Work · alternatives · 2026

24 alternatives to Aurion OS – A 32-bit GUI operating system written from scratch in C

Hi HN! I'm 13 and I built Aurion OS as a solo learning project over 14 days (~12 hours/day). It's a 32-bit x86 operating system written entirely in C and x86 Assembly with no external libraries. What it has: Custom bootloader and kernel VESA framebuffer graphics (1920x1080, double-buffered) Window manager with draggable, overlapping windows macOS-inspired dock with transparency PS/2 keyboard and mouse drivers ATA hard drive driver with filesystem PCI bus enumeration RTL8139 network driver (WIP) Real-time clock Runs on just 16MB RAM (up to 10 windows simultaneously) Built-in apps:…

Aurion OS is a 32-bit x86 operating system built entirely in C and Assembly without external libraries. It features a graphical interface with a window manager, draggable windows, a dock, keyboard and mouse support… Below are 24 products that do a similar job, ranked by how close each is in meaning and then by launch-day votes.

1
Banan-OS, an Unix-like operating system written from scratch▲333
This is my operating system that I've been working for the past 2 years. All of the code is written exclusively by me except from ported software. banan-os has a monolithic kernel targeting x86 (i686) and x86_64 architectures. The project consists of bootloader, kernel and userspace libraries (libc, libGUI, libFont, ...). It also uses my custom C++ standard library partly based on stdc++. Currently I have basic TTY and GUI environment with some of the basic UNIX utilities like cp, ls and stat. I have basic support for USB (keyboard/mouse/storage), disks (NVMe, AHCI), custom…
2024 · github.com · its alternatives →
2AO
Aurion OS, A 1.8MB OS with a browser, try it live (C/x86 ASM)▲5
I posted Aurion OS a few weeks ago on HN. Since then, the OS has gone from Beta to v1.0 Release with a lot of improvements: Blaze Browser: HTML/CSS/JS rendering with tabs and a developer console (local only, no full http/https support for now) Installer with user account setup and app selection Multi-resolution support (800x600 to 2560x1440, I plan to add 4096x2160 pixels in next versions) Unix-style luka@aurion prompt Serbian keyboard layout Python interpreter and Make build system 50+ terminal commands Window manager improvements and bug fixes 1.8MB ISO (entire OS including…
Apr 2026 · aurionos.vercel.app · its alternatives →
3
Munal OS: a graphical experimental OS with WASM sandboxing▲313
Hello HN! Showing off the first version of Munal OS, an experimental operating system I have been writing in Rust on and off for the past few years. https://github.com/Askannz/munal-os It's an unikernel design that is compiled as a single EFI binary and does not use virtual address spaces for process isolation. Instead, applications are compiled to WASM and run inside of an embedded WASM engine. Other features: * Fully graphical interface in HD resolution with mouse and keyboard support * Desktop shell with window manager and contextual radial menus * PCI and VirtIO…
2025 · github.com · its alternatives →
4
I made an open-source laptop from scratch▲3,237
Hello! I'm Byran. I spent the past ~6 months engineering a laptop from scratch. It's fully open-source on GH at: https://github.com/Hello9999901/laptop
2025 · byran.ee · its alternatives →
5
Homemade 32-bit CPU and OS (2015) [video]▲253
2016 · youtube.com · its alternatives →
6
A new hobby OS from “scratch” in C#▲310
A multitasking monolithic Kernel based x86 targeting Operating System written in C# from scratch aiming for high-level implementation of drivers in managed environment. - amaneureka/AtomOS
2017 · github.com · its alternatives →
7
I wrote an OS in 1000 lines of Zig▲151
A minimal RISC-V 32-bit OS written in Zig. Contribute to botirkhaltaev/pico-os development by creating an account on GitHub.
2025 · github.com · its alternatives →
8
A DOS-like hobby OS written in Rust and x86 assembly▲207
To try it out, simply build the project yourself from source, or use attached bootable ISO image of the system (in Releases on Github) and run it in QEMU. https://blog.vxn.dev/rou2exos-rusted-edition
2025 · github.com · its alternatives →
9
MyraOS – My 32-bit operating system in C and ASM (Hack Club project)▲247
Hi HN, I’m Dvir, a young developer. Last year, I got rejected after a job interview because I lacked some CPU knowledge. After that, I decided to deepen my understanding in the low level world and learn how things work under the hood. I decided to try and create an OS in C and ASM as a way to broaden my knowledge in this area. This took me on the most interesting ride, where I’ve learned about OS theory and low level programming on a whole new level. I’ve spent hours upon hours, blood and tears, reading different OS theory blogs, learning low level concepts, debugging, testing and working on…
Oct 2025 · github.com · its alternatives →
10
My x86 emulator written in JavaScript▲765
Run KolibriOS, Linux or Windows 98 in your browser
2013 · copy.sh · its alternatives →
11H1
Homebrew 16bit CPU from 74HC logic with C compiler and Unix-like OS▲192
This is a 16bit CPU+Minicomputer from pure 74 series logic. It has user/kernel modes, virtual memory, prioritized IRQ's and DMA. It has a full C compiler and a unix-like OS. It's still in development.
