Commodore 64
Encyclopedia
The Commodore 64 is an 8-bit
home computer
introduced by Commodore International
in January 1982.
Volume production started in the spring of 1982, with machines being released on to the market in August at a price of US$
595. Preceded by the Commodore VIC-20
and Commodore PET
machines, the C64 features of RAM, hence the name, and had favourable sound and graphical specifications when compared to well-known contemporary systems such as the Apple II
, particularly as the price was well below that demanded by Apple.
It is commonly known as the C64 or C=64 (after the graphic logo on the case) and occasionally as the CBM 64 (for Commodore Business Machines), or VIC-64. It has also been nicknamed the "breadbox" and "bullnose" due to the shape and color of its initial casing.
During the C64's lifetime, sales totalled between 12.5 and 17 million units, making it the best-selling single personal computer
model of all time. For a substantial period of time (1983–1986), the C64 dominated the market with between 30% and 40% share and 2 million units sold per year, outselling the IBM PC clones, Apple Inc. computers, and Atari 8-bit family
computers. Sam Tramiel, a later Atari president and the son of Commodore's founder, said in a 1989 interview "When I was at Commodore we were building C64s a month for a couple of years."
Part of its success was because it was sold in retail stores instead of electronics stores. Commodore produced many of its parts in-house to control supplies and cost. It is sometimes compared to the Ford Model-T
automobile for its role in bringing a new technology to middle-class households via creative mass-production.
Approximately commercial software
titles were made for the Commodore 64 including development tools, office productivity applications, and games. C64 emulators allow anyone with a modern computer, or a compatible game console
, to run these programs today. The C64 is also credited with popularizing the computer demo scene
and is still used today by some computer hobbyists
.
In January 1981, MOS Technology
, Inc., Commodore's integrated circuit
design subsidiary, initiated a project to design the graphic and audio chips for a next generation video game console
. Design work for the chips, named MOS Technology VIC-II
(graphics) and MOS Technology SID
(audio), was completed in November 1981.
Commodore then began a game console project that would use the new chips—called the Ultimax or alternatively the Commodore MAX Machine
, engineered by Yash Terakura from Commodore Japan. This project was eventually cancelled after just a few machines were manufactured for the Japanese market.
At the same time, Robert "Bob" Russell (system programmer and architect on the VIC-20
) and Robert "Bob" Yannes (engineer of the SID) were critical of the current product line-up at Commodore, which was a continuation of the Commodore PET
line aimed at business users. With the support of Al Charpentier (engineer of the VIC-II) and Charles Winterble (manager of MOS Technology), they proposed to Commodore CEO Jack Tramiel
a true low-cost sequel to the VIC-20. Tramiel dictated that the machine should have of RAM
. Although of DRAM
cost over US$
100 at the time, he knew that DRAM prices were falling, and would drop to an acceptable level before full production was reached. In November, Tramiel set a deadline for the first weekend of January, to coincide with the 1982 Consumer Electronics Show
.
The product was codename
d the VIC-40 as the successor to the popular VIC-20. The team that constructed it consisted of Bob Russell, Bob Yannes and David A. Ziembicki. The design, prototypes and some sample software was finished in time for the show, after the team had worked tirelessly over both Thanksgiving
and Christmas
weekends.
The machine incorporated Commodore BASIC 2.0 in ROM and available immediately at startup.
When the product was to be presented, the VIC-40 product was renamed C64 in order to fit into the current Commodore business products lineup which contained the P128 and the B256, both named by a letter and their respective total memory size (in KBytes).
The C64 made an impressive debut at the January 1982 Winter Consumer Electronics Show
, as recalled by Production Engineer David A. Ziembicki: "All we saw at our booth were Atari
people with their mouths dropping open, saying, 'How can you do that for $595?'" The answer, as it turned out, was vertical integration
; thanks to Commodore's ownership of MOS Technology
's semiconductor fabrication facilities, each C64 had an estimated production cost of only US$ 135.
The C64 faced a wide range of competing home computer
s at its introduction in August 1982. With an impressive price coupled with the C64's more flexible hardware, it quickly out-sold many of its competitors. In the United States
the greatest competitors to the C64 were the Atari 8-bit
400 and 800, and the Apple II
. The Atari 400 and 800 were very similar in hardware terms, but used custom chips for graphics and sound, and so were very expensive to build. The Apple IIe, the latest in the aging Apple II line had higher resolution graphics modes than the C64, but due to poor color support they were rarely used, so in practice the C64's 16-color (4-bit) graphics and sound abilities outmatched them at the time of its release. Upgrade capability for the Apple II was granted by internal expansion slots, while the C64 had only a single external cartridge port for bus expansion. However, the Apple used its expansion slots for interfacing to common peripherals like disk drives, printers and modems; the C64 had a variety of ports integrated into its motherboard which were used for these purposes, leaving the cartridge port free. In practice though, the cartridge port was mainly taken up with a fast loader
cartridge used to remedy the 64's slow disk transfer rate.
All four machines had similar standard memory configurations in the years 1982/83: for the Apple II+ (upgraded within months of C64's release to 64K with the Apple IIe) and 48K for the Atari 800. At upwards of , the Apple II was more than twice as expensive, while the Atari 800 cost US$899. One key to the C64's success was Commodore's aggressive marketing tactics, and they were quick to exploit the relative price/performance divisions between its competitors with a series of television commercials after the C64's launch in late 1982.
Commodore sold the C64 not only through its network of authorized dealers, but also placed it on the shelves of department stores, discount stores, and toy stores. The C64 had a built-in RF modulator
and thus could be plugged into a television set. This allowed it (like its predecessor, the VIC-20) to compete directly against video game consoles such as the Atari 2600
. Like the Apple IIe, the C64 could also output baseband composite video
and thus could be plugged into a specialized monitor for a sharper picture. Unlike the IIe, the C64's baseband NTSC output capability included separate luminance/chrominance signal output equivalent to (and electrically compatible with) S-Video
, for connection to the popular Commodore 1702 monitor.
Aggressive pricing of the C64 is considered to be a major catalyst in the North American video game crash of 1983. In January 1983, Commodore offered a US$ 100 rebate
in the United States on the purchase of a C64 to anyone trading in another computer or video game console. To take advantage of this rebate, some mail-order dealers and retailers offered a Timex Sinclair 1000
for as little as US$ 10 with purchase of a C64, so the consumer could send the TS1000 to Commodore, collect the rebate, and pocket the difference; Timex Corporation departed the computer market within a year. Commodore's tactics soon led to a price war
with the major home computer
manufacturers. The success of the VIC-20 and C64 contributed significantly to the exit of Texas Instruments
and other smaller competitors from the field. The price war with Texas Instruments was seen as a personal battle for Commodore president Jack Tramiel
; TI's subsequent demise in the home computer industry in October 1983 was seen as revenge for TI's tactics in the electronic calculator
market in the mid 1970s, when Commodore was almost bankrupted by TI. In parts of the US in the late 1980s, new C64s could be purchased in retail chains for a little more than US$ 100.
In 1984, Commodore released the Commodore Plus/4
. The Plus/4 offered a higher-color display, a better implementation of BASIC
(V3.5), and built-in software in what was positioned as an inexpensive business oriented system. However, it was incompatible with the C64, and Amstrad
and other PC and CP/M
clones rendered the limited business software and lack of compactness of the multiple-lead Plus/4 system of marginal value. The Plus/4 lacked hardware sprite
capability and had much poorer sound, thus seriously under-performing in two of the areas that had made the C64 successful.
In Europe
, the primary competitors to the C64 were the British-built Sinclair ZX Spectrum, BBC Micro
computer and the Amstrad CPC 464
. In the UK, the Spectrum had been released a few months ahead of the C64, and was selling for less than half the price. The Spectrum quickly became the market leader and Commodore had an uphill struggle against the Spectrum. The C64 debuted at £399 in early 1983, while the Spectrum cost £175. The C64 would later rival the Spectrum in popularity in the latter half of the 1980s, eventually outselling the Spectrum after 1985.
Despite a few attempts by Commodore to discontinue the C64 in favor of other, higher priced machines, constant demand made its discontinuation a hard task. By 1988, Commodore was selling 1.5 million C64s worldwide. Although demand for the C64 dropped off in the US by 1990, it continued to be popular in the UK and other European countries. In the end, economics, not obsolescence, sealed the C64's fate. In March 1994, at CeBIT
in Hanover, Germany
, Commodore announced that the C64 would be finally discontinued in 1995. Commodore stated that the C64's disk drive
was more expensive to manufacture than the C64 itself. Although Commodore had planned to discontinue the C64 by 1995, the company filed for bankruptcy a month later, in April 1994.
1982: Commodore released the Commodore MAX Machine
in Japan. It is called the Ultimax in the US, and VC-10 in Germany. The MAX was intended to be a game console with limited computing capability, and was based on a very cut-down version of the hardware family later used in the C64. The MAX was discontinued months after its introduction, because of poor sales in Japan.
1983 saw Commodore attempt to compete with the Apple II
's hold on the US education market with the Educator 64
, essentially a C64 and "greenscale" monochrome monitor in a PET case. Schools preferred the all-in-one metal construction of the PET over the standard C64's separate components, which could be easily damaged, vandalized or stolen.
In 1984, Commodore released the SX-64
, a portable version of the C64. The SX-64 has the distinction of being the first full-color portable computer
. The base unit featured a 5 in (127 mm) CRT
and an integrated 1541
floppy disk drive. The SX-64 did not have a cassette connector.
Commodore, specifically two designers; Fred Bowen and Bil Herd
, were determined to avoid the problems of the Plus/4
, making sure that the eventual successors to the C64—the Commodore 128
and 128D computers (1985)—were as good as, and fully compatible with the original, as well as offering a host of improvements (such as a structured BASIC with graphics and sound commands, 80-column display capability, and full CP/M
compatibility). The decision to make the Commodore 128
compatible with the C64 was made quietly by Bowen and Herd, software and hardware designers respectively, without the knowledge or approval by the management in the post Jack Tramiel
era. The designers were careful not to reveal their decision until the project was too far along to be challenged or changed and still make the impending Consumer Electronics Show (CES) show in Las Vegas. Upon learning that the C128 was designed to be compatible with the C64, Commodore’s marketing department independently announced that the C128 would be 100% compatible with the C64, thereby raising the bar for C64 support.
In 1986, Commodore released the Commodore 64C (C64C) computer, which was functionally identical to the original, but whose exterior design was remodeled in the sleeker style of the Commodore 128
and other contemporary design trends. The modifications to the C64 line were more than skin deep in the C64C with new versions of the SID, VIC and I/O chips being deployed—with the core voltage reduced from 12 V to 9 V. In the United States
, the C64C was often bundled with the third-party GEOS
GUI
-based operating system. The Commodore 1541
disk drive received a matching face-lift resulting in the 1541c. Later a smaller, sleeker 1541-II model was introduced along with the 3.5-inch microfloppy 1581
.
In 1990, the C64 was re-released in the form of a game console, called the C64 Games System
(C64GS). A simple modification to the C64C's motherboard was made to orient the cartridge connector to a vertical position. This allowed cartridges to be inserted from above. A modified ROM replaced the BASIC interpreter with a boot screen to inform the user to insert a cartridge. It was designed to rival the Nintendo Entertainment System and the Sega Master System but it suffered from very low sales compared to its rivals and it was another commercial failure for Commodore, and it was never released outside of Europe.
In 1990, an advanced successor to the C64, the Commodore 65
(also known as the "C64DX"), was prototyped, but the project was canceled by Commodore's chairman Irving Gould
in 1991. The C65's specifications were very good for an 8-bit computer. For example, it could display 256 colors on screen, while OCS based Amigas could only display 64 in HalfBrite mode (32 colors and half-bright transformations); the HAM mode on the Amiga allowed all 4096 colors of the 12 bit color system, but it was awkward to use and had restrictions on color combinations between adjacent pixels. Although no specific reason was given for the C65's cancellation, it would have competed in the marketplace with Commodore's lower end Amigas and the CDTV.
(owners of the Commodore brand since 1997) announced the C64 Direct-to-TV
(C64DTV), a joystick
-based TV game
based on the C64 with 30 games built into ROM. Designed by Jeri Ellsworth
, a self-taught computer designer who had earlier designed the modern C-One
C64 implementation, the C64DTV was similar in concept to other mini-consoles based on the Atari 2600
and Intellivision
which had gained modest success earlier in the decade. The product was advertised on QVC
in the United States for the 2004 holiday season. Some users have installed 1541
floppy disk drives, hard drives, second joysticks and keyboards to these units, which give the DTV devices nearly all of the capabilities of a full Commodore 64. The DTV hardware is also used in the mini-console/game Hummer, sold at RadioShack
mid-2005.
C64 enthusiasts still develop new hardware, including Ethernet
cards, specially adapted hard disk
s and Flash
Card interfaces (sd2iec).
, LLC, a company licensing the Commodore trademark. and began shipping units in June 2011.
This "C64x" has a case resembling the original C64 computer, but it is based on X86 architecture. The machine is a nettop
-spec computer which comes with a 1.8 GHz 64-bit dual core D525 Atom processor, Nvidia
ION2 onboard graphics, Wi-Fi, hard disk drive and an optional built-in DVD or Blu-ray player.
It is shipping initially with Ubuntu 10.10 Desktop Edition. Commodore USA are also developing their own Linux derivative called Commodore OS
, that along with a classic games package, is planned to ship out to early adopters. There will be no hardware compatibility with the original C64, with software compatibility provided through the use of an emulator.
, and appeared exceptional when compared with the widely publicised Atari VCS and Apple II
.
The C64 is often credited with starting the computer subculture known as the demoscene
(see Commodore 64 demos
). The C64 lost its top position among demo coders when the 16-bit
Commodore Amiga and Atari ST
were released in 1985, however it still remained a very popular platform for demo coding up to the early 90s.
It is still being actively used in the demo scene
, especially for music (its sound chip
even being used in special sound cards for PCs, and the Elektron SidStation
synthesizer). Unfortunately, the differences between PAL
and NTSC
C64s caused compatibility problems between US/Canadian C64s and those from most other countries. The vast majority of demos run only on PAL machines.
