A500plus
- The title given to this article is incorrect due to technical limitations. The correct title is A500+.
The A500+ is an Amiga computer, basically an extended version of the A500.
It came bundled with:
- 1MB of Chip RAM
- Kickstart 37.175
- Workbench 37.67 (release 2.04)
- Built in Real Time Clock (lacking in the A500)
- Full ECS Chipset including new version of the Agnus chip and Denise chip.
Commodore created the A500+ for a couple of reasons. The first was cost reduction; minor changes were made to the motherboard to make it cheaper to produce. It was also so that Commodore could introduce the new version of the Amiga Operating system, 2.04.
The plus was released almost in secrecy; many users didn't realise they weren't purchasing anything other than a "normal" A500. Due to the new Kickstart, quite a few popular games failed to work on the A500+, and a lot of people took them back to dealers demanding an original Kickstart 1.3 A500. This problem was solved by third-parties who produced Kickstart ROM switching boards, that could allow the A500+ to be downgraded to Kickstart 1.2 or 1.3. It also encouraged game developers into better programming habits, something that was essential as when the A500+ was launched, Commodore already had plans for the introduction of the next-generation A1200 computer.
List of Commodore microcomputers
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MOS Technology 6502-based (8-bit): MOS/CBM KIM-1 |
PET/CBM |
CBM-II (aka B/P series) |
VIC-20/VC-20 |
C64 |
SX-64 |
C16 & 116 |
Plus/4 |
C128
M68K-based (16/32-bit): Amiga 1000 |
Amiga 500 |
Amiga 2000 |
Amiga 500+ |
Amiga 2500 |
Amiga 3000, UX, T |
Amiga 600 |
Amiga 1200 |
Amiga 4000
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