The Amiga, reborn
for the Raspberry Pi.
KickStorm OS is an Amiga-style operating system built on AROS and compiled natively for 64-bit ARM. It boots straight into a modern desktop on a bare Raspberry Pi – or sits inside your real Amiga with a PiStorm and puts the Amiga's own hardware to work.
The KickStorm OS desktop on a Raspberry Pi 4.
One system, two ways to run.
The same card works on its own and inside an Amiga. KickStorm OS finds out where it is when it starts.
A Raspberry Pi is all you need
Write the image to an SD card, connect a screen, keyboard and mouse, switch on. KickStorm OS runs directly on the Pi – no Linux underneath, no emulator in between.
- Native 64-bit ARM code, all cores of the Pi
- HDMI picture and sound, USB keyboard and mouse
- Wi-Fi or Ethernet, network time, SSH
With PiStorm, on real Amiga hardware
Fitted in an Amiga with a PiStorm, KickStorm OS does not just borrow the case. It uses the machine itself.
- The Amiga's own keyboard and mouse
- Classic mode: your Amiga runs its own Kickstart on its real chipset
- Floppy disk images as drives DF0:–DF3:, hard disk images, trackloader games
- Back to the KickStorm desktop with one key combination
Everything you expect from a modern desktop.
The look and feel of the Amiga, with the comforts of today.
KickStore
The app store of KickStorm OS. Install, update and remove programs with one click. The system updates itself the same way.
Linux apps in windows
LinStorm runs Linux programs such as Firefox in their own windows on the KickStorm desktop. LinStorm Mini is the light version.
Dock and menu bar
A Dock for your programs, and a menu bar with Wi-Fi, clock and search – ready the moment the desktop appears.
Notifications
Updates for the system and your programs are announced on the desktop; one click takes you there.
Network built in
Wi-Fi and Ethernet, network time, an SSH server and file transfer with any SFTP program from your Mac or PC.
Built on AROS
KickStorm OS is based on AROS, the open-source operating system compatible with AmigaOS 3.1 at the API level: Workbench-style desktop, Amiga shell, ARexx and the AmigaOS programming interfaces.
Built to be fast and reliable.
Every change to KickStorm OS is tested on real hardware before it is released: a Raspberry Pi 4, an Amiga 1200 with a Compute Module 4 and an Amiga 500 with a Raspberry Pi 3A+.
Help us find every bug
At the first start KickStorm OS asks whether it may send bug reports. If you say yes, crashes and errors reach us with a short description of your hardware – so we can fix them for everyone.
Anonymous, and always your choice
Reports carry a random device number, never your name, files, passwords or what you type. Choose “Not now” to be asked again at the next start, or switch reports off for good at any time. Privacy policy
Hardware
KickStorm OS needs a Raspberry Pi with a 64-bit processor.
| Setup | Raspberry Pi | Amiga |
|---|---|---|
| Stand-alone | Raspberry Pi 4, Pi 400, Compute Module 4, Pi 3A+, 3B, 3B+ | – |
| PiStorm32-lite | Raspberry Pi 4 or Compute Module 4 | Amiga 1200 |
| PiStorm (classic) | Raspberry Pi 3A+, 3B, 3B+ | Amiga 500, 2000; 600, 1000 and CDTV with an adapter |
| PiStorm16 | Raspberry Pi 4 or Compute Module 4 | Amigas with a 68000 socket (not yet tested) |
Not possible: Raspberry Pi 1, Pi 2 (v1.1), Zero and Zero W – their processors are 32-bit only.
Coming soon.
The first release of KickStorm OS is almost ready. Write to us and we will let you know when it is out.