Even though other computers quickly caught up with it, the C64 remained a strong competitor to the later consoles
Nintendo Entertainment System
and Sega Master System
, thanks in part to its by-then established software base, especially outside of North America, where it comprehensively outsold the NES.
As was common for home computers of the early 1980s, the C64 incorporated a ROM based version of the BASIC programming language.
There was no "operating system" as such. The kernal
was accessed via BASIC commands.
The disk drive had its own microprocessor
(like in the Atari 800). This meant that no memory space had to be dedicated to run the drive, as remained the case with earlier systems like the Apple II
.
Commodore BASIC 2.0 was used instead of the more advanced BASIC 4.0 from the PET series, since its users were not expected to need the disk-oriented enhancements of BASIC 4.0. "The choice of BASIC 2.0 instead of 4.0 was made with some soul-searching, not just at random. The typical user of a C64 is not expected to need the direct disk commands as much as other extensions, and the amount of memory to be committed to BASIC was to be limited. We chose to leave expansion space for color and sound extensions instead of the disk features. As a result, you will have to handle the disk in the more cumbersome manner of the 'old days'."
The version of BASIC was limited and did not include specific commands for sound or graphics manipulation, instead required users to use the "POKE
" commands to access the graphics and sound chip registers directly. In order to provide extended commands including graphics and sound Commodore produced two different cartridge-based extension to BASIC 2.0 — Simons' BASIC
and Super Expander 64
.
Other languages available for the C64 included Pascal
, LOGO
, Forth
, and FORTRAN
.
Compiled versions of BASIC such as Petspeed 2 (from Commodore) and Turbo Lightning (Ocean Software) were also available.
But most programs were written in assembly language
, using a machine code monitor or an assembler.
This maximised speed and minimised memory use.
As well as the original GEOS
, two third-party GEOS-compatible operating systems have been written: Wheels
and GEOS megapatch. Both of these require hardware upgrades to the original C64.
Several other operating systems are or have been available, including WiNGS OS, the Unix-like LUnix
, operated from a command-line, and the embedded systems OS Contiki
, with full GUI. Other less well known OSes include ACE, Asterix, DOS/65 and GeckOS
.
A version of CP/M was released, but this required the addition of an external Z80 processor to the expansion bus, so is not considered a true C64 OS. Furthermore, the Z80 processor was underclocked to be compatible with the C64's memory bus, so performance was poor compared to other CP/M implementations. C64 CP/M and C128 CP/M both suffered a lack of software: although most commercial CP/M software would technically run on these systems, software media was incompatible between platforms. The low usage of CP/M on Commodores meant that software houses saw no need to invest in mastering versions for the Commodore filesystem.
s using software packages such as Bizarre 64
, Blue Board
and Color 64, often with sysop
-made modifications. These boards sometimes were used to distribute cracked software.
There were also major commercial online services, such as Compunet
(UK), Compuserve
(US - later bought by America Online), The Source (US) and Minitel
(France) among many others. These services usually required custom software which was often bundled with a modem
and included free online time as they were billed by the minute.
Quantum Link
(or Q-Link) was a US and Canadian online service for Commodore 64 and 128 personal computers that operated from November 5, 1985 to November 1, 1994. It was operated by Quantum Computer Services of Vienna, Virginia, which in October 1991 changed its name to America Online, and continues to operate its AOL
service for the IBM PC
and Apple Macintosh today. Q-Link was a modified version of the PlayNET
system, which Control Video Corporation (CVC, later renamed Quantum Computer Services) licensed.
The Quantum Link networking service became America Online which became AOL-Time Warner which was then contracted to AOL.
, the "Multi User Dungeon", a text based adventure / RPG programme based on the original Adventure
written by Tony Crowther for the DEC PDP-9.
Written for British Telecom on Compunet
, the game was expanded to Compuserve
in US.
This text based adventure game allowed real time conversations and combats (in text) via the large commercial BBS.
Don Daglow
and the Stormfront
game design team began working with AOL
on original online games in 1987, in both text-based and graphical formats. At the time AOL was a Commodore 64 only online service, known as Quantum Computer Services, with just a few thousand subscribers, and was called Quantum Link
. Online graphics in the late 1980s were severely restricted by the need to support modem data transfer rates as slow as 300 bits per second (bit/s). During the early 1990s, commercial use of the Internet was limited by NSFNET
acceptable use policies. Consequently, early online games like Legends of Future Past
, Neverwinter Nights
, GemStone III, Dragon's Gate
, and Federation
relied heavily on proprietary services such as CompuServe
, America Online, and GEnie
for distribution.
The first graphical character-based interactive environment was Club Caribe
. First released as Habitat
in 1988, Club Caribe was introduced by LucasArts
for Q-Link customers on their Commodore 64 computers. Users could interact with one another, chat and exchange items. Although very basic, its use of online avatars (already well established off-line by Ultima and other games) and combination of chat and graphics was revolutionary.
MOS Technology 6510
microprocessor
. This is a close derivative of the 6502
with an added 6-bit internal I/O port that in the C64 is used for two purposes: to bank-switch the machine's ROM in and out of the processor's address space, and to operate the datasette tape recorder.
The C64 has of RAM
, of which are available to built-in Commodore BASIC 2.0
on start up.
There is of ROM, made up of the BASIC interpreter, the kernal, and the character ROM. As the processor could only address at a time, the ROM
was mapped into memory and only of RAM were available at start up.
If a program did not use the BASIC interpreter, RAM could be mapped over the ROM locations. However, this meant that the character ROM would not be available, and nothing could be seen. This was solved by copying the character ROM into RAM.
This had two benefits ; the standard typeface could be re-written, and character codes could be re-written as picture elements in a picture.
Most C64 games were written in this way, using low resolution, which required much less processor time and saved memory. Furthermore, picture elements could be re-used, saving even more precious memory. The same technique was used in systems like the NES
.
, VIC-II
, features 16 colors, eight hardware sprites
per scanline (enabling up to 112 sprites per PAL screen), scrolling
capabilities, and two bitmap graphics modes. The standard text mode features 40 columns, like most Commodore PET
models; the built in character encoding is not standard ASCII
but PETSCII
, an extended form of ASCII-1963.
Most screen shots show borders around the screen, which is a feature of the VIC-II chip. By utilising interrupts to reset various hardware registers on precise timings it was possible to place graphics within the borders and thus utilise the full screen.
There were two low resolution and two bit mapped modes.
Multi-color bitmapped mode had an addressable screen of 160 x 200 pixels, with a maximum of four colours per 8 x 8 character block.
High resolution bitmapped mode had an addressable screen of 320 x 200 pixels, with a maximum of two colours per 8 x 8 character block.
Multicolor low resolution had a screen of 160 x 200 pixels, 40 x 25 addressable with fours colours per 8 x 8 character block.
High resolution "low resolution" had a screen of 320 x 200 pixels, 40 x 25 addressable with two colours per 8 x 8 character block.
Most videogames used Multicolour low resolution.
This allowed only character block - by character block animation because of the limited addressable space.
This wasn't an issue however, as the video chip automated sprites
and vertical and horizontal scrolling pixel by pixel and worked smooth and fast regardless of the video mode.
Some animation (for instance, bullets), used character animation, where sprites were not available.
chip has three channels, each with its own ADSR envelope generator, ring modulation
and filter capabilities. Bob Yannes developed the SID chip and later co-founded synthesizer company Ensoniq
. Yannes criticized other contemporary computer sound chips as "primitive, obviously... designed by people who knew nothing about music". Often the game music became a hit of its own among C64 users. Well-known composers and programmers of game music on the C64 are Rob Hubbard
, David Whittaker, Chris Hülsbeck
, Ben Daglish
, Martin Galway
, David Dunn and Kjell Nordbø among many others. Due to the chip's three channels, chords are played as arpeggio
s, coining the C64's characteristic lively sound. It was also possible to continuously update the master volume with sampled data to enable the playback of 4-bit digitized audio. As of 2008, it became possible to play four channel 8-bit audio samples, 2 SID channels and still use filtering.
There are two versions of the SID chip, the 6581 and the 8580. The MOS Technology 6581 was used in the original "breadbox" C64s, the early versions of the C64C and the Commodore 128
. The 6581 was replaced with the MOS Technology 8580 in 1987. The 6581 sound quality is a little more crisp, and many Commodore 64 fans prefer its sound. The main difference between the 6581 and the 8580 is the supply voltage. The 6581 uses a 12 volt supply - the 8580, a nine volt supply. A modification can be made to use the 6581 in a C64C board (which uses the nine volt chip).
The SID chip has a distinctive sound which has retained a following of devotees to such a degree, that a number of audio enthusiasts and companies have designed SID-based products as add-ons for the C64, x86 PCs, and standalone or MIDI
music devices such as the Elektron SidStation
. These devices use chips taken from excess stock, or removed from used computers.
In 2007, Timbaland
's extensive use of the SidStation led to the 2007 Timbaland plagiarism controversy
around his tracks "Block Party" and "Do It
" (written for Nelly Furtado
).
based) motherboard would go through two major redesigns, (and numerous sub-revisions) exchanging positions of the VIC-II, SID and PLA
chips. Initially, a large portion of the cost was eliminated by reducing the number of discrete components, such as diodes and resistors, which enabled the use of a smaller printed circuit board
.
The case is made from ABS
plastic which may become brown with time. This can be reversed by using the public domain chemical mix "Retr0bright
".
NMOS technology and was clocked at either (PAL) or (NTSC). Internally, the clock was divided down to generate the dot clock (about 8 MHz) and the two-phase system clocks (about 1 MHz; the exact pixel and system clock speeds are slightly different between NTSC and PAL machines). At such high clock rates, the chip generated a lot of heat, forcing MOS Technology to use a ceramic DIL package
(called a "CERDIP"). The ceramic package was more expensive, but it dissipated heat more effectively than plastic.
After a redesign in 1983, the VIC-II was encased in a plastic Dual Inline Package, which reduced costs substantially, but it did not totally eliminate the heat problem. Without a ceramic package, the VIC-II required the use of a heat sink
. To avoid extra cost, the metal RF
shielding
doubled as the heat sink for the VIC, although not all units shipped with this type of shielding. Most C64s in Europe
shipped with a cardboard RF shield, coated with a layer of metal foil. The effectiveness of the cardboard was highly questionable, and worse still it acted as an insulator, blocking airflow which trapped heat generated by the SID, VIC, and PLA chips.
The SID was manufactured using NMOS at 7 and in some areas 6 micrometers. The prototype SID and some very early production models featured a ceramic Dual Inline Package, but unlike the VIC-II, these are extremely rare as the SID was encased in plastic when production started in early 1982.
× 4 bit DRAM
chips that replaced the original eight 64 kilobit × 1 bit ICs.
After the release of the C64C, MOS Technology began to reconfigure the C64's chipset to use HMOS
production technology. The main benefit of using HMOS was that it required less voltage to drive the IC, which consequently generates less heat. This enhanced the overall reliability of the SID and VIC-II. The new chipset was re-numbered to 85xx in order to reflect the change to HMOS.
In 1987, Commodore released C64Cs with a totally redesigned motherboard commonly known as a "short board". The new board used the new HMOS chipset, featuring a new 64-pin PLA chip. The new "SuperPLA", as it was dubbed, integrated many discrete components and TTL chips. In the last revision of the C64C motherboard, the 2114 color RAM was integrated into the SuperPLA.
, a conventional transformer with multiple tappings (as opposed to switch mode, the system used today [2011] on PC power supplies), encased in a gel (epoxy resin) which tended to increase the heat level when running.
This saved space within the computer's case and allowed international versions to be more easily manufactured. The 1541-II and 1581 disk drives, along with various third-party clones, also came with their own external power supply "bricks", as did most peripherals leading to a "spaghetti" of cables and the use of numerous double adapters by users.
These power supplies were notorious for failing over time.
Commodore later changed the design, omitting the gel.
The proprietary design usually led to "freezing" after a few hours, so many serious users - such as programmers - used their own dual circuit power supplies instead .
} ( BASIC 2.0
; KERNAL
; character generator, providing two character sets)
The is used to supply power via a charge pump
to the SID
sound generator chip, provide via a rectifier to the cassette motor, a "0" pulse for every positive half wave to the time-of-day (TOD) input on the CIA chips, and directly to the user-port. Thus, as a minimum, a square wave
is required. But a sine wave
is preferred.
8-bit
The first widely adopted 8-bit microprocessor was the Intel 8080, being used in many hobbyist computers of the late 1970s and early 1980s, often running the CP/M operating system. The Zilog Z80 and the Motorola 6800 were also used in similar computers...
home computer
Home computer
Home computers were a class of microcomputers entering the market in 1977, and becoming increasingly common during the 1980s. They were marketed to consumers as affordable and accessible computers that, for the first time, were intended for the use of a single nontechnical user...
introduced by Commodore International
Commodore International
Commodore is the commonly used name for Commodore Business Machines , the U.S.-based home computer manufacturer and electronics manufacturer headquartered in West Chester, Pennsylvania, which also housed Commodore's corporate parent company, Commodore International Limited...
in January 1982.
Volume production started in the spring of 1982, with machines being released on to the market in August at a price of US$
United States dollar
The United States dollar , also referred to as the American dollar, is the official currency of the United States of America. It is divided into 100 smaller units called cents or pennies....
595. Preceded by the Commodore VIC-20
Commodore VIC-20
The VIC-20 is an 8-bit home computer which was sold by Commodore Business Machines. The VIC-20 was announced in 1980, roughly three years after Commodore's first personal computer, the PET...
and Commodore PET
Commodore PET
The Commodore PET was a home/personal computer produced from 1977 by Commodore International...
machines, the C64 features of RAM, hence the name, and had favourable sound and graphical specifications when compared to well-known contemporary systems such as the Apple II
Apple II
The Apple II is an 8-bit home computer, one of the first highly successful mass-produced microcomputer products, designed primarily by Steve Wozniak, manufactured by Apple Computer and introduced in 1977...
, particularly as the price was well below that demanded by Apple.
It is commonly known as the C64 or C=64 (after the graphic logo on the case) and occasionally as the CBM 64 (for Commodore Business Machines), or VIC-64. It has also been nicknamed the "breadbox" and "bullnose" due to the shape and color of its initial casing.
