Security· August 18, 2026 at 02:15 p.m.
Parallel Computing Pioneer and AmigaDOS Creator Tim King Passes Away at 70
Key takeaways
- Dr. Timothy James King was a key figure in the development of the Commodore Amiga's operating system
- He ported TRIPOS from the DEC PDP-11 to the Motorola 68000 CPU and adapted it for MetaComCo's SAGE IV machines
- King later founded early British ISP UK Online in 1994
Dr. Timothy James King, the programmer behind the 68000 version of TRIPOS that became AmigaDOS, has passed away at the age of 70. His work significantly influenced the original Commodore Amiga's operating system. While a researcher at the University of Bath, he ported TRIPOS from the DEC PDP-11 to the Motorola 68000 CPU. Later, he joined MetaComCo and adapted his new 68K version of TRIPOS for their SAGE IV machines. Commodore approached MetaComCo for help with their delayed in-house operating system for the Amiga, and King ported TRIPOS to the prototype Amiga hardware and integrated it with the existing Amiga Exec kernel and Intuition windowing system. After leaving Perihelion, he founded early British ISP UK Online in 1994.
