# AmigaOS 21 Hacker News commenters recommended AmigaOS and 11 criticized it, November 2025 to November 2026. It was recommended in 9 of 13 months. **Verdict:** Recommended for its preemptive multitasking, smart desktop design and reliability, with ideas that were ahead of their time. Caveat: critics say it fits poorly on modern hardware and high-resolution screens. ## Why people recommend it - Preemptive multitasking from the start (2 comments): "a fully preemptively multitasked OS from day one" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49860459)) "While AmigaOS was pre-emptive" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48167517)) - Admired desktop UI design (5 comments): "AmigaOS 2.x layed out a vision of the desktop UI as a malleable and personalizable toolbox" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49018736)) "well executed digital desktop designs such as BeOS, AmigaOS or even Windows 2000" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48794984)) "Amiga OS 2.0 was a huge improvement in that regard! It had more of a 3D look." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48111707)) - Forward-thinking consumer OS ideas (3 comments): "The Amiga OS had some interesting ideas with different data types as system extensions" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=45901618)) "AmigaOS was the first to bring a lot of smart ideas to a consumer platform." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49994970)) "Version 2 of the Amiga's operating system did a great thing in version 2 of AmigaOS which explicitly spelled out what conventions to apply" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49399207)) - Reliable, long uptimes (2 comments): "I could trust the Amiga to write CDs without creating a coaster every time" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49022301)) "I had uptimes of many hundred days with a regularly used Amiga machine" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49411277)) ## What people warn about - Poor fit for modern hardware (3 comments): "how HaikuOS, and AmigaOS for that matter, fail to carry over their aesthetics to a high-resolution/HiDPI world" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48184169)) "The refusal to port AmigaOS to anything but dead or near-dead architectures has always amazed me" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46383424)) "I don't see the appeal of AmigaOS on modern hardware." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46383867)) ## Alternatives hackers recommend - [Windows](https://hackerapproved.com/p/windows.md): 1287 recommend - [macOS](https://hackerapproved.com/p/macos.md): 1041 recommend - [Linux](https://hackerapproved.com/p/linux.md): 745 recommend - [Haiku](https://hackerapproved.com/p/haiku-os.md): 115 recommend - [NetBSD](https://hackerapproved.com/p/netbsd.md): 100 recommend ## Where to get it - [Visit the official site](https://www.hyperion-entertainment.com/) ## Cite as Hacker Approved, "AmigaOS", https://hackerapproved.com/p/amigaos/ (counts from 1,795,640 Hacker News comments, November 2025 to November 2026).