During the C64's lifetime, sales totalled between 12.5 and 17 million units, making it the best-selling single personal computer
Personal computer
A personal computer is any general-purpose computer whose size, capabilities, and original sales price make it useful for individuals, and which is intended to be operated directly by an end-user with no intervening computer operator...
model of all time. For a substantial period of time (1983–1986), the C64 dominated the market with between 30% and 40% share and 2 million units sold per year, outselling the IBM PC clones, Apple Inc. computers, and Atari 8-bit family
Atari 8-bit family
The Atari 8-bit family is a series of 8-bit home computers manufactured from 1979 to 1992. All are based on the MOS Technology 6502 CPU and were the first home computers designed with custom coprocessor chips...
computers. Sam Tramiel, a later Atari president and the son of Commodore's founder, said in a 1989 interview "When I was at Commodore we were building C64s a month for a couple of years."
Part of its success was because it was sold in retail stores instead of electronics stores. Commodore produced many of its parts in-house to control supplies and cost. It is sometimes compared to the Ford Model-T
Ford Model T
The Ford Model T is an automobile that was produced by Henry Ford's Ford Motor Company from September 1908 to May 1927...
automobile for its role in bringing a new technology to middle-class households via creative mass-production.
Approximately commercial software
Computer software
Computer software, or just software, is a collection of computer programs and related data that provide the instructions for telling a computer what to do and how to do it....
titles were made for the Commodore 64 including development tools, office productivity applications, and games. C64 emulators allow anyone with a modern computer, or a compatible game console
Video game console
A video game console is an interactive entertainment computer or customized computer system that produces a video display signal which can be used with a display device to display a video game...
, to run these programs today. The C64 is also credited with popularizing the computer demo scene
Demoscene
The demoscene is a computer art subculture that specializes in producing demos, which are non-interactive audio-visual presentations that run in real-time on a computer...
and is still used today by some computer hobbyists
Retrocomputing
Retrocomputing is the use of early computer hardware and software today. Retrocomputing is usually classed as a hobby and recreation rather than a practical application of technology; enthusiasts often collect rare and valuable hardware and software for sentimental reasons...
.
History
MOS Technology
MOS Technology, Inc., also known as CSG , was a semiconductor design and fabrication company based in Norristown, Pennsylvania, in the United States. It is most famous for its 6502 microprocessor, and various designs for Commodore International's range of home computers.-History:MOS Technology, Inc...
, Inc., Commodore's integrated circuit
Integrated circuit
An integrated circuit or monolithic integrated circuit is an electronic circuit manufactured by the patterned diffusion of trace elements into the surface of a thin substrate of semiconductor material...
design subsidiary, initiated a project to design the graphic and audio chips for a next generation video game console
Video game console
A video game console is an interactive entertainment computer or customized computer system that produces a video display signal which can be used with a display device to display a video game...
. Design work for the chips, named MOS Technology VIC-II
MOS Technology VIC-II
The VIC-II , specifically known as the MOS Technology 6567/8562/8564 , 6569/8565/8566 , is the microchip tasked with generating Y/C/composite video graphics and DRAM refresh signals in the Commodore 64 and C128 home computers.Succeeding MOS's original VIC , the VIC-II was one of the two chips...
(graphics) and MOS Technology SID
MOS Technology SID
The MOS Technology 6581/8580 SID is the built-in Programmable Sound Generator chip of Commodore's CBM-II, Commodore 64, Commodore 128 and Commodore MAX Machine home computers...
(audio), was completed in November 1981.
Commodore then began a game console project that would use the new chips—called the Ultimax or alternatively the Commodore MAX Machine
Commodore MAX Machine
The Commodore MAX Machine, also known as Ultimax in the United States and VC-10 in Germany, was a home computer designed and sold by Commodore International in Japan, beginning in early 1982, a predecessor to the popular Commodore 64...
, engineered by Yash Terakura from Commodore Japan. This project was eventually cancelled after just a few machines were manufactured for the Japanese market.
At the same time, Robert "Bob" Russell (system programmer and architect on the VIC-20
Commodore VIC-20
The VIC-20 is an 8-bit home computer which was sold by Commodore Business Machines. The VIC-20 was announced in 1980, roughly three years after Commodore's first personal computer, the PET...
) and Robert "Bob" Yannes (engineer of the SID) were critical of the current product line-up at Commodore, which was a continuation of the Commodore PET
Commodore PET
The Commodore PET was a home/personal computer produced from 1977 by Commodore International...
line aimed at business users. With the support of Al Charpentier (engineer of the VIC-II) and Charles Winterble (manager of MOS Technology), they proposed to Commodore CEO Jack Tramiel
Jack Tramiel
Jack Tramiel is an American businessman, best known for founding Commodore International - manufacturer of the Commodore PET, Commodore 64, Commodore 128, Commodore Amiga, and other Commodore models of home computers.-Biography:...
a true low-cost sequel to the VIC-20. Tramiel dictated that the machine should have of RAM
Random-access memory
Random access memory is a form of computer data storage. Today, it takes the form of integrated circuits that allow stored data to be accessed in any order with a worst case performance of constant time. Strictly speaking, modern types of DRAM are therefore not random access, as data is read in...
. Although of DRAM
Dynamic random access memory
Dynamic random-access memory is a type of random-access memory that stores each bit of data in a separate capacitor within an integrated circuit. The capacitor can be either charged or discharged; these two states are taken to represent the two values of a bit, conventionally called 0 and 1...
cost over US$
United States dollar
The United States dollar , also referred to as the American dollar, is the official currency of the United States of America. It is divided into 100 smaller units called cents or pennies....
100 at the time, he knew that DRAM prices were falling, and would drop to an acceptable level before full production was reached. In November, Tramiel set a deadline for the first weekend of January, to coincide with the 1982 Consumer Electronics Show
Consumer Electronics Show
The International Consumer Electronics Show is a major technology-related trade show held each January in the Las Vegas Convention Center, Las Vegas, Nevada, United States. Not open to the public, the Consumer Electronics Association-sponsored show typically hosts previews of products and new...
.
The product was codename
Code name
A code name or cryptonym is a word or name used clandestinely to refer to another name or word. Code names are often used for military purposes, or in espionage...
d the VIC-40 as the successor to the popular VIC-20. The team that constructed it consisted of Bob Russell, Bob Yannes and David A. Ziembicki. The design, prototypes and some sample software was finished in time for the show, after the team had worked tirelessly over both Thanksgiving
Thanksgiving (United States)
Thanksgiving, or Thanksgiving Day, is a holiday celebrated in the United States on the fourth Thursday in November. It has officially been an annual tradition since 1863, when, during the Civil War, President Abraham Lincoln proclaimed a national day of thanksgiving to be celebrated on Thursday,...
and Christmas
Christmas
Christmas or Christmas Day is an annual holiday generally celebrated on December 25 by billions of people around the world. It is a Christian feast that commemorates the birth of Jesus Christ, liturgically closing the Advent season and initiating the season of Christmastide, which lasts twelve days...
weekends.
The machine incorporated Commodore BASIC 2.0 in ROM and available immediately at startup.
When the product was to be presented, the VIC-40 product was renamed C64 in order to fit into the current Commodore business products lineup which contained the P128 and the B256, both named by a letter and their respective total memory size (in KBytes).
The C64 made an impressive debut at the January 1982 Winter Consumer Electronics Show
Consumer Electronics Show
The International Consumer Electronics Show is a major technology-related trade show held each January in the Las Vegas Convention Center, Las Vegas, Nevada, United States. Not open to the public, the Consumer Electronics Association-sponsored show typically hosts previews of products and new...
, as recalled by Production Engineer David A. Ziembicki: "All we saw at our booth were Atari
Atari
Atari is a corporate and brand name owned by several entities since its inception in 1972. It is currently owned by Atari Interactive, a wholly owned subsidiary of the French publisher Atari, SA . The original Atari, Inc. was founded in 1972 by Nolan Bushnell and Ted Dabney. It was a pioneer in...
people with their mouths dropping open, saying, 'How can you do that for $595?'" The answer, as it turned out, was vertical integration
Vertical integration
In microeconomics and management, the term vertical integration describes a style of management control. Vertically integrated companies in a supply chain are united through a common owner. Usually each member of the supply chain produces a different product or service, and the products combine to...
; thanks to Commodore's ownership of MOS Technology
MOS Technology
MOS Technology, Inc., also known as CSG , was a semiconductor design and fabrication company based in Norristown, Pennsylvania, in the United States. It is most famous for its 6502 microprocessor, and various designs for Commodore International's range of home computers.-History:MOS Technology, Inc...
's semiconductor fabrication facilities, each C64 had an estimated production cost of only US$ 135.
Winning the market war
Home computer
Home computers were a class of microcomputers entering the market in 1977, and becoming increasingly common during the 1980s. They were marketed to consumers as affordable and accessible computers that, for the first time, were intended for the use of a single nontechnical user...
s at its introduction in August 1982. With an impressive price coupled with the C64's more flexible hardware, it quickly out-sold many of its competitors. In the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
the greatest competitors to the C64 were the Atari 8-bit
Atari 8-bit family
The Atari 8-bit family is a series of 8-bit home computers manufactured from 1979 to 1992. All are based on the MOS Technology 6502 CPU and were the first home computers designed with custom coprocessor chips...
400 and 800, and the Apple II
Apple II series
The Apple II series is a set of 8-bit home computers, one of the first highly successful mass-produced microcomputer products, designed primarily by Steve Wozniak, manufactured by Apple Computer and introduced in 1977 with the original Apple II...
. The Atari 400 and 800 were very similar in hardware terms, but used custom chips for graphics and sound, and so were very expensive to build. The Apple IIe, the latest in the aging Apple II line had higher resolution graphics modes than the C64, but due to poor color support they were rarely used, so in practice the C64's 16-color (4-bit) graphics and sound abilities outmatched them at the time of its release. Upgrade capability for the Apple II was granted by internal expansion slots, while the C64 had only a single external cartridge port for bus expansion. However, the Apple used its expansion slots for interfacing to common peripherals like disk drives, printers and modems; the C64 had a variety of ports integrated into its motherboard which were used for these purposes, leaving the cartridge port free. In practice though, the cartridge port was mainly taken up with a fast loader
Fast loader
A fast loader is a software program for a home computer - most commonly, the Commodore 64 - that accelerates the speed of file loading from the floppy disk drive.- Background :...
cartridge used to remedy the 64's slow disk transfer rate.
All four machines had similar standard memory configurations in the years 1982/83: for the Apple II+ (upgraded within months of C64's release to 64K with the Apple IIe) and 48K for the Atari 800. At upwards of , the Apple II was more than twice as expensive, while the Atari 800 cost US$899. One key to the C64's success was Commodore's aggressive marketing tactics, and they were quick to exploit the relative price/performance divisions between its competitors with a series of television commercials after the C64's launch in late 1982.
Commodore sold the C64 not only through its network of authorized dealers, but also placed it on the shelves of department stores, discount stores, and toy stores. The C64 had a built-in RF modulator
RF modulator
An RF modulator is a device that takes a baseband input signal and outputs a radio frequency-modulated signal....
and thus could be plugged into a television set. This allowed it (like its predecessor, the VIC-20) to compete directly against video game consoles such as the Atari 2600
Atari 2600
The Atari 2600 is a video game console released in October 1977 by Atari, Inc. It is credited with popularizing the use of microprocessor-based hardware and cartridges containing game code, instead of having non-microprocessor dedicated hardware with all games built in...
. Like the Apple IIe, the C64 could also output baseband composite video
Composite video
Composite video is the format of an analog television signal before it is combined with a sound signal and modulated onto an RF carrier. In contrast to component video it contains all required video information, including colors in a single line-level signal...
and thus could be plugged into a specialized monitor for a sharper picture. Unlike the IIe, the C64's baseband NTSC output capability included separate luminance/chrominance signal output equivalent to (and electrically compatible with) S-Video
S-Video
Separate Video, more commonly known as S-Video and Y/C, is often referred to by JVC as both an S-VHS connector and as Super Video. It is an analog video transmission scheme, in which video information is encoded on two channels: luma and chroma...
, for connection to the popular Commodore 1702 monitor.
Aggressive pricing of the C64 is considered to be a major catalyst in the North American video game crash of 1983. In January 1983, Commodore offered a US$ 100 rebate
Rebate (marketing)
A rebate is an amount paid by way of reduction, return, or refund on what has already been paid or contributed. It is a type of sales promotion marketers use primarily as incentives or supplements to product sales. The mail-in rebate is the most common...
in the United States on the purchase of a C64 to anyone trading in another computer or video game console. To take advantage of this rebate, some mail-order dealers and retailers offered a Timex Sinclair 1000
Timex Sinclair 1000
The Timex Sinclair 1000 was the first computer produced by Timex Sinclair, a joint-venture between Timex Corporation and Sinclair Research. It was launched in July 1982....
for as little as US$ 10 with purchase of a C64, so the consumer could send the TS1000 to Commodore, collect the rebate, and pocket the difference; Timex Corporation departed the computer market within a year. Commodore's tactics soon led to a price war
Price war
Price war is a term used in economic sector to indicate a state of intense competitive rivalry accompanied by a multi-lateral series of price reduction. One competitor will lower its price, then others will lower their prices to match. If one of them reduces their price again, a new round of...
with the major home computer
Home computer
Home computers were a class of microcomputers entering the market in 1977, and becoming increasingly common during the 1980s. They were marketed to consumers as affordable and accessible computers that, for the first time, were intended for the use of a single nontechnical user...
manufacturers. The success of the VIC-20 and C64 contributed significantly to the exit of Texas Instruments
Texas Instruments
Texas Instruments Inc. , widely known as TI, is an American company based in Dallas, Texas, United States, which develops and commercializes semiconductor and computer technology...
and other smaller competitors from the field. The price war with Texas Instruments was seen as a personal battle for Commodore president Jack Tramiel
Jack Tramiel
Jack Tramiel is an American businessman, best known for founding Commodore International - manufacturer of the Commodore PET, Commodore 64, Commodore 128, Commodore Amiga, and other Commodore models of home computers.-Biography:...
