AmigaDOS

FUN

Within each version of the Amiga's operating system are some messages left there by the Amiga development team. Methods of finding and viewing these messages vary with the version of the operating system you're running. You may find some of these take two people to do.

WORKBNCH 1.x

The AmigaDOS 1.x secret messages give thanks to the original Amiga development team.

Reboot your computer and make sure that the Workbench screen is active. Have one person hold down both sets of Shift and Alt keys on the keyboard. Then press and hold each of the function keys in turn. A different message will appear for each key.

You might also try popping a disk in and out of DF0: while holding down the above key sequence. Early versions of amigaDOS 1.2 (the enhancer kit shipped for the A1000) contained a rather vicious dig at Commodore from the original Amiga programmers that would appear when you ejected the disk. Later 1.2 releases with the A500 and A2000 were toned down to compliments.

WORKBENCH 2.x

A clue was mysteriously sent from within Commodore (then owner/developer of the Amiga) to Dennis Atkin, author of the book "Denny Atkin's Best Amiga Tips And Secrets". The clue read "Control the alternate menus to shift into an enlightened state." Can you figure out how to see the messages from the clue? I doubt it.

Here's what to do. First, click on the Workbench window with the left mouse button to activate it. Now, press and hold down the Ctrl key, both Alt keys, and both Shift keys. While holding those keys down use the mouse to select any of the Workbench menu items. Then release the keys and choose 'Last message' from the Workbench menu. You'll see a secret message. Repeat this for every Workbench menu item, each has its own message.

WORKBENCH 3.x

Two more mysterious notes were sent to Denny for AmigaDOS 3.

Clue #1: Control is given to those who are shifted four from the start and do not give up on the alternate course.

Clue #2: When it is about time to learn the secrets of the master, one must also qualify for the enlightenment.

Couldn't figure it out? Don't feel bad. This one is tough.

First, the technical description: The messages show up when the About menu item is selected while the Ctrl, Shift, and Alt keys are being held down and the Workbench Open count turns 16 due to the requester appearing.

Here's the procedure in plain english:

  1. Boot your Amiga. If you have many Workbench tools (such as AppIcons) running, You may end up being past 16 already, so you may have to shut some of them down.
  2. Press and hold down the right mouse button.
  3. Press and hold down the Ctrl, left-Shift, left-Alt, right-Shift, and right-Alt keys.
  4. Select "About" from the Workbench menu.
  5. Move the About window aside (don't close it!), click on the Workbench window again, and repeat from step 2. Within 15 tries, a different About box should open. If this does not happen, you may have the Workbench.library open too many times. To make this work, reboot without running the startup sequence, start Workbench (using the LoadWB command), and try again.