It looks like Commodore, that’s right, of the iconic Commodore 64 computer system – one of the first PCs that people remember having in their homes – is back, and they’re bringing the Commodore 64 name with them. The company is planning a new line of Commodore 64 computers, along with a revival of the VIC line of systems, all built with some of the old school retro styling but with modern and up-to-date specs and components.

Here’s the scoop from PC Mag:

Although the Commodore 64 appears on the Commodore site in prototype form, the company said it has designed it to be a “modern functional PC as close to the original in design as humanly possible,” even with the original taupe brown/beige color.

Aside from the barebones model, the C64x, as the company calls it, includes a 1.8-GHz D525 CPU, Nvidia Ion2 graphics (with 512 Mbytes of graphics RAM), either 2 or 4 Gbytes of memory, with options for Wi-Fi, DVD, Blu-ray, and either a 160-, 250-, or 500-Gbyte hard drive.

The computer also features a Cherry-made “clicky” keyboard.

And what OS will it run? Not Windows, at least natively. “Units come with the Ubuntu 10.04 LTS operating system on disk ready to install,” Commodore said. “Commodore OS 1.0, along with emulation functionality and classic game package, will be mailed to purchasers when available.”

Oh snap, no Windows? Wow – I wonder what Commodore has up its sleeve. If you can install Windows on it, I think that’ll make a lot of people happy, but it’s clear that Commodore isn’t terribly interested (at least not with the C64) in the mainstream PC market: they’re interested in tweakers, hackers, and people who really want to get hands-on with their technology.

We’ll see how that plays out for them, but I’m impressed – and glad to see the return of an old name.

[ Commodore Announces New Commodore64, VIC Computers ]