AROS Amiga OS Now Runs Bare-Metal on Raspberry Pi — 64-Bit ARM Support Included

The Amiga-inspired AROS Research Operating System has been ported to run natively on the Raspberry Pi, with both 32-bit and 64-bit versions now available. This marks the first time a 64-bit Amiga-compatible operating system has been built for ARM hardware, offering a bare-metal experience without the need for virtualization.

Previously, AROS on the Raspberry Pi required running within a Linux environment, essentially making it an emulated solution similar to other Amiga emulators. The new port changes that entirely, booting directly on the hardware. Developers describe boot times as rivaling those of RISC OS, another lightweight operating system for the Pi.

AROS has already been ported to a variety of platforms, including x86, PowerPC (which contributed code to the MorphOS project), original 68k-based Amiga hardware, and even RISC-V. The Raspberry Pi port continues this tradition of ensuring Amiga's legacy remains hardware-agnostic.

Currently, the build targets the Raspberry Pi 3, but forum discussions indicate plans to expand support to the Pi 4 and even the Pi Zero 2W. The project is in its early stages and is described as a work in progress. Some software has already been recompiled for ARM, but the available application library is not as feature-rich as the x86 version. Developers expect this to improve over time as the community contributes more ports and optimizations.

The port is available for download and testing, offering former Amiga enthusiasts a modern, lightweight platform to explore without relying on decades-old hardware.