Dev tools · alternatives · 2026
24 alternatives to DWS OS, a Plan 9 Inspired Web “OS”
Hi HN, I've always loved the aesthetic, quirks, and concepts of Plan9, and I wanted to see how far I could vibe-code a web desktop/OS that resembled it. The result is DWS OS. My goal was to reach a point where I could build "userspace" apps for this OS, in the OS. DWS OS has a virtual filesystem, an approximation of the ACME editor, file browser, internet browser (just an iframe for fun), and a few other apps to discover. The environment supports uploading and downloading data from the virtual filesystem, along with support for JavaScript programming within ACME and an API for building…
DWS OS is a web-based desktop environment inspired by Plan 9, featuring a virtual filesystem, ACME text editor approximation, file browser, and internet browser. Users can build applications within the environment… Below are 24 products that do a similar job, ranked by how close each is in meaning and then by launch-day votes.
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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 →
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Demo: https://dustinbrett.com Hey HN! I've been building my passion project daedalOS for over 4 years now. The original idea was to give visitors to my website the experience as if they had remotely connected to my personal machine. To do this I decided I would attempt to recreate as much of the functionality as possible. My hope is to keep working on this project for the rest of my life and continue to evolve it's capabilities as technologies progress. Thanks for checking it out!
2025 · github.com · its alternatives →
- 3IM
2022 · signalsandsorcery.org · its alternatives →
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Hargun's MacOS▲132A fully interactive, Mac-like experience directly in browser
Nov 2025 · hargunpreet.vercel.app · its alternatives →
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Hi HN, I’m Kiet, one of the creators of Onlook studio. I made this app that allows you to visually edit your locally running React app and write the code back to it in real-time. The purpose is to allow you to develop UI while fully owning your code the whole time. There are other visual builders out there but they either require you to upload your code to the cloud or some lengthy setup process. Onlook runs locally, deterministically, and only requires adding a plugin for the compile step (2 lines of config change). Technical details: This is technically a web browser that can point to your…
2024 · github.com · its alternatives →
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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 →
- 8VM
2013 · blog.grunseid.com · its alternatives →
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Web Components to turn your web app into a fake operating system - victorqribeiro/fos
2019 · github.com · its alternatives →
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TempleOS is an experimental OS designed to be simple and self-hosted with a JIT compiler. I was mesmerized by it but didn't like the hassle of using virtual machines to boot it up and move files around from the virtual drive. My project lets you run TempleOS as an app of some sort instead of using a virtual machine to run it - this brings a lot of benefits like speed, seamless filesystem integration (virtual machine development with stock TempleOS is really a pain.), command-line mode where you can code in HolyC on the command line instead of TempleOS' GUI. Its user-space nature lets it do…
2024 · github.com · its alternatives →
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A pretty simple Operating System for my High School Project - aswinmohanme/ultronOS
2019 · github.com · its alternatives →
- 13TI
Hi HN! My name is Nick and this is my fun side project. Please lay it on me. HN can think of Tips.io as a cracked out Tailwind Playground that has page management and amazing AI integration. There are a few core ideas: 1) The HTML is the CMS There are no fields or restrictions. Just hover, click, and start tweaking any HTML. Also, certain elements you click will have special easy edit abilities: - auto creates an uploader, stock photo picker (or HTML) - auto creates an uploader, stock video picker (or HTML) - auto creates a big icon picker (or HTML) - auto creates a WYSIWYG Editor (or HTML)…
2024 · tips.io · its alternatives →
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Hey HN! I built a native macOS desktop client for Hacker News and I'm open-sourcing it under the MIT license. GitHub: https://github.com/IronsideXXVI/Hacker-News Download (signed & notarized DMG, macOS 14.0+): https://github.com/IronsideXXVI/Hacker-News/releases Screenshots: https://github.com/IronsideXXVI/Hacker-News#screenshots I spend a lot of time reading HN — I wanted something that felt like a proper Mac app: a sidebar for browsing stories, an integrated reader for articles, and comment threading — all in one window.…
Feb 2026 · github.com · its alternatives →
- 15VI
The mission of MIT is to advance knowledge and educate students in science, technology and other areas of scholarship that will best serve the nation and the world in the 21st century.
2012 · mit.edu · its alternatives →
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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 →
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- 18BB
I built a web-based app for building websites. The main unique features are: 1. The ability to copy and paste any HTML and CSS into the editor with no limits. I was never able to find another app that could do this without some form of limitation. 2. CSS filtering, which means you can click on an element to view and edit the CSS selectors and rules that apply to that element alone. In many cases I've found CSS naming conventions like BEM to become irritating at certain scales, so this is an alternative solution. This part of the app needs some more development work but the concept is there.…
2024 · demo.gocodestudio.com · its alternatives →
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Not really an oprating system, Just a pile of javascript pretending to be a Desktop Environment - Lerc/notanos
2013 · github.com · its alternatives →
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Atono▲189We kept asking "why did we build it this way?" and spending 20 minutes hunting through Jira, Slack, and GitHub for answers. It was a symptom of a bigger "Jira-problem". So we built Atono (https://atono.io). The idea: Stories that don't die when you ship. Everything - requirements, code changes, bugs, decisions - stays in one place. Our take (might not be for everyone): -Feature flags live in the story, not another tool -Feature engagement for you to see if people use what you built -Context > process What's in it: -Toggle feature flags right in the story -See usage graphs without…
2025 · atono.io · its alternatives →
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Hey HN, I made Browser-Use, an open-source tool that lets (all Langchain supported) LLMs execute tasks directly in the browser just with function calling. It allows you to build agents that interact with web elements using natural language prompts. We created a layer that simplifies website interaction for LLMs by extracting xPaths and interactive elements like buttons and input fields (and other fancy things). This enables you to design custom web automation and scraping functions without manual inspection through DevTools. Hasn't this been done a lot of times? Good question, as a general…
2024 · github.com · its alternatives →
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Create and share simple web demos using TypeScript, CSS, and HTML. Prototype new ideas quickly.
2017 · codewich.com · its alternatives →
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I built a web-based HTML/CSS/JS editor focused on speed, simplicity, and offline access. No bloat — just open and start coding. What makes it different: Live Preview – Edit HTML, CSS, and JS side-by-side with instant feedback. Offline support – Works without internet. You can even install it as a PWA and use it like a native app. No Login Required – Just visit, code, and preview. Login only if you want to save/share. Savable & Shareable Links – Save scripts in the cloud and get shareable links. Customizable Editor – Themes, fonts, auto-format on save, layout tweaks, line…
2025 · scriptpad.dev · its alternatives →
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Ranked by how close each launch is in meaning, then by votes. Prices were read from each product’s own site when checked and can change. Refine with your own description →