Workbench

Workbench is the native graphical user interface for the Amiga computer. As the name suggests, the metaphor of a workbench, rather than a desktop, is used. Directories are depicted as drawers, executable files are depicted as tools, data files are depicted as projects and GUI widgets are gadgets. Most Amiga application software has pull-down menus[?] starting "Project Edit ..." rather than the "File Edit ..." typical on other platforms.

In many other respects the interface resembles Mac OS, with the main desktop having the drive icons, and a single menu bar at the very top of the screen. Unlike the Mac mouse, the Amiga mouse has two buttons - the right mouse button operates the pull-down menus, with a Macintosh-style 'release to select' mechanism.

A unique feature of Workbench is multiple screens. These are somewhat similar to X Windows virtual desktops, but are generated dynamically by application programs as necessary. Each screen can have a different resolution and colour depth. A gadget in the top-right corner of the screen allows screens to be cycled (redrawing is instantaneous as all screens are stored simultaneously in memory). Screens can also be dragged up and down by their title bars.

Workbench versions:

• Workbench 1[?]
  • Workbench 1.0 - Amiga 1000, NTSC only
  • Workbench 1.1 - Amiga 1000, NTSC and PAL
  • Workbench 1.2 - Amiga 500/2000 - Added multiple icon selection
  • Workbench 1.3 - Amiga 500/2000. First Workbench to be bootable from hard disk. Shell (command prompt) added.
    • Workbench 1.3.2, Workbench 1.3.3 - Amiga 500/2000. Bugs fixes.
• Workbench 2[?] Complete redesign of Workbench interface, with more 3D elements, revised menus and
  • Workbench 2.0 - early Amiga 3000 only
    • Workbench 2.04 - Amiga 500+/3000
    • Workbench 2.05 - Amiga 600. Support for hard drives > 40 MB added
  • Workbench 2.1 - Upgrade version of Workbench. Added multilingual capability and CrossDOS for reading MS-DOS formatted disks
• Workbench 3[?] - Menus changed to black-on-white. AGA chipset support. Multiview added
  • Workbench 3.0 - Amiga 1200/4000
  • Workbench 3.1 - Upgrade version
  • Workbench 3.5 - CD-ROM upgrade version. PowerPC support, HTML documentation
  • Workbench 3.9 - CD-ROM upgrade version. Includes web browser, multimedia programs and integrated unpacker.

External links

Workbench Nostalgia (http://www.gregdonner.org/workbench/)