MenuetOS is an operating system with a

monolithic A monolith is a monument or natural feature consisting of a single massive stone or rock. Monolith or monolithic may also refer to: Architecture * Monolithic architecture, a style of construction in which a building is carved, cast or excavated ...

preemptive, real-time kernel written in FASM

assembly language In computer programming, assembly language (or assembler language, or symbolic machine code), often referred to simply as Assembly and commonly abbreviated as ASM or asm, is any low-level programming language with a very strong correspondence be ...

. The system also includes video drivers. It runs on 64-bit and

32-bit In computer architecture, 32-bit computing refers to computer systems with a processor, memory, and other major system components that operate on data in 32-bit units. Compared to smaller bit widths, 32-bit computers can perform large calculation ...

x86 architecture computers. Its author is Ville M. Turjanmaa. It has a graphical desktop, games, and networking abilities ( TCP/IP stack). One distinctive feature is that it fits on one

floppy disk A floppy disk or floppy diskette (casually referred to as a floppy, or a diskette) is an obsolescent type of disk storage composed of a thin and flexible disk of a magnetic storage medium in a square or nearly square plastic enclosure lined w ...

. On an Intel Pentium MMX one person reported a boot time of "probably ."

History

32 bit

MenuetOS was originally written for 32-bit x86 architectures and released under the GPL-2.0-only license, thus many of its applications are distributed under the GPL.MenuetOS: In Assembler geschriebenes Betriebssystem
golem.de, 2009-08-10

64 bit

The 64-bit MenuetOS often referred to as Menuet 64, remains a platform for learning 64-bit assembly language programming. The 64-bit Menuet is distributed without charge for personal and educational use only, bu
without the source code
and the license includes a clause that prohibits disassembly.

Multi-core A multi-core processor is a microprocessor on a single integrated circuit with two or more separate processing units, called cores, each of which reads and executes program instructions. The instructions are ordinary CPU instructions (such a ...

support was added on 24 Feb 2010.

Features

MenuetOS development has focused on fast, simple, efficient implementation. MenuetOS has networking abilities, and a working TCP/IP stack. Most of the networking code is written by Mike Hibbett. The main focus of Menuet has been on making an environment for easy assembly programming, but it is still possible to run software written in high-level programming languages on the assembler core. The biggest single effort towards high-level language support is Jarek Pelczar's work in porting C libraries to Menuet. The GUI at version 0.99 supports display resolutions up to (16 million colours) with window transparency. The OS has support for several classes of USB 2.0 peripherals. MenuetOS ships with the shareware versions of '' Quake'' and '' Doom''. For disk access, MenuetOS supports the FAT32 file system. Write support is only possible to USB connected devices.

Distributions

32-bit

Menuet32
* GridWorks "EZ" distribution (comprehensive 32-bit archive packages) (CD/HD Boots)

64-bit

The 64-bit main distribution is now proprietary. Several distributions of the 32-bit GPL MenuetOS still exist, including translations in Russian, Chinese, Czech, and

Serbian Serbian may refer to: * someone or something related to Serbia, a country in Southeastern Europe * someone or something related to the Serbs, a South Slavic people * Serbian language * Serbian names See also

* * * Old Serbian (disambiguat ...

.
Menuet64

References

* David Chisnall (Jun 22, 2007)
A Roundup of Free Operating Systems. MenuetOS
', informIT *
MenuetOS - 32bit-Betriebssystem auf einer Floppy
', Der Standard, 12 May 2003 * Eugenia Loli-Queru (5 Sep 2001)
Interview With Ville Turjanmaa, the Creator of MenuetOS
', OSNews * Ville M. Turjanmaa (December 1, 2001)
The Menuet Operating System. Packing a lot of punch into a small package
', Dr. Dobb's

External links

MenuetOS homepage
(Menuet64 oriented)
MenuetOS C LibraryMenuetOS compared
to

AtheOS Syllable Desktop is a discontinued free and open-source operating system for Pentium and compatible processors. Its purpose is to create an easy-to-use desktop operating system for the home and small office user. It was forked from the stagnant ...

and SkyOS (2002)
an interview with Ville Turjanmaa and Madis Kalme, two of the MenuetOS developers
(2009) {{DEFAULTSORT:Menuetos Floppy disk-based operating systems X86-64 operating systems X86 operating systems Assembly language software Proprietary operating systems Hobbyist operating systems