; TI's subsequent demise in the home computer industry in October 1983 was seen as revenge for TI's tactics in the electronic calculator
Calculator
An electronic calculator is a small, portable, usually inexpensive electronic device used to perform the basic operations of arithmetic. Modern calculators are more portable than most computers, though most PDAs are comparable in size to handheld calculators.The first solid-state electronic...
market in the mid 1970s, when Commodore was almost bankrupted by TI. In parts of the US in the late 1980s, new C64s could be purchased in retail chains for a little more than US$ 100.
In 1984, Commodore released the Commodore Plus/4
Commodore Plus/4
The Commodore Plus/4 was a home computer released by Commodore International in 1984. The "Plus/4" name refers to the four-application ROM resident office suite ; it was billed as "the productivity computer with software built-in"...
. The Plus/4 offered a higher-color display, a better implementation of BASIC
Commodore BASIC
Commodore BASIC, also known as PET BASIC, is the dialect of the BASIC programming language used in Commodore International's 8-bit home computer line, stretching from the PET of 1977 to the C128 of 1985...
(V3.5), and built-in software in what was positioned as an inexpensive business oriented system. However, it was incompatible with the C64, and Amstrad
Amstrad
Amstrad is a British electronics company, now wholly owned by BSkyB. As of 2006, Amstrad's main business is manufacturing Sky Digital interactive boxes....
and other PC and CP/M
CP/M
CP/M was a mass-market operating system created for Intel 8080/85 based microcomputers by Gary Kildall of Digital Research, Inc...
clones rendered the limited business software and lack of compactness of the multiple-lead Plus/4 system of marginal value. The Plus/4 lacked hardware sprite
Sprite (computer graphics)
In computer graphics, a sprite is a two-dimensional image or animation that is integrated into a larger scene...
capability and had much poorer sound, thus seriously under-performing in two of the areas that had made the C64 successful.
In Europe
Europe
Europe is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally 'divided' from Asia to its east by the watershed divides of the Ural and Caucasus Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian and Black Seas, and the waterways connecting...
, the primary competitors to the C64 were the British-built Sinclair ZX Spectrum, BBC Micro
BBC Micro
The BBC Microcomputer System, or BBC Micro, was a series of microcomputers and associated peripherals designed and built by Acorn Computers for the BBC Computer Literacy Project, operated by the British Broadcasting Corporation...
computer and the Amstrad CPC 464
Amstrad CPC
The Amstrad CPC is a series of 8-bit home computers produced by Amstrad between 1984 and 1990. It was designed to compete in the mid-1980s home computer market dominated by the Commodore 64 and the Sinclair ZX Spectrum, where it successfully established itself primarily in the United Kingdom,...
. In the UK, the Spectrum had been released a few months ahead of the C64, and was selling for less than half the price. The Spectrum quickly became the market leader and Commodore had an uphill struggle against the Spectrum. The C64 debuted at £399 in early 1983, while the Spectrum cost £175. The C64 would later rival the Spectrum in popularity in the latter half of the 1980s, eventually outselling the Spectrum after 1985.
Despite a few attempts by Commodore to discontinue the C64 in favor of other, higher priced machines, constant demand made its discontinuation a hard task. By 1988, Commodore was selling 1.5 million C64s worldwide. Although demand for the C64 dropped off in the US by 1990, it continued to be popular in the UK and other European countries. In the end, economics, not obsolescence, sealed the C64's fate. In March 1994, at CeBIT
CeBIT
CeBIT is the world's largest and most international computer expo. CeBIT is held each year on the world's largest fairground in Hanover, Germany, and is a barometer of the state of the art in information technology...
in Hanover, Germany
Hanover
Hanover or Hannover, on the river Leine, is the capital of the federal state of Lower Saxony , Germany and was once by personal union the family seat of the Hanoverian Kings of Great Britain, under their title as the dukes of Brunswick-Lüneburg...
, Commodore announced that the C64 would be finally discontinued in 1995. Commodore stated that the C64's disk drive
Commodore 1541
The Commodore 1541 , made by Commodore International, was the best-known floppy disk drive for the Commodore 64 home computer. The 1541 was a single-sided 170 kilobyte drive for 5¼" disks...
was more expensive to manufacture than the C64 itself. Although Commodore had planned to discontinue the C64 by 1995, the company filed for bankruptcy a month later, in April 1994.
The C64 family
Commodore MAX Machine
The Commodore MAX Machine, also known as Ultimax in the United States and VC-10 in Germany, was a home computer designed and sold by Commodore International in Japan, beginning in early 1982, a predecessor to the popular Commodore 64...
in Japan. It is called the Ultimax in the US, and VC-10 in Germany. The MAX was intended to be a game console with limited computing capability, and was based on a very cut-down version of the hardware family later used in the C64. The MAX was discontinued months after its introduction, because of poor sales in Japan.
1983 saw Commodore attempt to compete with the Apple II
Apple II
The Apple II is an 8-bit home computer, one of the first highly successful mass-produced microcomputer products, designed primarily by Steve Wozniak, manufactured by Apple Computer and introduced in 1977...
's hold on the US education market with the Educator 64
Commodore Educator 64
The Educator 64, also known as the PET 64 and Model 4064,' was a microcomputer made by Commodore Business Machines in 1983. It was sold to schools as a replacement for aging Commodore PET systems...
, essentially a C64 and "greenscale" monochrome monitor in a PET case. Schools preferred the all-in-one metal construction of the PET over the standard C64's separate components, which could be easily damaged, vandalized or stolen.
In 1984, Commodore released the SX-64
Commodore SX-64
The Commodore SX-64, also known as the Executive 64, or VIP-64 in Europe, is a portable, briefcase/suitcase-size "luggable" version of the popular Commodore 64 home computer and holds the distinction of being the first full-color portable computer....
, a portable version of the C64. The SX-64 has the distinction of being the first full-color portable computer
Portable computer
A portable computer is a computer that is designed to be moved from one place to another and includes a display and keyboard. Portable computers, by their nature, are generally microcomputers. Portable computers, because of their size, are also commonly known as 'Lunchbox' or 'Luggable' computers...
. The base unit featured a 5 in (127 mm) CRT
Cathode ray tube
The cathode ray tube is a vacuum tube containing an electron gun and a fluorescent screen used to view images. It has a means to accelerate and deflect the electron beam onto the fluorescent screen to create the images. The image may represent electrical waveforms , pictures , radar targets and...
and an integrated 1541
Commodore 1541
The Commodore 1541 , made by Commodore International, was the best-known floppy disk drive for the Commodore 64 home computer. The 1541 was a single-sided 170 kilobyte drive for 5¼" disks...
floppy disk drive. The SX-64 did not have a cassette connector.
Commodore, specifically two designers; Fred Bowen and Bil Herd
Bil Herd
Bil Herd was a designer of 8-bit home computers while working for Commodore Business Machines in the early-to-mid 1980s. After first acting as the principal engineer on the Commodore Plus/4, C16/116, C264, and C364 machines, Herd designed the significantly more successful Commodore 128, a dual-CPU,...
, were determined to avoid the problems of the Plus/4
Commodore Plus/4
The Commodore Plus/4 was a home computer released by Commodore International in 1984. The "Plus/4" name refers to the four-application ROM resident office suite ; it was billed as "the productivity computer with software built-in"...
, making sure that the eventual successors to the C64—the Commodore 128
Commodore 128
The Commodore 128 home/personal computer was the last 8-bit machine commercially released by Commodore Business Machines...
and 128D computers (1985)—were as good as, and fully compatible with the original, as well as offering a host of improvements (such as a structured BASIC with graphics and sound commands, 80-column display capability, and full CP/M
CP/M
CP/M was a mass-market operating system created for Intel 8080/85 based microcomputers by Gary Kildall of Digital Research, Inc...
compatibility). The decision to make the Commodore 128
Commodore 128
The Commodore 128 home/personal computer was the last 8-bit machine commercially released by Commodore Business Machines...
compatible with the C64 was made quietly by Bowen and Herd, software and hardware designers respectively, without the knowledge or approval by the management in the post Jack Tramiel
Jack Tramiel
Jack Tramiel is an American businessman, best known for founding Commodore International - manufacturer of the Commodore PET, Commodore 64, Commodore 128, Commodore Amiga, and other Commodore models of home computers.-Biography:...
era. The designers were careful not to reveal their decision until the project was too far along to be challenged or changed and still make the impending Consumer Electronics Show (CES) show in Las Vegas. Upon learning that the C128 was designed to be compatible with the C64, Commodore’s marketing department independently announced that the C128 would be 100% compatible with the C64, thereby raising the bar for C64 support.
In 1986, Commodore released the Commodore 64C (C64C) computer, which was functionally identical to the original, but whose exterior design was remodeled in the sleeker style of the Commodore 128
Commodore 128
The Commodore 128 home/personal computer was the last 8-bit machine commercially released by Commodore Business Machines...
and other contemporary design trends. The modifications to the C64 line were more than skin deep in the C64C with new versions of the SID, VIC and I/O chips being deployed—with the core voltage reduced from 12 V to 9 V. In the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
, the C64C was often bundled with the third-party GEOS
GEOS (8-bit operating system)
GEOS is an operating system from Berkeley Softworks . Originally designed for the Commodore 64 and released in 1986, it provided a graphical user interface for this popular 8-bit computer.GEOS closely resembled early versions of Mac OS and included a graphical word processor and paint program...
GUI
Graphical user interface
In computing, a graphical user interface is a type of user interface that allows users to interact with electronic devices with images rather than text commands. GUIs can be used in computers, hand-held devices such as MP3 players, portable media players or gaming devices, household appliances and...
-based operating system. The Commodore 1541
Commodore 1541
The Commodore 1541 , made by Commodore International, was the best-known floppy disk drive for the Commodore 64 home computer. The 1541 was a single-sided 170 kilobyte drive for 5¼" disks...
disk drive received a matching face-lift resulting in the 1541c. Later a smaller, sleeker 1541-II model was introduced along with the 3.5-inch microfloppy 1581
Commodore 1581
The Commodore 1581 is a 3½ inch double sided double density floppy disk drive made by Commodore Business Machines primarily for its C64 and C128 home/personal computers. The drive stores 800 kilobytes using an MFM encoding but format different from both MS-DOS , and the Amiga formats. With...
.
In 1990, the C64 was re-released in the form of a game console, called the C64 Games System
Commodore 64 Games System
The Commodore 64 Games System was the cartridge-based game console version of the popular Commodore 64 home computer. It was released by Commodore in December 1990 as a competitor in the booming console market...
(C64GS). A simple modification to the C64C's motherboard was made to orient the cartridge connector to a vertical position. This allowed cartridges to be inserted from above. A modified ROM replaced the BASIC interpreter with a boot screen to inform the user to insert a cartridge. It was designed to rival the Nintendo Entertainment System and the Sega Master System but it suffered from very low sales compared to its rivals and it was another commercial failure for Commodore, and it was never released outside of Europe.
In 1990, an advanced successor to the C64, the Commodore 65
Commodore 65
The Commodore 65 was a prototype computer created by Fred Bowen and others at Commodore Business Machines in 1990–91...
(also known as the "C64DX"), was prototyped, but the project was canceled by Commodore's chairman Irving Gould
Irving Gould
Irving Gould was a Canadian businessperson credited with both saving and sinking Commodore. He gave the necessary funding to Jack Tramiel to keep Commodore running during several periods of financial problems...
in 1991. The C65's specifications were very good for an 8-bit computer. For example, it could display 256 colors on screen, while OCS based Amigas could only display 64 in HalfBrite mode (32 colors and half-bright transformations); the HAM mode on the Amiga allowed all 4096 colors of the 12 bit color system, but it was awkward to use and had restrictions on color combinations between adjacent pixels. Although no specific reason was given for the C65's cancellation, it would have competed in the marketplace with Commodore's lower end Amigas and the CDTV.
C64 clones
In the middle of 2004, after an absence from the marketplace of more than 10 years, PC manufacturer Tulip Computers BVTulip Computers
Tulip Computers NV was a Dutch computer manufacturer that manufactured PC clones. It was founded in 1979, and listed on the Amsterdam Stock Exchange in 1984....
(owners of the Commodore brand since 1997) announced the C64 Direct-to-TV
C64 Direct-to-TV
The C64 Direct-to-TV, called C64DTV for short, is a single-chip implementation of the Commodore 64 computer, contained in a joystick with 30 built-in games. The design is similar to the Atari Classics 10-in-1 TV Game...
(C64DTV), a joystick
Joystick
A joystick is an input device consisting of a stick that pivots on a base and reports its angle or direction to the device it is controlling. Joysticks, also known as 'control columns', are the principal control in the cockpit of many civilian and military aircraft, either as a center stick or...
-based TV game
Handheld TV game
A TV game is an interactive entertainment device designed for use on a television set that does not require the use of an actual video game console for operation...
based on the C64 with 30 games built into ROM. Designed by Jeri Ellsworth
Jeri Ellsworth
Jeri Ellsworth is an American entrepreneur and self-taught computer chip designer. She is best known for creating a Commodore 64 emulator within a joystick, in 2004, called Commodore 30-in-1 Direct to TV...
, a self-taught computer designer who had earlier designed the modern C-One
C-One
The C-One is a single-board computer designed by Jeri Ellsworth, a self-taught designer, and Jens Schönfeld from Individual Computers, who manufactured the boards themselves...
C64 implementation, the C64DTV was similar in concept to other mini-consoles based on the Atari 2600
Atari 2600
The Atari 2600 is a video game console released in October 1977 by Atari, Inc. It is credited with popularizing the use of microprocessor-based hardware and cartridges containing game code, instead of having non-microprocessor dedicated hardware with all games built in...
and Intellivision
Intellivision
The Intellivision is a video game console released by Mattel in 1979. Development of the console began in 1978, less than a year after the introduction of its main competitor, the Atari 2600. The word intellivision is a portmanteau of "intelligent television"...
which had gained modest success earlier in the decade. The product was advertised on QVC
QVC
QVC is a multinational corporation specializing in televised home shopping. Founded in 1986 by Joseph Segel in West Goshen Township, Pennsylvania, United States, QVC broadcasts in five countries as QVC US, QVC UK, QVC Germany, QVC Japan and – QVC Italy to 200 million households...
in the United States for the 2004 holiday season. Some users have installed 1541
Commodore 1541
The Commodore 1541 , made by Commodore International, was the best-known floppy disk drive for the Commodore 64 home computer. The 1541 was a single-sided 170 kilobyte drive for 5¼" disks...
floppy disk drives, hard drives, second joysticks and keyboards to these units, which give the DTV devices nearly all of the capabilities of a full Commodore 64. The DTV hardware is also used in the mini-console/game Hummer, sold at RadioShack
RadioShack
RadioShack Corporation is an American franchise of electronics retail stores in the United States, as well as parts of Europe, South America and Africa. As of 2008, RadioShack reported net sales and operating revenues of $4.81 billion. The headquarters of RadioShack is located in Downtown...
mid-2005.
