The Amiga OS 4 and Amiga OS 3.2 developer and rights holder, Hyperion, is presently going through bankruptcy proceedings. This is a complex problem that requires a great deal of legal and corporate work to sort out without further examination.
The primary shareholder of Hyperion, Ben Hermans, seems to have founded a number of subsidiary businesses. Although it’s unclear, these organizations may be the owners of the rights to the Amiga OS variants. These subsidiary businesses are likewise in danger of going bankrupt.
A receiver designated by the court has been in charge of Hyperion since last week. As of 2019, Ben Hermans’ private firm, Ben Hermans BV (BHBV), has held 97% of Hyperion’s shares and serves as the company’s nominal director. BHBV declared bankruptcy for the second time in March. Ben Hermans started a new business venture of the same name at the same time.
Since 2021, BHBV has not filed statutory annual reports, therefore it’s uncertain if BHBV still owns the majority of Hyperion. Although Charlotte Piers, the appointed liquidator, has promised to provide a more thorough response in the next few days, Ben Hermans has not responded to inquiries.
The complex and protracted legal struggles over Amiga OS rights, which have included multiple litigation and ownership conflicts, are reflected in this predicament.
If you’re looking for an Amiga OS experience there are a couple of modern alternatives available. AROS is a good substitute for anyone who is interested in the Amiga OS feel. Another option is MorphOS, however, it has its own set of issues because it runs on outdated PowerPC Macs. Future plans for MorphOS are unclear until it moves to one of the more modern hardware platforms, such as x86 or ARM.
