A new version of MenuetOS has been released.
Updates and improvements (httpc, ehci, picview, memcheck, menu, wallpaper, ohci, uhci, maps/streetview, icons, dhcp, freeform window, smp threads, smp init, onscreen keyboard, utf8 support, tcp/ip, keyboard layouts: western, cyrillic, hebrew, greek)
MenuetOS is open source (MIT) and written entirely in 32/64 bit assembly. It’s important to note that development is focused entirely on the 64bit version.
What they can do by simply writing the OS in ASM, you can fire this baby up on the weakest netbook and the thing just flies. Congrats Menuet team, it is truly amazing.
See what they can do on 8-bit Z80 CPU with ASM in SymbOS…
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SymbOS
http://www.cpcwiki.eu/index.php/SymbOS
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ish4ReOjdIw (generally, check related / search YouTube for “SymbOS”)
Confusing…
http://menuetos.net/m64l.txt
By the way, it seems a good OS and can run quake, I am going to test it, plus it supports more hardware. Although now I do not like quake because of its theme, but its good for nostalgia.
[Edited]
Edited 2014-08-27 00:43 UTC
If you go to the download page, you will have to agree with this:
If you agree to the License(link), you are free to download Menuet64 0.99.71.
Link: http://menuetos.net/m64l.txt
Where it says:
So it is confusing. This is not open source. Also, the homepage says it is GPL not MIT.
From the respective download pages:
Menuet32 is GPL and the sources are available.
Menuet64 is without open sources.
Although development is focused on the 64 bit version, the 32 bit version, while somewhat frozen at release 0.85 has had minor fixes over the years (now are the D level).
Or has the MenuetOS website become simpler looking? I seem to remember a different site, but it has been a while.
I haven’t tried Menuet is quite some time. It was a small and fast little — not a pejorative — OS. It is a bit of an odd duck though. Architecture specific well past after the trend was for portable OSs. As opposed to promoting its features, they are practically hidden. You wouldn’t know there was a browser, save from installing it or looking at the screen shots.
It is quite an accomplishment, and kudos to them for that; but it feels more like a monument that anything else. But accomplishment is a fine goal.
You might remember the website of KolibriOS – a fork which started quite some time ago.
I am not quite sure of the reason(s) for the fork – one would think that polling resources would be the most logical thing to do when programming only in assembly. However, the existence of this fork might be the cause of the sources of Menuet64 not being released.
Given all of the security issues around the web, I am tempted to use it for safe browsing.
You may well be right, I looked it up and it does match my memory rather well. Thanks for pointing that out.
That would be security through obscurity – not an entirely good thing in itself.
Besides, you’d probably achieve the same effect, but with a less hassle, by using Elinks or such (maybe http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dillo ?) on a more mainstream platform…
Please update the article Thom.
MenuetOS is neither MIT, nor open source (the unmaintained 32-bit version is open source, but GPL, not MIT.)