Dev tools · alternatives · 2026
24 alternatives to GentleOS – A pair of hobby OSes for vintage 32-bit and 16-bit PCs
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…
GentleOS is a pair of hobby operating systems for running bare metal applications on vintage PCs. The 32-bit version runs on i386 machines with 4MB RAM and VGA display support, while the 16-bit version works on 80186+… Below are 24 products that do a similar job, ranked by how close each is in meaning and then by launch-day votes.
- 1
Finally got my hobby OS up and running on real hardware. I love the old IBM thinkpads, so thought it was the perfect machine to get it working on. Been working on it for quite some time now, but this has been a big milestone!
2025 · github.com · its alternatives →
- 2
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 →
- 3
The operating system for smart frames. Runs on a Raspberry Pi or ESP32, renders on e-ink, HDMI and LCD displays. Standalone, self-hosted, or managed from FrameOS Cloud - everything renders on the device.
2024 · frameos.net · its alternatives →
- 4
I've been working on this for ~3 months now, with pretty slow progress to be honest. So far I've got an ATA PIO mode hard disk driver, a FAT32 file system, a real time clock driver, and of course the essentials (interrupts, keyboard, pixel graphics). Kernel panics also cause a blue screen of death xD. It uses a bitmap physical memory allocator, and I'm fixing some issues with paging at the moment as a work towards running userspace applications. I'd be interested to see your thoughts on it :D
2024 · github.com · its alternatives →
- 5M4My 486 Server▲255
Hello. I wrote a multitasking 16-bit real mode "operating system" that works on every IBM PC compatible computer, and a TCP/IP stack for it. Then I wrote an HTTP server for it.
2022 · 486servu.dy.fi · its alternatives →
- 6
Run KolibriOS, Linux or Windows 98 in your browser
2016 · copy.sh · its alternatives →
- 7
RetroTick parses PE/NE/MZ binaries, emulates an x86 CPU, and stubs enough Win32/Win16/DOS APIs to run classics like FreeCell, Minesweeper, Solitaire and QBasic, entirely in the browser. Built with Preact + Vite + TypeScript. Demo: https://retrotick.com GitHub: https://github.com/lqs/retrotick
Feb 2026 · retrotick.com · its alternatives →
- 8
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 →
- 9
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 →
- 10
A Simple Unix-like operating system. Contribute to ozkl/soso development by creating an account on GitHub.
2019 · github.com · its alternatives →
- 11
2016 · github.com · its alternatives →
- 12
Run KolibriOS, Linux or Windows 98 in your browser
2013 · copy.sh · its alternatives →
- 13
2016 · youtube.com · its alternatives →
- 14
Contribute to cmc-labo/tinyos-rtos development by creating an account on GitHub.
Apr 2026 · github.com · its alternatives →
- 15
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 →
- 16
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 →
- 17
- 18MH
Nov 2025 · astral-os.org · its alternatives →
- 19
- 20
Securely run operating systems on your Mac
2021 · mac.getutm.app · its alternatives →
- 21
Windows 95▲405Windows 95 app that runs on macOS, Windows, and Linux
2018 · github.com · its alternatives →
- 22
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 →
- 23
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 →
- 24
Example repo: https://github.com/valdanylchuk/breezydemo The underlying ESP-IDF component: https://github.com/valdanylchuk/breezybox It is something like Raspberry Pi, but without the overhead of a full server-grade OS. It captures a lot of the old school DOS era coding experience. I created a custom fast text mode driver, plan to add VGA-like graphics next. ANSI text demos run smooth, as you can see in the demo video featured in the Readme. App installs also work smoothly. The first time it installed 6 apps from my git repo with one command, felt…
Feb 2026 · github.com · its alternatives →
Also compare
- My self-written hobby OS is finally running on my vintage IBM ThinkPad alternatives
- A DOS-like hobby OS written in Rust and x86 assembly alternatives
- FrameOS – operating system for single function smart frames alternatives
- SpecOS – A 64 bit OS kernel from scratch alternatives
- My 486 Server alternatives
- Windows 98 in browser alternatives
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 →