A note on ROMs

What you need to run a real C64 or Amiga — and how to get it honestly

To run anything on a C64 or an Amiga — real or emulated — you need the machine's system ROMs: the built-in software (KERNAL and BASIC on the C64; Kickstart and Workbench on the Amiga) that makes the machine a machine. An emulator without them is an empty shell.

Here's the honest part. This course is free, and always will be — but the ROMs aren't ours to give away. They're still owned (today, by a company called Cloanto, who've kept these platforms legally alive for decades), and we're not going to hand out copies of someone else's work to save you a step. Preserving these machines properly — with respect for the people and the history behind them — is the whole point of this project. Quietly pirating the ROMs would rather undercut that.

So you'll bring your own. It's cheaper and easier than it sounds, you only do it once, and below is exactly how for your machine.

Getting your C64 ROMs

Pick whichever fits you:

Want it to just work? — C64 Forever

Recommended

Cloanto's C64 Forever (Plus edition, ~$10) gives you every official ROM, legally, in a couple of clicks. The simplest path if you don't have real hardware — and you're buying from the people who preserved them.

Own a real C64?

Dump the KERNAL, BASIC and character ROMs from it — they're already yours. We'll point you at a tool.

Want it completely free? — OpenROMs

The community's open-source KERNAL/BASIC replacements (OpenROMs) are free to use. Great for the assembly track — but their BASIC isn't finished, so the BASIC lessons will hit gaps. Use OpenROMs for assembly; use a real BASIC ROM for the BASIC track.

Getting your Amiga ROMs

The Amiga needs Kickstart (its boot ROM) and Workbench (its desktop):

Want it to just work? — Amiga Forever

Recommended

Cloanto's Amiga Forever (Plus edition, ~€40) gives you every Kickstart version plus Workbench, legally and reliably. For most learners without real hardware this is the path — and it's the exact setup this course is built and tested against.

Own a real Amiga?

Dump your Kickstart ROM from it — it's yours.

The free option, honestly — AROS

There's a free, open Kickstart replacement (AROS). It's genuinely clever, but it can't boot Workbench 3.1 and many programs won't run on it, so it won't carry you through this track. We mention it for honesty, not as the route we'd point you to.

In the in-browser playground: C64 assembly examples run instantly (we use the open ROMs). For Amiga and C64 BASIC, you'll drop in your own ROM the first time — it stays in your browser and never touches our servers.

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