C64 enthusiasts still develop new hardware, including Ethernet
Ethernet
Ethernet is a family of computer networking technologies for local area networks commercially introduced in 1980. Standardized in IEEE 802.3, Ethernet has largely replaced competing wired LAN technologies....
cards, specially adapted hard disk
Hard disk
A hard disk drive is a non-volatile, random access digital magnetic data storage device. It features rotating rigid platters on a motor-driven spindle within a protective enclosure. Data is magnetically read from and written to the platter by read/write heads that float on a film of air above the...
s and Flash
Flash memory
Flash memory is a non-volatile computer storage chip that can be electrically erased and reprogrammed. It was developed from EEPROM and must be erased in fairly large blocks before these can be rewritten with new data...
Card interfaces (sd2iec).
Brand re-use
PC clones branded as "C64" in May 2011 are planned by Commodore USACommodore USA
Commodore USA, LLC is a computer company based in Pompano Beach, Florida, with additional facilities in Fort Lauderdale, Florida. Commodore USA, LLC was founded in April 2010...
, LLC, a company licensing the Commodore trademark. and began shipping units in June 2011.
This "C64x" has a case resembling the original C64 computer, but it is based on X86 architecture. The machine is a nettop
Nettop
Nettop may refer to:*Nettop, a type of computer*NetTop, a NSA project...
-spec computer which comes with a 1.8 GHz 64-bit dual core D525 Atom processor, Nvidia
NVIDIA
Nvidia is an American global technology company based in Santa Clara, California. Nvidia is best known for its graphics processors . Nvidia and chief rival AMD Graphics Techonologies have dominated the high performance GPU market, pushing other manufacturers to smaller, niche roles...
ION2 onboard graphics, Wi-Fi, hard disk drive and an optional built-in DVD or Blu-ray player.
It is shipping initially with Ubuntu 10.10 Desktop Edition. Commodore USA are also developing their own Linux derivative called Commodore OS
Commodore OS
Commodore OS, full name Commodore OS Vision, is a GNU/Linux distribution developed by Commodore USA and intended for its Commodore-branded PCs. The distribution is based on Debian and Linux Mint, available only for x86-64 architectures, and uses the GNOME 2 desktop environment. The public beta...
, that along with a classic games package, is planned to ship out to early adopters. There will be no hardware compatibility with the original C64, with software compatibility provided through the use of an emulator.
Software
In 1982, the C64's graphics and sound capabilities were rivaled only by the Atari 8-bit familyAtari 8-bit family
The Atari 8-bit family is a series of 8-bit home computers manufactured from 1979 to 1992. All are based on the MOS Technology 6502 CPU and were the first home computers designed with custom coprocessor chips...
, and appeared exceptional when compared with the widely publicised Atari VCS and Apple II
Apple II
The Apple II is an 8-bit home computer, one of the first highly successful mass-produced microcomputer products, designed primarily by Steve Wozniak, manufactured by Apple Computer and introduced in 1977...
.
The C64 is often credited with starting the computer subculture known as the demoscene
Demoscene
The demoscene is a computer art subculture that specializes in producing demos, which are non-interactive audio-visual presentations that run in real-time on a computer...
(see Commodore 64 demos
Commodore 64 demos
The Commodore 64 demos are demonstrations of what can be done to push the limits of the Commodore 64 computer, made by programmers, musicians and artists....
). The C64 lost its top position among demo coders when the 16-bit
16-bit
-16-bit architecture:The HP BPC, introduced in 1975, was the world's first 16-bit microprocessor. Prominent 16-bit processors include the PDP-11, Intel 8086, Intel 80286 and the WDC 65C816. The Intel 8088 was program-compatible with the Intel 8086, and was 16-bit in that its registers were 16...
Commodore Amiga and Atari ST
Atari ST
The Atari ST is a home/personal computer that was released by Atari Corporation in 1985 and commercially available from that summer into the early 1990s. The "ST" officially stands for "Sixteen/Thirty-two", which referred to the Motorola 68000's 16-bit external bus and 32-bit internals...
were released in 1985, however it still remained a very popular platform for demo coding up to the early 90s.
It is still being actively used in the demo scene
Commodore 64 demos
The Commodore 64 demos are demonstrations of what can be done to push the limits of the Commodore 64 computer, made by programmers, musicians and artists....
, especially for music (its sound chip
MOS Technology SID
The MOS Technology 6581/8580 SID is the built-in Programmable Sound Generator chip of Commodore's CBM-II, Commodore 64, Commodore 128 and Commodore MAX Machine home computers...
even being used in special sound cards for PCs, and the Elektron SidStation
Elektron SidStation
The Elektron SidStation is a musical synthesizer sound module, built around the MOS Technology SID mixed-mode synthesizer chip originally used in the Commodore 64 home computer. It was produced by the Swedish synthesizer company Elektron, and was introduced in 1999...
synthesizer). Unfortunately, the differences between PAL
PAL
PAL, short for Phase Alternating Line, is an analogue television colour encoding system used in broadcast television systems in many countries. Other common analogue television systems are NTSC and SECAM. This page primarily discusses the PAL colour encoding system...
and NTSC
NTSC
NTSC, named for the National Television System Committee, is the analog television system that is used in most of North America, most of South America , Burma, South Korea, Taiwan, Japan, the Philippines, and some Pacific island nations and territories .Most countries using the NTSC standard, as...
C64s caused compatibility problems between US/Canadian C64s and those from most other countries. The vast majority of demos run only on PAL machines.
Even though other computers quickly caught up with it, the C64 remained a strong competitor to the later consoles
Video game console
A video game console is an interactive entertainment computer or customized computer system that produces a video display signal which can be used with a display device to display a video game...
Nintendo Entertainment System
Nintendo Entertainment System
The Nintendo Entertainment System is an 8-bit video game console that was released by Nintendo in North America during 1985, in Europe during 1986 and Australia in 1987...
and Sega Master System
Sega Master System
The is a third-generation video game console that was manufactured and released by Sega in 1985 in Japan , 1986 in North America and 1987 in Europe....
, thanks in part to its by-then established software base, especially outside of North America, where it comprehensively outsold the NES.
BASIC
There was no "operating system" as such. The kernal
KERNAL
The KERNAL is Commodore's name for the ROM-resident operating system core in its 8-bit home computers; from the original PET of 1977, followed by the extended but strongly related versions used in its successors; the VIC-20, Commodore 64, Plus/4, C16, and C128...
was accessed via BASIC commands.
The disk drive had its own microprocessor
Microprocessor
A microprocessor incorporates the functions of a computer's central processing unit on a single integrated circuit, or at most a few integrated circuits. It is a multipurpose, programmable device that accepts digital data as input, processes it according to instructions stored in its memory, and...
(like in the Atari 800). This meant that no memory space had to be dedicated to run the drive, as remained the case with earlier systems like the Apple II
Apple II
The Apple II is an 8-bit home computer, one of the first highly successful mass-produced microcomputer products, designed primarily by Steve Wozniak, manufactured by Apple Computer and introduced in 1977...
.
Commodore BASIC 2.0 was used instead of the more advanced BASIC 4.0 from the PET series, since its users were not expected to need the disk-oriented enhancements of BASIC 4.0. "The choice of BASIC 2.0 instead of 4.0 was made with some soul-searching, not just at random. The typical user of a C64 is not expected to need the direct disk commands as much as other extensions, and the amount of memory to be committed to BASIC was to be limited. We chose to leave expansion space for color and sound extensions instead of the disk features. As a result, you will have to handle the disk in the more cumbersome manner of the 'old days'."
The version of BASIC was limited and did not include specific commands for sound or graphics manipulation, instead required users to use the "POKE
PEEK and POKE
In computing, PEEK is a BASIC programming language extension used for reading the contents of a memory cell at a specified address. The corresponding command to set the contents of a memory cell is POKE.-Statement syntax:...
" commands to access the graphics and sound chip registers directly. In order to provide extended commands including graphics and sound Commodore produced two different cartridge-based extension to BASIC 2.0 — Simons' BASIC
Simons' BASIC
Simons' BASIC was an extension to BASIC 2.0 for the Commodore 64 home computer. Written by 16-year-old British programmer David Simons in 1983, it was distributed by Commodore in cartridge format.-Features:...
and Super Expander 64
Super Expander 64
The Super Expander 64 was a cartridge-based extension to the built in BASIC V2 interpreter of the then immensely popular Commodore 64 home computer: Since the 64 was developed in a hurry, Commodore simply adapted the BASIC V2 from the PET line of computers and the VIC 20 for their new machine, with...
.
Other languages available for the C64 included Pascal
Pascal
Pascal or PASCAL may refer to:-People:* Pascal , a French given name* Pascal , a French and Italian surname* Adam Pascal , American actor and singer, best known for his role of Roger Davis in the Broadway musical Rent* Blaise Pascal , French mathematician and philosopher* Cleo Paskal, environmental...
, LOGO
Logo
A logo is a graphic mark or emblem commonly used by commercial enterprises, organizations and even individuals to aid and promote instant public recognition...
, Forth
Forth
Forth is a structured, imperative, reflective, concatenative, extensible, stack-based computer programming language and programming environment...
, and FORTRAN
Fortran
Fortran is a general-purpose, procedural, imperative programming language that is especially suited to numeric computation and scientific computing...
.
Compiled versions of BASIC such as Petspeed 2 (from Commodore) and Turbo Lightning (Ocean Software) were also available.
But most programs were written in assembly language
Assembly language
An assembly language is a low-level programming language for computers, microprocessors, microcontrollers, and other programmable devices. It implements a symbolic representation of the machine codes and other constants needed to program a given CPU architecture...
, using a machine code monitor or an assembler.
This maximised speed and minimised memory use.
Alternative operating systems
A number of third party operating systems have been developed for the C64.GEOS (8-bit operating system)
GEOS is an operating system from Berkeley Softworks . Originally designed for the Commodore 64 and released in 1986, it provided a graphical user interface for this popular 8-bit computer.GEOS closely resembled early versions of Mac OS and included a graphical word processor and paint program...
, two third-party GEOS-compatible operating systems have been written: Wheels
Wheels (operating system)
The Wheels operating system for the Commodore 64 and Commodore 128 home computers is partially based on and an upgrade from GEOS. Wheels gives new abilities to the C64 and 128: the ability to open several, movable, resizeable windows on the desktop and limited graphical web browsing...
and GEOS megapatch. Both of these require hardware upgrades to the original C64.
Several other operating systems are or have been available, including WiNGS OS, the Unix-like LUnix
LUnix
LUnix, short for "Little Unix", is a Unix-like operating system designed to run natively on the Commodore 64 and Commodore 128 home computer systems. It supports TCP/IP networking...
, operated from a command-line, and the embedded systems OS Contiki
Contiki
Contiki is a small, open source, highly portable multitasking computer operating system developed for use on a number of memory-constrained networked systems ranging from 8-bit computers to embedded systems on microcontrollers, including sensor network motes...
, with full GUI. Other less well known OSes include ACE, Asterix, DOS/65 and GeckOS
GeckOS
GeckOS is an experimental operating system for MOS 6502 and compatible processors. It offers some Unix-like functionality including preemptive multitasking, multithreading, semaphores, signals, binary relocation, TCP/IP networking via SLIP and a 6502 standard library.GeckOS includes native support...
.
A version of CP/M was released, but this required the addition of an external Z80 processor to the expansion bus, so is not considered a true C64 OS. Furthermore, the Z80 processor was underclocked to be compatible with the C64's memory bus, so performance was poor compared to other CP/M implementations. C64 CP/M and C128 CP/M both suffered a lack of software: although most commercial CP/M software would technically run on these systems, software media was incompatible between platforms. The low usage of CP/M on Commodores meant that software houses saw no need to invest in mastering versions for the Commodore filesystem.
Networking software
During the 1980s, the Commodore 64 was used to run numerous Bulletin Board SystemBulletin board system
A Bulletin Board System, or BBS, is a computer system running software that allows users to connect and log in to the system using a terminal program. Once logged in, a user can perform functions such as uploading and downloading software and data, reading news and bulletins, and exchanging...
s using software packages such as Bizarre 64
Bizarre 64
Bizarre 64 was a bulletin board system written for the Commodore 64 by Bill Atchison circa 1985 in order to fill the need for a faster and more professional BBS system than was currently available at the time for the Commodore-64 computer system....
, Blue Board
Blue Board
Blue Board was a BBS software system created by Martin Sikes for the Commodore 64 in the early 1980s in Vancouver, Canada, and sold worldwide. Due to optimized code and memory allocation, Blue Board boasted very fast performance for a BBS on that hardware platform...
and Color 64, often with sysop
SysOp
A sysop is an administrator of a multi-user computer system, such as a bulletin board system or an online service virtual community. It may also be used to refer to administrators of other Internet-based network services....
-made modifications. These boards sometimes were used to distribute cracked software.
There were also major commercial online services, such as Compunet
Compunet
Compunet was a United Kingdom based interactive service provider, catering primarily for the Commodore 64 but later for the Commodore Amiga and Atari ST...
(UK), Compuserve
CompuServe
CompuServe was the first major commercial online service in the United States. It dominated the field during the 1980s and remained a major player through the mid-1990s, when it was sidelined by the rise of services such as AOL with monthly subscriptions rather than hourly rates...
(US - later bought by America Online), The Source (US) and Minitel
Minitel
The Minitel is a Videotex online service accessible through the telephone lines, and is considered one of the world's most successful pre-World Wide Web online services. It was launched in France in 1982 by the PTT...
(France) among many others. These services usually required custom software which was often bundled with a modem
Modem
A modem is a device that modulates an analog carrier signal to encode digital information, and also demodulates such a carrier signal to decode the transmitted information. The goal is to produce a signal that can be transmitted easily and decoded to reproduce the original digital data...
and included free online time as they were billed by the minute.
