RetroLab is AndroidLab's section for living retrocomputing: not a dusty museum, but a lab built around real machines, strange systems, ports, unlikely clients and hardware that still teaches useful lessons.
This is where Amiga, Commodore, VIC-20, C64, Spectrum, AROS, MorphOS, PiStorm, FPGA boards, old CPUs and new bridges belong. The limit is not a defect here. It is the test bench.
What belongs in RetroLab
- development and ports on retro or alternative systems;
- experiments with Amiga, Commodore, Spectrum, AROS and MorphOS;
- technical reflections on efficiency, constraints and machine control;
- real but improbable software stories, including modern clients on non-modern platforms;
- tests, notes and engineering diary entries from the retro lab.
RetroLab starts from a simple idea: retrocomputing is not only nostalgia. Understanding the machine still makes you better when you work on today's systems.
Latest RetroLab articles
Telegram Amiga alpha 0.0.5 brings avatars, mentions and optional own-screen mode
Telegram Amiga alpha 0.0.5 adds real avatars, @-mention autocomplete, optional own-screen mode and a cleaner drawer across AmigaOS, MorphOS and AROS.
Telegram Amiga alpha 0.0.4: edit/delete, live read receipts and correct timestamps
Telegram Amiga 0.0.4 adds message editing and deletion, near real-time read receipts, multi-device sync and corrected timestamps across AmigaOS, MorphOS and AROS.
Retro and hybrid systems: when the lab matters more than nostalgia
RetroLab on why VIC-20, PiStorm, AROS and Telegram Amiga matter when old systems become a real technical lab, not just nostalgia.
Telegram Amiga alpha 0.0.3: native replies, checkmarks and a smoother GUI
Telegram Amiga alpha 0.0.3 adds native replies, Telegram-style graphical checkmarks, faster read-state refresh, flicker-free double-buffered drawing and clearer packages for AmigaOS, MorphOS and AROS.
Telegram Amiga Gets a GUI: Alpha 0.0.1 on AmigaOS, MorphOS and AROS
Telegram Amiga reaches alpha 0.0.1 with a native GUI and packages for AmigaOS 3.x, AmigaOS 4.x, MorphOS, AROS i386 and AROS x86_64.
Telegram on Amiga in 2026: Why Start from a Diagnostic Client
Before chasing a full Telegram client on Amiga, the diagnostic client tests the hard parts: network, TLS, JSON, polling, sending messages and portability.
Telegram Amiga Becomes MTProto: The Shift from Bot API to a Real Client
Telegram Amiga moves from a diagnostic Bot API experiment to a real MTProto client: login, local session, dialogs, history and messages on Amiga-like systems.
Telegram on Amiga: Diary of an MTProto Client in C
How I built a Telegram MTProto client in C for AmigaOS, MorphOS and AROS: from diagnostic client to real login, on real hardware.
VIC-20 and Portfolio: What Efficiency Means When You Have 3.5 KB
The Portfolio program on an unexpanded VIC-20 still teaches a current lesson: efficiency is not a slogan, it is representing the problem well under...
BebboSSH on AROS: When SSH Turns Retrocomputing Into a Real Lab
RetroLab: the AROS port of BebboSSH as practical infrastructure for developing, testing and automating on Amiga-like systems.
Amiga and PiStorm: Why Hybrid Machines Are the Liveliest Retrocomputing
PiStorm does not turn the Amiga into a disguised PC: it makes it a hybrid machine, useful for development, networking and real tests inside...
Telegram Amiga alpha 0.0.2: usability, stability and portability improvements for the MTProto client
Telegram Amiga alpha 0.0.2 brings a more usable native GUI to AmigaOS, MorphOS and AROS, with history paging, online chat search, persistent unread badges,...