
over	O
the	O
two	O
kernels	B-Operating_System
,	O
while	O
brief	O
,	O
produced	O
a	O
rift	O
that	O
eventually	O
culminated	O
in	O
a	O
split	O
between	O
AmigaOS	B-Application
and	O
MorphOS	B-Operating_System
,	O
with	O
most	O
WarpOS	B-Device
and	O
PowerUP	B-Operating_System
developers	O
switching	O
either	O
new	O
AmigaOS	B-Application
implementation	O
respectively	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
WarpOS	B-Device
was	O
intended	O
to	O
be	O
used	O
as	O
a	O
basis	O
for	O
AmigaOS	B-Application
4	I-Application
but	O
Haage	O
&	O
Partner	O
dropped	O
the	O
project	O
when	O
their	O
AmigaOS	B-Application
4	I-Application
PPC	O
contract	O
was	O
cancelled	O
by	O
Amiga	B-Device
,	O
Inc	O
.	O
in	O
2000	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
When	O
Hyperion	B-Operating_System
Entertainment	I-Operating_System
took	O
over	O
the	O
project	O
,	O
they	O
originally	O
had	O
the	O
same	O
idea	O
,	O
but	O
it	O
was	O
later	O
admitted	O
by	O
their	O
developers	O
that	O
it	O
was	O
of	O
very	O
little	O
use	O
in	O
modernising	O
the	O
OS	O
,	O
being	O
written	O
wholly	O
in	O
non-annotated	O
machine	O
code	O
assembly	B-Language
language	I-Language
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
choice	O
of	O
WarpOS	B-Device
over	O
its	O
rival	O
proved	O
to	O
be	O
a	O
Pyrrhic	O
victory	O
,	O
as	O
the	O
standards	O
it	O
had	O
developed	O
around	O
,	O
namely	O
EHF	O
and	O
PowerOpen	B-Application
,	O
were	O
to	O
be	O
wholly	O
abandoned	O
in	O
later	O
development	O
of	O
AmigaOS	B-Application
and	O
its	O
clones	B-General_Concept
.	O
</s>
<s>
A	O
wrapper	O
was	O
made	O
for	O
AmigaOS	O
4.0	O
&	O
4.1	O
,	O
first	O
it	O
was	O
included	O
,	O
then	O
it	O
was	O
distributed	O
by	O
GuruMedation	O
team	O
,	O
(	O
not	O
to	O
be	O
confused	O
by	O
Amiga	B-Device
's	O
"	O
Blue	O
"	O
Screen	O
of	O
death	O
that	O
also	O
has	O
the	O
same	O
name	O
)	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
This	O
wrapper	O
supported	O
PowerPC	B-Architecture
603e	O
,	O
604e	O
,	O
AMCC440EP	O
,	O
G3	O
and	O
G4	O
CPU	O
's	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
MorphOS	B-Operating_System
also	O
uses	O
a	O
wrapper	O
to	O
run	O
WarpUP	B-Device
programs	O
,	O
they	O
also	O
have	O
a	O
wrapper	O
for	O
PowerUP	B-Operating_System
,	O
a	O
WarpOS	B-Device
competitor	O
.	O
</s>