2023 · sol-1.org · its alternatives →
12
I wrote a "web OS" based on the Apple Lisa's UI, with 1-bit graphics▲516
https://lisagui.com/info.html This is a web OS I wrote in vanilla JS that looks like the Apple Lisa Office System (1983-85), with other contemporaneous influences and additional improvements and features. It's currently in alpha and isn't remotely bug free. I had been holding off on posting this here until it was somewhat presentable and useful. Please note; the Lisa conforms more literally to the desktop metaphor than most modern GUIs - some of the important differences are mentioned in the readme. This is a complete recreation of the UI in JS; it all renders to a single…
2025 · alpha.lisagui.com · its alternatives →
13
I wrote my own RTS game engine in C▲1,102
An OpenGL RTS game engine written in C. Contribute to eduard-permyakov/permafrost-engine development by creating an account on GitHub.
2021 · github.com · its alternatives →
14IM
I made my own OS from scratch because I was bored▲224
I've wanted to make my own OS since I started programming. Now, 5 years later, I did it (kind of). Sure, it is really basic, has very little functionality, but I made it and I'm proud of that. Oh, and I'm just 16 btw.
2025 · jotalea.com.ar · its alternatives →
15
A simple way to write standalone C programs for i386▲147
A simple way to write standalone C programs for i386 - luke8086/boot2c
2019 · github.com · its alternatives →
16
xOS – a 32-bit OS for the PC▲115
2016 · github.com · its alternatives →
17
OSle – A 510 bytes OS in x86 assembly▲160
(sorry about double posting, I forgot to put Show HN in front in the original https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=43863689 thread) Hey all, As a follow up to my relatively successful series in x86 Assembly of last year[1], I started making an OS that fits in a boot sector. I am purposefully not doing chain loading or multi-stage to see how much I can squeeze out of 510bytes. It comes with a file system, a shell, and a simple process management. Enough to write non-trivial guest applications, like a text editor and even some games. It's a lot of fun! It comes with an SDK and…
2025 · github.com · its alternatives →
18
A simple Unix-like operating system that runs Doom▲233
A Simple Unix-like operating system. Contribute to ozkl/soso development by creating an account on GitHub.
2019 · github.com · its alternatives →
19
My microkernel-based OS built from scratch now has basic Unix commands▲69
This project contains no code from Linux, BSD, Minix, or any other OS. Everything up until this point is written entirely from scratch, including a pure microkernel (that only implements multiprocessor priority scheduling, memory management, and interprocess communication), a work-in-progress implementation of the standard C library, and a variety of servers that provide drivers and other essential OS functionality. At the time of writing this post, the servers provide drivers for the keyboard, NVMe SSDs (that works on real hardware), a Unix-like virtual file system (with a single root…
2024 · github.com · its alternatives →
20
GodotOS – Fake operating system interface made in the Godot engine▲534
GodotOS, an operating system interface created entirely in Godot! Browse folders, edit text files, view images, play games, and more in one cohesive polished interface that can even be used on the web. Note that GodotOS is more of a toy than a serious project. It's meant to push the limits on UI design in Godot while creating a desktop that is minimalist, distraction-free, and aesthetically pleasing. Any feedback is greatly appreciated! Apologies for posting again, but I forgot to include "Show HN" in the title, and when I did post yesterday Hackernews almost immediately went down for over…
2024 · github.com · its alternatives →
21
The operating system I built as my high school project (2016)▲220
A pretty simple Operating System for my High School Project - aswinmohanme/ultronOS
2019 · github.com · its alternatives →
22
My from-scratch OS kernel that runs DOOM▲320
Hi there! I've been on-and-off working on TacOS for a few months, which follows some UNIX-derived concepts (exec/fork, unix-style VFS, etc) and is now able to run a port of Doom, with a fairly small amount of modifications, using my from-scratch libc. The performance is actually decent compared to what I expected. Very interested to hear your thoughts. Thank you!
2025 · github.com · its alternatives →
23
GentleOS – A pair of hobby OSes for vintage 32-bit and 16-bit PCs▲132
Hello HN, I've been working on a simple OS for tinkering and running bare metal apps on vintage PCs. Since I couldn't quite decide whether to target pure 16-bit, or slightly more capable 32-bit machines, I ended up with two separate versions: - GentleOS/32 (https://github.com/luke8086/gentleos32) works on i386+, requires 4MB of RAM and VGA display supporting 640x480x16 mode or any 256-color VESA mode. - GentleOS/16 (https://github.com/luke8086/gentleos) works on 80186+, requires less than 192KB of RAM and a CGA display supporting 320x200x4…
Jun 2026 · github.com · its alternatives →
24
A work-in-progress C compiler from scratch▲159
Programming language that compiles into a x86 ELF executable. - riicchhaarrd/ocean
2021 · github.com · its alternatives →

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