Quantum Link
Quantum Link
Quantum Link was a U.S. and Canadian online service for Commodore 64 and 128 personal computers that operated from November 5, 1985 to November 1, 1995. It was operated by Quantum Computer Services of Vienna, Virginia. In October 1991 they changed the name to America Online, which continues to...
(or Q-Link) was a US and Canadian online service for Commodore 64 and 128 personal computers that operated from November 5, 1985 to November 1, 1994. It was operated by Quantum Computer Services of Vienna, Virginia, which in October 1991 changed its name to America Online, and continues to operate its AOL
AOL
AOL Inc. is an American global Internet services and media company. AOL is headquartered at 770 Broadway in New York. Founded in 1983 as Control Video Corporation, it has franchised its services to companies in several nations around the world or set up international versions of its services...
service for the IBM PC
IBM PC
The IBM Personal Computer, commonly known as the IBM PC, is the original version and progenitor of the IBM PC compatible hardware platform. It is IBM model number 5150, and was introduced on August 12, 1981...
and Apple Macintosh today. Q-Link was a modified version of the PlayNET
PlayNET
PlayNet was a U.S. online service for Commodore 64 personal computers that operated from 1984 to 1987. It was operated by the PlayNet, Inc of Troy, New York.-History:...
system, which Control Video Corporation (CVC, later renamed Quantum Computer Services) licensed.
The Quantum Link networking service became America Online which became AOL-Time Warner which was then contracted to AOL.
Online gaming
The original interactive game on the micro was M.U.DMUD1
Multi-User Dungeon, or MUD is the first MUD and the oldest virtual world in existence. It was created in 1978 by Roy Trubshaw at Essex University on a DEC PDP-10 in the UK, using the MACRO-10 assembly language...
, the "Multi User Dungeon", a text based adventure / RPG programme based on the original Adventure
Adventure
An adventure is defined as an exciting or unusual experience; it may also be a bold, usually risky undertaking, with an uncertain outcome. The term is often used to refer to activities with some potential for physical danger, such as skydiving, mountain climbing and or participating in extreme sports...
written by Tony Crowther for the DEC PDP-9.
Written for British Telecom on Compunet
Compunet
Compunet was a United Kingdom based interactive service provider, catering primarily for the Commodore 64 but later for the Commodore Amiga and Atari ST...
, the game was expanded to Compuserve
CompuServe
CompuServe was the first major commercial online service in the United States. It dominated the field during the 1980s and remained a major player through the mid-1990s, when it was sidelined by the rise of services such as AOL with monthly subscriptions rather than hourly rates...
in US.
This text based adventure game allowed real time conversations and combats (in text) via the large commercial BBS.
Don Daglow
Don Daglow
Don Daglow is an American computer game and video game designer, programmer and producer. He is best known for designing a series of pioneering simulation games and role-playing games, as well as the first computer baseball game and the first graphical MMORPG, all between 1971 and 1995...
and the Stormfront
Stormfront Studios
Stormfront Studios was a video game developer based in San Rafael, California which had one of the longest creative histories in the industry. In 2007, the company had over 50 developers working on two teams, and owned all its proprietary engines, tools and technology. As of the end of 2007 over...
game design team began working with AOL
AOL
AOL Inc. is an American global Internet services and media company. AOL is headquartered at 770 Broadway in New York. Founded in 1983 as Control Video Corporation, it has franchised its services to companies in several nations around the world or set up international versions of its services...
on original online games in 1987, in both text-based and graphical formats. At the time AOL was a Commodore 64 only online service, known as Quantum Computer Services, with just a few thousand subscribers, and was called Quantum Link
Quantum Link
Quantum Link was a U.S. and Canadian online service for Commodore 64 and 128 personal computers that operated from November 5, 1985 to November 1, 1995. It was operated by Quantum Computer Services of Vienna, Virginia. In October 1991 they changed the name to America Online, which continues to...
. Online graphics in the late 1980s were severely restricted by the need to support modem data transfer rates as slow as 300 bits per second (bit/s). During the early 1990s, commercial use of the Internet was limited by NSFNET
NSFNet
The National Science Foundation Network was a program of coordinated, evolving projects sponsored by the National Science Foundation beginning in 1985 to promote advanced research and education networking in the United States...
acceptable use policies. Consequently, early online games like Legends of Future Past
Legends of Future Past
Legends of Future Past was the first commercial text-based MMORPG to make the transition from a proprietary network provider to the Internet. It was designed by Jon Radoff and Angela Bull. . It was also notable in that it had paid Game Masters who conducted online events...
, Neverwinter Nights
Neverwinter Nights (AOL game)
Neverwinter Nights was the first multiplayer online role-playing game to display graphics, and ran from 1991 to 1997 on AOL.-Gameplay:Neverwinter Nights was developed to be played similarly to the Gold Box series of games...
, GemStone III, Dragon's Gate
Dragon's Gate
Dragon's Gate was an interactive, real time, text-based multi user online fantasy role-playing game, sometimes referred to as a MUD. It was one of the longest running pay-for-play online games in the world, it opened to the public in the spring of 1990 on GEnie. In the summer of 1996 the game was...
, and Federation
Federation
A federation , also known as a federal state, is a type of sovereign state characterized by a union of partially self-governing states or regions united by a central government...
relied heavily on proprietary services such as CompuServe
CompuServe
CompuServe was the first major commercial online service in the United States. It dominated the field during the 1980s and remained a major player through the mid-1990s, when it was sidelined by the rise of services such as AOL with monthly subscriptions rather than hourly rates...
, America Online, and GEnie
GEnie
GEnie was an online service created by a General Electric business - GEIS that ran from 1985 through the end of 1999. In 1994, GEnie claimed around 350,000 users. Peak simultaneous usage was around 10,000 users...
for distribution.
The first graphical character-based interactive environment was Club Caribe
Club Caribe
Club Caribe was one of the first graphical online worlds. It was available in the 1980s on the exclusively Commodore 64 online service Quantum Link. Originally available in limited release as Habitat, Club Caribe was eventually released to the public as an extension of Q-Link's "People Connection"...
. First released as Habitat
Habitat (video game)
Lucasfilm's Habitat was an early and technologically influential online role-playing game developed by Lucasfilm Games and made available as a beta test in 1986 by Quantum Link, an online service for the Commodore 64 computer and the corporate progenitor to America Online...
in 1988, Club Caribe was introduced by LucasArts
LucasArts
LucasArts Entertainment Company, LLC is an American video game developer and publisher. The company was once famous for its innovative line of graphic adventure games, the critical and commercial success of which peaked in the mid 1990s...
for Q-Link customers on their Commodore 64 computers. Users could interact with one another, chat and exchange items. Although very basic, its use of online avatars (already well established off-line by Ultima and other games) and combination of chat and graphics was revolutionary.
CPU and memory
The C64 uses an 8-bit8-bit
The first widely adopted 8-bit microprocessor was the Intel 8080, being used in many hobbyist computers of the late 1970s and early 1980s, often running the CP/M operating system. The Zilog Z80 and the Motorola 6800 were also used in similar computers...
MOS Technology 6510
MOS Technology 6510
thumb|300px|Image of the internals of a [[Commodore 64]] showing the 6510 CPU . The chip on the right is the [[MOS Technology SID|6581 SID]]...
microprocessor
Microprocessor
A microprocessor incorporates the functions of a computer's central processing unit on a single integrated circuit, or at most a few integrated circuits. It is a multipurpose, programmable device that accepts digital data as input, processes it according to instructions stored in its memory, and...
. This is a close derivative of the 6502
MOS Technology 6502
The MOS Technology 6502 is an 8-bit microprocessor that was designed by Chuck Peddle and Bill Mensch for MOS Technology in 1975. When it was introduced, it was the least expensive full-featured microprocessor on the market by a considerable margin, costing less than one-sixth the price of...
with an added 6-bit internal I/O port that in the C64 is used for two purposes: to bank-switch the machine's ROM in and out of the processor's address space, and to operate the datasette tape recorder.
The C64 has of RAM
Random-access memory
Random access memory is a form of computer data storage. Today, it takes the form of integrated circuits that allow stored data to be accessed in any order with a worst case performance of constant time. Strictly speaking, modern types of DRAM are therefore not random access, as data is read in...
, of which are available to built-in Commodore BASIC 2.0
Commodore BASIC
Commodore BASIC, also known as PET BASIC, is the dialect of the BASIC programming language used in Commodore International's 8-bit home computer line, stretching from the PET of 1977 to the C128 of 1985...
on start up.
There is of ROM, made up of the BASIC interpreter, the kernal, and the character ROM. As the processor could only address at a time, the ROM
Read-only memory
Read-only memory is a class of storage medium used in computers and other electronic devices. Data stored in ROM cannot be modified, or can be modified only slowly or with difficulty, so it is mainly used to distribute firmware .In its strictest sense, ROM refers only...
was mapped into memory and only of RAM were available at start up.
If a program did not use the BASIC interpreter, RAM could be mapped over the ROM locations. However, this meant that the character ROM would not be available, and nothing could be seen. This was solved by copying the character ROM into RAM.
This had two benefits ; the standard typeface could be re-written, and character codes could be re-written as picture elements in a picture.
Most C64 games were written in this way, using low resolution, which required much less processor time and saved memory. Furthermore, picture elements could be re-used, saving even more precious memory. The same technique was used in systems like the NES
Nintendo Entertainment System
The Nintendo Entertainment System is an 8-bit video game console that was released by Nintendo in North America during 1985, in Europe during 1986 and Australia in 1987...
.
Graphics
The graphics chipVideo Display Controller
A Video Display Controller or VDC is an integrated circuit which is the main component in a video signal generator, a device responsible for the production of a TV video signal in a computing or game system...
, VIC-II
MOS Technology VIC-II
The VIC-II , specifically known as the MOS Technology 6567/8562/8564 , 6569/8565/8566 , is the microchip tasked with generating Y/C/composite video graphics and DRAM refresh signals in the Commodore 64 and C128 home computers.Succeeding MOS's original VIC , the VIC-II was one of the two chips...
, features 16 colors, eight hardware sprites
Sprite (computer graphics)
In computer graphics, a sprite is a two-dimensional image or animation that is integrated into a larger scene...
per scanline (enabling up to 112 sprites per PAL screen), scrolling
Scrolling
In computer graphics, filmmaking, television production, and other kinetic displays, scrolling is sliding text, images or video across a monitor or display. "Scrolling", as such, does not change the layout of the text or pictures, or but incrementally moves the user's view across what is...
capabilities, and two bitmap graphics modes. The standard text mode features 40 columns, like most Commodore PET
Commodore PET
The Commodore PET was a home/personal computer produced from 1977 by Commodore International...
models; the built in character encoding is not standard ASCII
ASCII
The American Standard Code for Information Interchange is a character-encoding scheme based on the ordering of the English alphabet. ASCII codes represent text in computers, communications equipment, and other devices that use text...
but PETSCII
PETSCII
PETSCII , also known as CBM ASCII, is the variation of the ASCII character set used in Commodore Business Machines 's 8-bit home computers, starting with the PET from 1977 and including the VIC-20, C64, CBM-II, Plus/4, C16, C116 and C128...
, an extended form of ASCII-1963.
Most screen shots show borders around the screen, which is a feature of the VIC-II chip. By utilising interrupts to reset various hardware registers on precise timings it was possible to place graphics within the borders and thus utilise the full screen.
There were two low resolution and two bit mapped modes.
Multi-color bitmapped mode had an addressable screen of 160 x 200 pixels, with a maximum of four colours per 8 x 8 character block.
High resolution bitmapped mode had an addressable screen of 320 x 200 pixels, with a maximum of two colours per 8 x 8 character block.
Multicolor low resolution had a screen of 160 x 200 pixels, 40 x 25 addressable with fours colours per 8 x 8 character block.
High resolution "low resolution" had a screen of 320 x 200 pixels, 40 x 25 addressable with two colours per 8 x 8 character block.
Most videogames used Multicolour low resolution.
This allowed only character block - by character block animation because of the limited addressable space.
This wasn't an issue however, as the video chip automated sprites
Sprite (computer graphics)
In computer graphics, a sprite is a two-dimensional image or animation that is integrated into a larger scene...
and vertical and horizontal scrolling pixel by pixel and worked smooth and fast regardless of the video mode.
Some animation (for instance, bullets), used character animation, where sprites were not available.
Sound
The SIDMOS Technology SID
The MOS Technology 6581/8580 SID is the built-in Programmable Sound Generator chip of Commodore's CBM-II, Commodore 64, Commodore 128 and Commodore MAX Machine home computers...
chip has three channels, each with its own ADSR envelope generator, ring modulation
Ring modulation
Ring modulation is a signal-processing effect in electronics, an implementation of amplitude modulation or frequency mixing, performed by multiplying two signals, where one is typically a sine-wave or another simple waveform. It is referred to as "ring" modulation because the analog circuit of...
and filter capabilities. Bob Yannes developed the SID chip and later co-founded synthesizer company Ensoniq
Ensoniq
Ensoniq Corp. was an American electronics manufacturer, best known throughout the mid 1980s and 1990s for its musical instruments, principally samplers and synthesizers.- Company history :...
. Yannes criticized other contemporary computer sound chips as "primitive, obviously... designed by people who knew nothing about music". Often the game music became a hit of its own among C64 users. Well-known composers and programmers of game music on the C64 are Rob Hubbard
Rob Hubbard
Rob Hubbard is a music composer best known for his composition of computer game theme music, especially for microcomputers of the 1980s such as the Commodore 64...
, David Whittaker, Chris Hülsbeck
Chris Hülsbeck
Chris Hülsbeck is a video game music composer from Germany.He has written soundtracks for more than 70 titles, the latest being Star Wars: Rebel Strike for Nintendo GameCube. Many of his scores for the Commodore 64 are regarded as classics among enthusiasts today, most notably The Great Giana...
, Ben Daglish
Ben Daglish
Ben Daglish is a composer and musician. His parents moved to Sheffield when Daglish was aged one year old. He is known for creating many soundtracks during the 1980s for home computer games, including Commodore 64 hits as The Last Ninja, Trap, and Deflektor...
