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Hey All,
Just wanted to drop a quick personal teaser. I finally got my hands on the latest build of GDOS64 version .99 from Markus Kanet, and holy pixels, it's really cool.
All the credit for this wizardry goes to Markus Kanet – the guy who keeps breathing new life into GEOS64, merging MegaPatch goodness with modern tweaks that actually make sense on today's accelerated hardware. Without his relentless coding and vision, none of this would exist.
So what does this version feel like on real hardware right now?
I threw it onto my Ultimate 64 (running the latest firmware) and successfully ran it on the internal device 8 drive as a 1581 virtual. I then paired with a real CMD Hard Drive (clone). Booted it straight from CMD HDD sitting at device 12 swapped to 8 on the largest native partition. Setup took maybe 10 minutes tops – copied the install disk over via the Ultimate filesystem browser did the install, tweaked the CONFIG.GEOS file for the hard drive geometry, and bam… straight into GeoDesk with almost zero delay.
First impressions that had me grinning:
- Window dragging and resizing feels noticeably silkier – No more of those micro-stutters when shuffling a bunch of overlapped notepads around.
- Mouse wheel support is finally usable for scrolling through long directory lists or help pages actually behaves closer to 2026 instead of 1986.
- Disk driver switching is smoother than ever. I flipped between the Ultimate images and the CMD HDD partitions on the fly without a single lockup or "please insert disk" ghost (so far no hiccups).
- GeoDesk workspace organization got some love – snapping windows to invisible grids, better icon placement persistence across reboots. Feels closer to a proper multi-tasking desktop now. Better SD2IEC/Ultimate compatibility tweaks.
- Optimizations for higher RAM setups (2MB+ recommended as always)
-Boot time shaved down again (even on the "stock" 1 MHz side it’s snappy; i hear the turbo can be finicky so I need to experiment more).
- Still plenty of under-the-hood stability work – no crashes during a 30-minute stress test of opening GeoWrite docs, launching GeoPaint, swapping drives, etc.
This is shaping up to be the release where GDOS64 is feeling like something I could actually daily-drive on my main rig in place of Megapatch 3.3. Markus has clearly been listening to feedback from the hardware-heavy crowd (Ultimate 64, Chameleon, SuperCPU, real 1581/CMD users), and it's paying off for the community.
I wanted to get this out there as if you are in the GEOS realm this will take your usability to the next level. I still intend to post some process posts on starting with a base GEOS install and working toward the enhancements. Installing these modern "fixes" can be daunting.
Huge respect again to Markus Kanet for keeping the GEOS flame alive and kicking so hard in 2026. Legend.
bitbucket.org/mkgit64/area6510/releases is where I got the files. As Markus has a note in the repository that these can be distributed I will try to get the two disks into the download section of 8-bitboyz for ease .... repositories of files can be confusing and a huge thank you again to Markus.
Catch you in the next update – more to come!
-Sutehk
Topic starter
Posted : 04/02/2026 9:16 am
DarkVision and Shane - "PalKat" reacted
Hi there...
first of all: Thanks for your teaser! 😉
I threw it onto my Ultimate 64 (running the latest firmware) and successfully ran it on the internal device 8 drive as a 1581 virtual.
... and ...
• Some U64 quirks noted (like mouse wobble in turbo), and author has said full official U64 support isn’t priority soon.
Yes, that is correct. There are no plans to fully support the turbo mode in the U64 (or C64U). This is because Gideon did not implement the turbo control registers in a way that makes them fully compatible with the SuperCPU (even if he uses "SuperCPU" in the firmware menu). There is one register missing which make the mouse "wobbling" in turbo mode.
I have created experimental mouse drivers for the U64. They can be found here:
bitbucket.org/mkgit64/area6510/src/master/releases/geos-gmakeboot64/
Just download one of the D64 from the "update" directory and use the "SuperMouse_U64" with GDOS64. I was told this will fix the wobble as long as you enable "U64 TurboControl = TurboEnable-bit" in the U64/C64U firmware menu.
These update disks can also be used to update a GEOS64 V2 with newer Configure, DeskTop V2 and other tools like set date and time on U64. Just make sure to use the correct update disk for C=REU support (geos2upd_en-0.3.d64) or GeoRAM support (geos2upd_en-0.3r.d64). You can also create new GEOS64 boot disks using gMakeBoot64 (fork of CMD MakeBoot). It might be more easy to update to GDOS64 then since you can have multiple RAM1581 drives.
Here is a small addition to your GEOS timeline you posted here:
Between 2020 and 2024 the user "Pusti64" from forum64.de implemented new features to TopDesk64 and TopDesk128. He also fixed some bugs in TopDesk. For MegaPatch 128 3.3r11 this is still the best desktop, offering support for CMD and SD2IEC devices. You can find it on forum64.de here (sorry, you must be logged in to download):
www.forum64.de/index.php?thread/84462-dt128-native-copy-test-f%C3%BCr-megapatch128/&postID=1771410#post1771410
Since there was no source code available and since i always disliked the default colors in TopDesk itself, i decided to disassemble the latest TopDesk64 in 2024 and forked it. There is now DTopDesk64 for MegaPatch 64 3.3r11 which fixes some of the issues i always had with TopDesk since 1999.
