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### 1.2 About the compiler

Free Pascal is a 32-bit compiler for the i386 and m68k processors. Currently, it supports the following operating systems:

- D O S
- L I N U X
- AM I G A (version 0.99.5 only)
- WI N D O W S
- O S/2 (using the EMX package, so it also works on DOS/Windows)
- FR E EBSD
- BEOS (under development)
- SO L A R I S (under development)
- PA L MOS (under development)
- NE TBSD
- OP E NBSD (under development)

Free Pascal is designed to be, as much as possible, source compatible with Turbo Pascal 7.0 and Delphi 5 (although this goal is not yet attained), but it also enhances these languages with elements like operator overloading. And, unlike these ancestors, it supports multiple platforms.

It also differs from them in the sense that you cannot use compiled units from one system for the other.

Also, at the time of writing, there is a beta version of an Integrated Development Environment (IDE) available for Free Pascal.

Free Pascal consists of three parts :

1. The compiler program itself.
2. The Run-Time Library (RTL).
3. Utility programs and units.

Of these you only need the first two, in order to be able to use the compiler. In this document, we describe the use of the compiler. The RTL is described in the Reference guide.

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