If you own an Apple II computer, we have news for you: A new one has just been released information of ProDOS for the first time in 23 years, thanks to software developer John Brooks.
1993 released ProDOS in the 2.0.3 version and since then it has been the latest Apple official update for the Apple II series. But on Friday it was replaced by ProDOS 8 in the 2.4 version, released by Brooks to mark 30 anniversary of Apple IIGS.
For history, Steve Jobs presented the first Apple II computers designed by Steve Wozniak for 1977. Apple IIGS was the fifth model of the Apple II series, released on September 15 of 1986. Apple continued with the sale of the Apple II series up to 1993.
As noted by Ars Technica, the update brings improvements for older Apple devices as well.
Those who do not have an Apple II PC Internet Archive created an emulator that runs the ProDOS 2.4 update.
Brooks' improvements to the new ProDOS include a Bitsy Bye, (new launcher) and a new Bitsy Boot, one utility for quick and easy booting of Apple IIs. Ars reports that Bitsy Bye runs on less than 1 kB of RAM, while the launcher utility runs on less than 400 bytes, exemplifying the high efficiency of coding.
The ProDOS 2.4 ISO is available at the end of the publication but and on the Brooks Call-APPLE page. According to Brooks, the former screen of the application shows the date 16-Aug-16 “for Woz” and probably refers to SWEET16, the 16-bit metaprocessor written by Wozniak and used in the Apple II.
Download
140k ProDOS 2.4 disk image: prodos_2_4-dsk