Well, i would like to show a screenshot, but i guess i don't have enough posts to do so 😉
You can find DTopDesk64 here:
bitbucket.org/mkgit64/area6510/src/master/releases/geos-dtopdesk64/
A small teaser from myself: MegaPatch r12 is in the queue. It has the same issues on the Ultimate64 as GDOS64, so the SuperMouse_U64 mouse driver must be used with MP3 too. No new features added, just some small fixes here and there.
Markus
P.S. Sorry, some links got removed removed link
This post was modified 6 months ago by DarkVision
Posted : 13/02/2026 10:57 pm
Shane - "PalKat" reacted
Thanks for the reply and thanks for all the clarifications.
There is a lot here to digest.
So you mention MegaPatch r12.
Now the question in my mind is which path are you going to be concentrating on MegaPatch or GDOS64?
I've been using MegaPatch for years but GDOS64 is nice also. I've been flipping back and forth between the two as I have them on different partitions on the CMD HD so it's easy.
Thanks again for all your work on keeping GEOS relevant and useful!
-Sutehk
Topic starter
Posted : 14/02/2026 8:47 pm
For me personally, MagePatch has reached “end-of-life” status. Supporting MP64 and MP128 requires more time than I can currently afford.
MP3r12 only corrects minor issues, not actual bugs. New features will no longer be added.
GDOS64 will also only receive bug fixes. My free time (and the currently reserved GEOS memory) is no longer sufficient for major changes.
Of course, I will continue to fix bugs in my programs. In some cases, this also affects older programs such as GeoDesk64 or geoCham64RTC. There will be minor bug fix releases for these soon.
Anyway... GDOS64 is the way to go for C64 users with SuperCPU or TC64... MegaPatch+TopDesk/DTopDesk is for systems with lower hardware specs.
Markus
Posted : 15/02/2026 1:15 pm
GDOS64: From v0.99 to v1.02 – What's New?
Hi All,
I've just upgraded from GDOS64 v.99 to the new v1.02, and it feels like a solid step forward. Markus Kanet continues to refine this modern evolution of GEOS 64 (building on the old MegaPatch roots), making it even more pleasant for daily use on accelerated hardware like the Ultimate 64, Turbo Chameleon, or SuperCPU.
Quick Recap – What v.99 Already Brought
- Smoother window dragging/resizing (much less micro-stuttering with overlapped windows)
- Usable mouse wheel support for scrolling directories and help pages
- Better on-the-fly disk driver switching (Ultimate images ↔ CMD HDD partitions without lockups or annoying prompts)
- Improved GeoDesk workspace: grid snapping, more persistent icon placement across reboots, and stronger SD2IEC/Ultimate 64 compatibility
- Faster boot times and better overall stability (no crashes during longer GeoWrite/GeoPaint sessions with drive swapping)
- Optimizations for 2 MB+ RAM setups and experimental SuperMouse_U64 drivers to fix mouse wobble in turbo modes
v.99 already felt snappy enough to replace MegaPatch 3.3 for many users.
What's New / Improved in v1.02
- Further stability and bug fixes (especially around RAM disk handling and certain drive configurations)
- Refined performance tweaks for high-speed setups
- Small usability polish in GeoDesk and driver management
- Better compatibility with the latest Ultimate 64 firmware and modern storage solutions
- Minor under-the-hood cleanups that reduce edge-case issues reported after the .99 release
The upgrade is straightforward — you can usually use the built-in Update function in GEOS (Program → Update) or simply replace the system files from the new release disks.
Requirements remain the same:
- Base GEOS 64
- At least 1 MB RAM (2 MB+ strongly recommended)
- Works great with REU, GeoRAM, RAM 1581 disks, CMD HDD, SD2IEC, etc.
If you're still on v.99 (or older MegaPatch), I highly recommend jumping to 1.02. The differences are noticeable in everyday smoothness and reliability, especially if you use mouse wheel, multiple storage devices, or run GEOS in turbo mode a lot.
Big thanks again to Markus Kanet for keeping this project alive and evolving!
Downloads are available in the usual places (check bitbucket.org/mkgit64/area6510/releases or the 8bitboyz download section).
Let me know in the replies how the update went for you — especially if you're on Ultimate 64 or using specific RAM disk setups.
-Sutehk
Topic starter
Posted : 29/04/2026 1:26 pm
GDOS64: From v0.99 to v1.03
New version 1.03 is in the downloads section replacing 1.02. A nice incremental update along with a disk of updated help files.
Enjoy!
-Sutehk
This post was modified 3 months ago by Sutehk
Topic starter
Posted : 26/05/2026 12:21 pm
Shane - "PalKat" reacted