, Martin Galway
Martin Galway
Martin Galway is one of the best known composers of music for the Commodore 64 sound chip, the SID soundchip, and for the Sinclair ZX Spectrum...
, David Dunn and Kjell Nordbø among many others. Due to the chip's three channels, chords are played as arpeggio
Arpeggio
An arpeggio is a musical technique where notes in a chord are played or sung in sequence, one after the other, rather than ringing out simultaneously...
s, coining the C64's characteristic lively sound. It was also possible to continuously update the master volume with sampled data to enable the playback of 4-bit digitized audio. As of 2008, it became possible to play four channel 8-bit audio samples, 2 SID channels and still use filtering.
There are two versions of the SID chip, the 6581 and the 8580. The MOS Technology 6581 was used in the original "breadbox" C64s, the early versions of the C64C and the Commodore 128
Commodore 128
The Commodore 128 home/personal computer was the last 8-bit machine commercially released by Commodore Business Machines...
. The 6581 was replaced with the MOS Technology 8580 in 1987. The 6581 sound quality is a little more crisp, and many Commodore 64 fans prefer its sound. The main difference between the 6581 and the 8580 is the supply voltage. The 6581 uses a 12 volt supply - the 8580, a nine volt supply. A modification can be made to use the 6581 in a C64C board (which uses the nine volt chip).
The SID chip has a distinctive sound which has retained a following of devotees to such a degree, that a number of audio enthusiasts and companies have designed SID-based products as add-ons for the C64, x86 PCs, and standalone or MIDI
Musical Instrument Digital Interface
MIDI is an industry-standard protocol, first defined in 1982 by Gordon Hall, that enables electronic musical instruments , computers and other electronic equipment to communicate and synchronize with each other...
music devices such as the Elektron SidStation
Elektron SidStation
The Elektron SidStation is a musical synthesizer sound module, built around the MOS Technology SID mixed-mode synthesizer chip originally used in the Commodore 64 home computer. It was produced by the Swedish synthesizer company Elektron, and was introduced in 1999...
. These devices use chips taken from excess stock, or removed from used computers.
In 2007, Timbaland
Timbaland
Timothy Zachery Mosley , better known by his stage name Timbaland, is an American record producer, songwriter and rapper....
's extensive use of the SidStation led to the 2007 Timbaland plagiarism controversy
2007 Timbaland plagiarism controversy
Timbaland's plagiarism controversy occurred in January 2007, when several news sources reported that Timbaland was alleged to have plagiarized several elements in the song "Do It" on the 2006 album Loose by Nelly Furtado without giving credit or compensation...
around his tracks "Block Party" and "Do It
Do It
"Do It" is a popsong by Canadian recording artist Nelly Furtado for her third album, Loose . It was produced by Timbaland and Nate "Danja" Hills...
" (written for Nelly Furtado
Nelly Furtado
Nelly Kim Furtado is a Canadian singer-songwriter, record producer and actress. Furtado grew up in Victoria, British Columbia, Canada.Furtado first gained fame with her debut album, Whoa, Nelly!, and its single "I'm Like a Bird", which won a 2001 Juno Award for Single of the Year and a 2002 Grammy...
).
Hardware revisions
Cost reduction was the driving force behind the C64's motherboard revisions. Reducing manufacturing costs was vitally important to Commodore's survival during the price war and leaner years of the 16-bit era. The C64's original (NMOSNMOS logic
N-type metal-oxide-semiconductor logic uses n-type metal-oxide-semiconductor field effect transistors to implement logic gates and other digital circuits...
based) motherboard would go through two major redesigns, (and numerous sub-revisions) exchanging positions of the VIC-II, SID and PLA
Programmable logic array
A programmable logic array is a kind of programmable logic device used to implement combinational logic circuits. The PLA has a set of programmable AND gate planes, which link to a set of programmable OR gate planes, which can then be conditionally complemented to produce an output...
chips. Initially, a large portion of the cost was eliminated by reducing the number of discrete components, such as diodes and resistors, which enabled the use of a smaller printed circuit board
Printed circuit board
A printed circuit board, or PCB, is used to mechanically support and electrically connect electronic components using conductive pathways, tracks or signal traces etched from copper sheets laminated onto a non-conductive substrate. It is also referred to as printed wiring board or etched wiring...
.
The case is made from ABS
Acrylonitrile butadiene styrene
Acrylonitrile butadiene styrene is a common thermoplastic. Its melting point is approximately 105 °C ....
plastic which may become brown with time. This can be reversed by using the public domain chemical mix "Retr0bright
Retr0bright
Retr0bright is a public domain chemical mixture used to remove yellowing from ABS plastic computer cases that were popular in the 1980s and 1990s, such as Commodore, Apple and Amiga computers. Yellowing is caused by both bromine and exposure to UV light...
".
ICs
The VIC-II was manufactured with 5 micrometerMicrometre
A micrometer , is by definition 1×10-6 of a meter .In plain English, it means one-millionth of a meter . Its unit symbol in the International System of Units is μm...
NMOS technology and was clocked at either (PAL) or (NTSC). Internally, the clock was divided down to generate the dot clock (about 8 MHz) and the two-phase system clocks (about 1 MHz; the exact pixel and system clock speeds are slightly different between NTSC and PAL machines). At such high clock rates, the chip generated a lot of heat, forcing MOS Technology to use a ceramic DIL package
Dual in-line package
In microelectronics, a dual in-line package is an electronic device package with a rectangular housing and two parallel rows of electrical connecting pins. The package may be through-hole mounted to a printed circuit board or inserted in a socket.A DIP is usually referred to as a DIPn, where n is...
(called a "CERDIP"). The ceramic package was more expensive, but it dissipated heat more effectively than plastic.
After a redesign in 1983, the VIC-II was encased in a plastic Dual Inline Package, which reduced costs substantially, but it did not totally eliminate the heat problem. Without a ceramic package, the VIC-II required the use of a heat sink
Heat sink
A heat sink is a term for a component or assembly that transfers heat generated within a solid material to a fluid medium, such as air or a liquid. Examples of heat sinks are the heat exchangers used in refrigeration and air conditioning systems and the radiator in a car...
. To avoid extra cost, the metal RF
Radio frequency
Radio frequency is a rate of oscillation in the range of about 3 kHz to 300 GHz, which corresponds to the frequency of radio waves, and the alternating currents which carry radio signals...
shielding
Electromagnetic shielding
Electromagnetic shielding is the process of reducing the electromagnetic field in a space by blocking the field with barriers made of conductive and/or magnetic materials. Shielding is typically applied to enclosures to isolate electrical devices from the 'outside world' and to cables to isolate...
doubled as the heat sink for the VIC, although not all units shipped with this type of shielding. Most C64s in Europe
Europe
Europe is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally 'divided' from Asia to its east by the watershed divides of the Ural and Caucasus Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian and Black Seas, and the waterways connecting...
shipped with a cardboard RF shield, coated with a layer of metal foil. The effectiveness of the cardboard was highly questionable, and worse still it acted as an insulator, blocking airflow which trapped heat generated by the SID, VIC, and PLA chips.
The SID was manufactured using NMOS at 7 and in some areas 6 micrometers. The prototype SID and some very early production models featured a ceramic Dual Inline Package, but unlike the VIC-II, these are extremely rare as the SID was encased in plastic when production started in early 1982.
Motherboard
In 1986, Commodore released the last revision to the classic C64 motherboard. It was otherwise identical to the 1984 design, except for the two 64 kilobitKilobit
The kilobit is a multiple of the unit bit for digital information or computer storage. The prefix kilo is defined in the International System of Units as a multiplier of 103 , and therefore,...
× 4 bit DRAM
Dram
Dram or DRAM may refer to:As a unit of measure:* Dram , an imperial unit of mass and volume* Armenian dram, a monetary unit* Dirham, a unit of currency in several Arab nationsOther uses:...
chips that replaced the original eight 64 kilobit × 1 bit ICs.
After the release of the C64C, MOS Technology began to reconfigure the C64's chipset to use HMOS
HMOS
Depletion-load nMOS/NMOS is a form of nMOS logic family which uses depletion-mode n-type MOSFETs as load transistors as a method to enable single voltage operation and achieve greater speed than possible with pure enhancement-load devices...
production technology. The main benefit of using HMOS was that it required less voltage to drive the IC, which consequently generates less heat. This enhanced the overall reliability of the SID and VIC-II. The new chipset was re-numbered to 85xx in order to reflect the change to HMOS.
In 1987, Commodore released C64Cs with a totally redesigned motherboard commonly known as a "short board". The new board used the new HMOS chipset, featuring a new 64-pin PLA chip. The new "SuperPLA", as it was dubbed, integrated many discrete components and TTL chips. In the last revision of the C64C motherboard, the 2114 color RAM was integrated into the SuperPLA.
Power supply
The C64 used an external power supplyPower supply
A power supply is a device that supplies electrical energy to one or more electric loads. The term is most commonly applied to devices that convert one form of electrical energy to another, though it may also refer to devices that convert another form of energy to electrical energy...
, a conventional transformer with multiple tappings (as opposed to switch mode, the system used today [2011] on PC power supplies), encased in a gel (epoxy resin) which tended to increase the heat level when running.
This saved space within the computer's case and allowed international versions to be more easily manufactured. The 1541-II and 1581 disk drives, along with various third-party clones, also came with their own external power supply "bricks", as did most peripherals leading to a "spaghetti" of cables and the use of numerous double adapters by users.
These power supplies were notorious for failing over time.
Commodore later changed the design, omitting the gel.
The proprietary design usually led to "freezing" after a few hours, so many serious users - such as programmers - used their own dual circuit power supplies instead .
Internal hardware
- Microprocessor CPU:
- MOS Technology 6510/8500MOS Technology 6510thumb|300px|Image of the internals of a [[Commodore 64]] showing the 6510 CPU . The chip on the right is the [[MOS Technology SID|6581 SID]]...
(the 6510/8500 is a modified 6502MOS Technology 6502The MOS Technology 6502 is an 8-bit microprocessor that was designed by Chuck Peddle and Bill Mensch for MOS Technology in 1975. When it was introduced, it was the least expensive full-featured microprocessor on the market by a considerable margin, costing less than one-sixth the price of...
with an integrated 6-bit I/O port) - Clock speed: or
- MOS Technology 6510/8500
- Video: MOS Technology VIC-IIMOS Technology VIC-IIThe VIC-II , specifically known as the MOS Technology 6567/8562/8564 , 6569/8565/8566 , is the microchip tasked with generating Y/C/composite video graphics and DRAM refresh signals in the Commodore 64 and C128 home computers.Succeeding MOS's original VIC , the VIC-II was one of the two chips...
6567/8562 (NTSC), 6569/8565 (PAL)- 16 colors
- Text mode: 40×25 characters; 256 user-defined chars (8×8 pixelPixelIn digital imaging, a pixel, or pel, is a single point in a raster image, or the smallest addressable screen element in a display device; it is the smallest unit of picture that can be represented or controlled....
s, or 4×8 in multicolor mode); 4-bit color RAM defines foreground color - Bitmap modes: 320×200 (2 unique colors in each 8×8 pixel block), 160×200 (3 unique colors + 1 common color in each 4×8 block)
- 8 hardware spriteSprite (computer graphics)In computer graphics, a sprite is a two-dimensional image or animation that is integrated into a larger scene...
s of 24×21 pixels (12×21 in multicolor mode) - Smooth scrolling, raster interruptRaster interruptA raster interrupt is a computer interrupt signal that is used for display timing purposes. It is usually, though not always, generated by the system's graphics chip....
s
- Sound: MOS Technology 6581/8580 SIDMOS Technology SIDThe MOS Technology 6581/8580 SID is the built-in Programmable Sound Generator chip of Commodore's CBM-II, Commodore 64, Commodore 128 and Commodore MAX Machine home computers...
- 3-channel synthesizerSynthesizerA synthesizer is an electronic instrument capable of producing sounds by generating electrical signals of different frequencies. These electrical signals are played through a loudspeaker or set of headphones...
with programmable ADSR envelope - 8 octaveOctaveIn music, an octave is the interval between one musical pitch and another with half or double its frequency. The octave relationship is a natural phenomenon that has been referred to as the "basic miracle of music", the use of which is "common in most musical systems"...
s - 4 waveformWaveformWaveform means the shape and form of a signal such as a wave moving in a physical medium or an abstract representation.In many cases the medium in which the wave is being propagated does not permit a direct visual image of the form. In these cases, the term 'waveform' refers to the shape of a graph...
s per audio channel: triangleTriangle waveA triangle wave is a non-sinusoidal waveform named for its triangular shape.Like a square wave, the triangle wave contains only odd harmonics...
, sawtoothSawtooth waveThe sawtooth wave is a kind of non-sinusoidal waveform. It is named a sawtooth based on its resemblance to the teeth on the blade of a saw....
, variable pulseSquare waveA square wave is a kind of non-sinusoidal waveform, most typically encountered in electronics and signal processing. An ideal square wave alternates regularly and instantaneously between two levels...
, noiseWhite noiseWhite noise is a random signal with a flat power spectral density. In other words, the signal contains equal power within a fixed bandwidth at any center frequency... - Oscillator syncOscillator syncOscillator sync is a feature in some synthesizers with two or more VCOs . One oscillator will restart the period of another oscillator, so that they will have the same base frequency...
hronization, ring modulationRing modulationRing modulation is a signal-processing effect in electronics, an implementation of amplitude modulation or frequency mixing, performed by multiplying two signals, where one is typically a sine-wave or another simple waveform. It is referred to as "ring" modulation because the analog circuit of... - Programmable filter: high passHigh-pass filterA high-pass filter is a device that passes high frequencies and attenuates frequencies lower than its cutoff frequency. A high-pass filter is usually modeled as a linear time-invariant system...
, low passLow-pass filterA low-pass filter is an electronic filter that passes low-frequency signals but attenuates signals with frequencies higher than the cutoff frequency. The actual amount of attenuation for each frequency varies from filter to filter. It is sometimes called a high-cut filter, or treble cut filter...
, band passBand-pass filterA band-pass filter is a device that passes frequencies within a certain range and rejects frequencies outside that range.Optical band-pass filters are of common usage....
