We’ve received an anonymous report from Trumpet Software that they have a 64 bit (x86-64) version of their operating system PetrOS running in their lab. This kernel (which is fully 64 bit) can run 32 bit and 64 bit userland programs which conform the PetrOS ABI. The development team used the latest version of Bochs 2.0 which has recently been enhanced to emulate x86-64 architecture. The anonymous source hinted that a beta version of 64 bit PetrOS would be released some time in March 2003.
what about the 32 bit version that has been in development for so long? Where is the GUI? Where is the ability to run windows programs?
close your tags, half the news item lights up on mouseover…
what is “Atari running on any machine” There already are a simple but user friendly GUI and good word processors e. g. papyrus and CyPress, but some drawbacks yet. E. g. aranym suffers from the necessity to emulate 68K code on x86 machines. A compiler like the Object Pascal createn by the PETROS team would perhaps boost the Atari world.
http://aranym.sourceforge.net/
…to count the number of registered trademark symbols used on the “What Is It?” page? I wonder if they have registered it or if are simply using it to prevent people from stealing the name. Also, are there that many people named Petr working on an operating system project that they should be that worried?
Why?
$50, closed, really, why?
From a marketing point of view these guys are living in a fantasy land, where FreeDOS, Linux, Plan 9 and BeOS clones don’t exist to gouge the eyeballs from their supposed market.
I’ll be sending them a postcard with the planet earth on it and the words, “Wish you were here” on it.
> $50, closed, really, why?
because PetrOS is a Windows OS. Please name another one, other than Windows itself and ReactOS (which still sucks). FreeDOS isn’t. Linux isn’t. BeOS isn’t, either. Nor are their clones
Or, if you prefer, show me a Linux running on a machine with 2 MB of RAM *and* with an MMU *and* multitasking (so no, ucLinux doesn’t qualify). Or a 190 KB Linux kernel. Maybe FreeDOS can compare, but does it run Windows programs? no. By default, FreeDOS doesn’t even do 32 bit addressing (and the article is about *64 bit* support being added to PetrOS), nor virtual memory, nor multitasking, and even with 32 bit support its kernel still runs in 16 bit mode – just to give you an idea
Don’t snob what you simply don’t understand. Judging from the kind of postcards you send, you must live on an orbital laboratory with no contact with the world
KJK::Hyperion understands that it is not a trivial task to replicate the entire functions of Windows. Petros does support already a limited set of windows calls (mainly to kernel32.dll) and has compatibility with the executable format and dlls and stuff. This means that the plumbing and framework is already there. All that remains is to construct the GUI on top of the already stable foundation. There is almost enough support in petros to support the running of windows based servers as some of the supporting applications demonstrate. (e.g. we have our Fanfare internet server compiled as a console only application running handsomely on petros).
Also, it is intended to not only support Windows, but at some future time add support for ELF and other executable formats which could open up compatibility to an even wider range of alternative operating systems. There would be cries of blasphemy if we decided to support the Linux ABI for instance.
Ultimately Petros will also forge it’s own core API (totally unrelated to Windows) for applications which require a lean & mean core operating system in a dedicated environment.
P
> KJK::Hyperion understands that it is not a trivial task
> to replicate the entire functions of Windows
well, being a ReactOS developer, and currently working on one of the most obscure kernel32 APIs (namely, the Tool Helper API), I have some first hand experience with it 🙂
> Also, it is intended to not only support Windows, but at
> some future time add support for ELF and other executable
> formats which could open up compatibility to an even wider
> range of alternative operating systems.
too bad PetrOS is a commercial-only project – I’d have loved collaborating with you
is better English than above.
> too bad PetrOS is a commercial-only project – I’d have
> loved collaborating with you
I too would love to have colaborated, but there are some benefits of remaining commercial and closed.
One which has been overlooked a little is that a closed source project may have a slightly greater chance of getting access to driver specs for graphics and network hardware. This is a crucial issue for an OS project of this calibre.
The other is that if such a project takes off, you really have to have commercial structures in place to provide support and other infrastructure. Some things cost hard cold cash and only a clearly defined revenue stream can supply those resources.
P