, notch filterBand-stop filterIn signal processing, a band-stop filter or band-rejection filter is a filter that passes most frequencies unaltered, but attenuates those in a specific range to very low levels. It is the opposite of a band-pass filter...
- 3-channel synthesizer
- Input/Output: Two 6526 Complex Interface AdapterMOS Technology CIAThe 6526/8520 Complex Interface Adapter was an integrated circuit made by MOS Technology. It served as a I/O port controller for the 6502 family of microprocessors, providing for parallel and serial I/O capabilities as well as timers and a Time-of-Day clock...
s- 16 bit parallel I/O
- 8 bit serial I/O
- 24-hours (AM/PM) Time of Day clock (TOD), with programmable alarm clockAlarm clockAn alarm clock is a clock that is designed to make a loud sound at a specific time. The primary use of these clocks is to awaken people from their night's sleep or short naps; they are sometimes used for other reminders as well. To stop the sound, a button or handle on the clock is pressed; but...
- 16 bit interval timers
- RAM:
- 64 kB, of which 38 kB (minus 1 byte) were available for BASIC programs
- 512 bytes color RAM (memory allocated for screen color data storage)
- Expandable to 320 kB with Commodore 1764Commodore REUCommodore's RAM Expansion Unit range of external RAM add-ons for their Commodore 64/128 home computers was announced at the same time as the C128. The REUs came in three models, initially the 1700 and 1750 , and later the 1764...
256 kB RAM Expansion UnitCommodore REUCommodore's RAM Expansion Unit range of external RAM add-ons for their Commodore 64/128 home computers was announced at the same time as the C128. The REUs came in three models, initially the 1700 and 1750 , and later the 1764...
(REU); although only 64 kB directly accessible; REU mostly intended for GEOSGEOS (8-bit operating system)GEOS is an operating system from Berkeley Softworks . Originally designed for the Commodore 64 and released in 1986, it provided a graphical user interface for this popular 8-bit computer.GEOS closely resembled early versions of Mac OS and included a graphical word processor and paint program...
. REUs of 128 kB and 512 kB, originally designed for the C128, were also available, but required the user to buy a stronger power supply from some third party supplier; with the 1764 this was included. Creative Micro DesignsCreative Micro DesignsCreative Micro Designs is a computer technologies company which today sells PCs and related equipment, but which started out in 1987 selling self-designed firmware updates and hardware for the Commodore 64 and C128 8-bit home/personal computers....
also produced a 2 MBMegabyteThe megabyte is a multiple of the unit byte for digital information storage or transmission with two different values depending on context: bytes generally for computer memory; and one million bytes generally for computer storage. The IEEE Standards Board has decided that "Mega will mean 1 000...
REU for the C64 and C128, called the 1750 XL. The technology actually supported up to 16 MB, but 2 MB was the biggest one officially made. Expansions of up to 16 MB were also possible via the CMD SuperCPU.
- ROM:
} ( BASIC 2.0
Commodore BASIC
Commodore BASIC, also known as PET BASIC, is the dialect of the BASIC programming language used in Commodore International's 8-bit home computer line, stretching from the PET of 1977 to the C128 of 1985...
; KERNAL
KERNAL
The KERNAL is Commodore's name for the ROM-resident operating system core in its 8-bit home computers; from the original PET of 1977, followed by the extended but strongly related versions used in its successors; the VIC-20, Commodore 64, Plus/4, C16, and C128...
; character generator, providing two character sets)
I/O ports and power supply
- I/O ports:
- Cartridge expansion slot (slot for edge connectorEdge connectorAn edge connector is the portion of a printed circuit board consisting of traces leading to the edge of the board that are intended to plug into a matching socket. The edge connector is a money-saving device because it only requires a single discrete female connector , and they also tend to be...
with 6510 CPU address/data bus lines and control signals, as well as GND and voltage pins; used for program modules and memory expansions, among others) - Integrated RF modulatorRF modulatorAn RF modulator is a device that takes a baseband input signal and outputs a radio frequency-modulated signal....
antenna output via a RCA connectorRCA connectorAn RCA connector, sometimes called a phono connector or cinch connector, is a type of electrical connector commonly used to carry audio and video signals...
. The used channel could be adjusted from number 36 with the potentiometer to the left. - 8-pin DIN connectorDIN connectorA DIN connector is a connector that was originally standardized by the , the German national standards organization. There are DIN standards for a large number of different connectors, therefore the term "DIN connector" alone does not unambiguously identify any particular type of connector unless...
containing composite videoComposite videoComposite video is the format of an analog television signal before it is combined with a sound signal and modulated onto an RF carrier. In contrast to component video it contains all required video information, including colors in a single line-level signal...
output, separate Y/CS-VideoSeparate Video, more commonly known as S-Video and Y/C, is often referred to by JVC as both an S-VHS connector and as Super Video. It is an analog video transmission scheme, in which video information is encoded on two channels: luma and chroma...
outputs and sound input/output. Beware that this is the 270° (horseshoe) version of the plug, not the 360° circular version. Also note that some early C64 units use a 5-pin DIN connector that carries composite video and luminance signals, but lacks a chroma signal. - Serial bus (serial version of IEEE-488IEEE-488IEEE-488 is a short-range digital communications bus specification. It was created for use with automated test equipment in the late 1960s, and is still in use for that purpose. IEEE-488 was created as HP-IB , and is commonly called GPIB...
, 6-pin DIN plug) for CBM printers and disk drives - PETCommodore PETThe Commodore PET was a home/personal computer produced from 1977 by Commodore International...
-type Commodore Datassette 300 baudBaudIn telecommunications and electronics, baud is synonymous to symbols per second or pulses per second. It is the unit of symbol rate, also known as baud rate or modulation rate; the number of distinct symbol changes made to the transmission medium per second in a digitally modulated signal or a...
tape interface (edge connector with digital cassette motor/read/write/key-sense signals, Ground and +5V DC lines. The cassette motor is controlled by a +5V DC signal from the 6502 CPU. The 9 V AC input is transformed into unregulated 6.36 V DC which is used to actually power the cassette motor. - User port (edge connector with TTLTransistor-transistor logicTransistor–transistor logic is a class of digital circuits built from bipolar junction transistors and resistors. It is called transistor–transistor logic because both the logic gating function and the amplifying function are performed by transistors .TTL is notable for being a widespread...
-level signals, for modems and so on.; byte-parallel signals which can be used to drive third-party parallel printers, among other things, 17 logic signals, 7 Ground and voltage pins, including 9V AC) - 2 × screwless DE9MD-subminiatureThe D-subminiature or D-sub is a common type of electrical connector. They are named for their characteristic D-shaped metal shield. When they were introduced, D-subs were among the smaller connectors used on computer systems....
game controllerGame controllerA game controller is a device used with games or entertainment systems used to control a playable character or object, or otherwise provide input in a computer game. A controller is typically connected to a game console or computer by means of a wire, cord or nowadays, by means of wireless connection...
ports (compatible with Atari 2600 controllers), each supporting five digital inputs and two analog inputs. Available peripherals included digital joystickJoystickA joystick is an input device consisting of a stick that pivots on a base and reports its angle or direction to the device it is controlling. Joysticks, also known as 'control columns', are the principal control in the cockpit of many civilian and military aircraft, either as a center stick or...
s, analog paddlePaddle (game controller)A paddle is a game controller with a round wheel and one or more fire buttons, where the wheel is typically used to control movement of the player object along one axis of the video screen...
s, a light penLight penA light pen is a computer input device in the form of a light-sensitive wand used in conjunction with a computer's CRT TV set or monitor. It allows the user to point to displayed objects, or draw on the screen, in a similar way to a touch screen but with greater positional accuracy...
, the Commodore 1351 mouseCommodore 1351The Mouse 1351 is a mouse made by Commodore in 1986, which can directly be plugged into the 9-pin control port of a C64/128/D/DCR.- Description :...
, and graphics tablets such as the KoalaPad.
- Cartridge expansion slot (slot for edge connector
- Power supply:
- 5VVoltThe volt is the SI derived unit for electric potential, electric potential difference, and electromotive force. The volt is named in honor of the Italian physicist Alessandro Volta , who invented the voltaic pile, possibly the first chemical battery.- Definition :A single volt is defined as the...
DCDirect currentDirect current is the unidirectional flow of electric charge. Direct current is produced by such sources as batteries, thermocouples, solar cells, and commutator-type electric machines of the dynamo type. Direct current may flow in a conductor such as a wire, but can also flow through...
and 9VACAlternating currentIn alternating current the movement of electric charge periodically reverses direction. In direct current , the flow of electric charge is only in one direction....
from an external "power brick", attached to a 7-pin female DIN-connector on the computer.
- 5V
The is used to supply power via a charge pump
Charge pump
A charge pump is a kind of DC to DC converter that uses capacitors as energy storage elements to create either a higher or lower voltage power source. Charge pump circuits are capable of high efficiencies, sometimes as high as 90–95% while being electrically simple circuits.Charge pumps use some...
to the SID
MOS Technology SID
The MOS Technology 6581/8580 SID is the built-in Programmable Sound Generator chip of Commodore's CBM-II, Commodore 64, Commodore 128 and Commodore MAX Machine home computers...
sound generator chip, provide via a rectifier to the cassette motor, a "0" pulse for every positive half wave to the time-of-day (TOD) input on the CIA chips, and directly to the user-port. Thus, as a minimum, a square wave
Square wave
A square wave is a kind of non-sinusoidal waveform, most typically encountered in electronics and signal processing. An ideal square wave alternates regularly and instantaneously between two levels...
is required. But a sine wave
Sine wave
The sine wave or sinusoid is a mathematical function that describes a smooth repetitive oscillation. It occurs often in pure mathematics, as well as physics, signal processing, electrical engineering and many other fields...
is preferred.
See also
- Commodore SX-64Commodore SX-64The Commodore SX-64, also known as the Executive 64, or VIP-64 in Europe, is a portable, briefcase/suitcase-size "luggable" version of the popular Commodore 64 home computer and holds the distinction of being the first full-color portable computer....
– Portable version - History of personal computersHistory of personal computersThe history of personal computers began in the 1970s. A personal computer is one intended for individual use, as opposed to a mainframe computer where the end user's requests are filtered through operating staff, or a time sharing system in which one large processor is shared by many individuals...
- Commodore 64 (font)Commodore 64 (font)The developer, IlTimido released a new C64 frontend for Windows called C64 Memories. This frontend focusses on manageability of the big TOSEC collections.C64 Memories features:...
- Commodore 64 peripheralsCommodore 64 peripheralsThis article is about the various external peripherals of the Commodore 64 home computer.-Tape drives:In the United States, the 1541 floppy disk drive was widespread. By contrast, in Europe the C64 was often used with cassette tape drives , which were much cheaper, but also much slower than floppy...
- List of Commodore 64 games
- Commodore 64 demosCommodore 64 demosThe Commodore 64 demos are demonstrations of what can be done to push the limits of the Commodore 64 computer, made by programmers, musicians and artists....
- Commodore MAX MachineCommodore MAX MachineThe Commodore MAX Machine, also known as Ultimax in the United States and VC-10 in Germany, was a home computer designed and sold by Commodore International in Japan, beginning in early 1982, a predecessor to the popular Commodore 64...
– the Commodore 64's predecessor - Commodore 128Commodore 128The Commodore 128 home/personal computer was the last 8-bit machine commercially released by Commodore Business Machines...
– the Commodore 64's descendant - C-OneC-OneThe C-One is a single-board computer designed by Jeri Ellsworth, a self-taught designer, and Jens Schönfeld from Individual Computers, who manufactured the boards themselves...
– Programmable FPGA clone - C64 Direct-to-TVC64 Direct-to-TVThe C64 Direct-to-TV, called C64DTV for short, is a single-chip implementation of the Commodore 64 computer, contained in a joystick with 30 built-in games. The design is similar to the Atari Classics 10-in-1 TV Game...
– ASIC clone with 30 built in games - IDE64IDE64The IDE64 interface cartridge is an expansion port device for connecting ATA devices to the C64 or C128 computers.-Hardware:There were several somewhat different versions of this cartridge over the years. The interface was designed by Tomas Pribyl and Jan Vorlicek in 1994...
– P-ATA interface cartridge for the C64 - uIEC - IEC interface for Secure DigitalSecure DigitalSecure Digital is a non-volatile memory card format developed by the SD Card Association for use in portable devices. The SD technology is used by more than 400 brands across dozens of product categories and more than 8,000 models, and is considered the de-facto industry standard.Secure Digital...
, Compact Flash, and IDE devices. - Commodore 64xCommodore 64xThe Commodore 64x is an 64-bit Intel x86 home computer sold by Commodore USA LLC in April 2011, as a successor of the original Commodore 64 8-bit home computer sold by Commodore International in 1982...
is a x86-based recreation of C64, coupled with a software emulator
External links
- C64 Preservation Project Discusses preservation of classic software for the Commodore 64
- Chronology of the Commodore 64 Computer
- The History of the Commodore 64
- C64.com The home of Commodore 64 software and interviews with many game producers
- Commodore 64 history, manuals, and photos
- Extensive collection of information on C64 programming
- A History of Gaming Platforms: The Commodore 64 from October 2007
- Images of the C64 prototype from 2003
- A Commodore 64 Web Server Using Contiki v2.3
- Commodore 8-bit web links Project 70 sites and counting
- "Commodore 64 still loved after all these years", CNNCNNCable News Network is a U.S. cable news channel founded in 1980 by Ted Turner. Upon its launch, CNN was the first channel to provide 24-hour television news coverage, and the first all-news television channel in the United States...
- "The Commodore 64 at 25: thank you for the music", The GuardianThe GuardianThe Guardian, formerly known as The Manchester Guardian , is a British national daily newspaper in the Berliner format...
- Review of 5 different Commodore 64 models/motherboards, MOS6502.com
- Commodore Computer Club Discusses hardware, software, repairs and the scene for the Commodore 64
- "How to use the Commodore 64 for chiptunes", 2D-X2D-X2D-X is an independent video game blog based in New York City, New York. It was created after founder and current Editor-in-Chief Jeffrey L. Wilson experienced frustration with what he perceived as contemporary 3D gaming's overly complex control schemes...
- Variations on the Commodore 64
- Future models, planned for 2011