x86 operating system
MikeOS
is an operating system for x86 PCs, written in assembly language. It is
a learning tool to show how simple 16-bit, real-mode OSes work, with
well-commented code and extensive documentation. Features:
- A text-mode dialog and menu-driven interface
- Boots from a floppy disk, CD-ROM or USB key
- Over 60 system calls for use by third-party programs
- File manager, text editor, image viewer, games...
- Includes a BASIC interpreter with 46 instructions
- PC speaker sound and serial terminal connection
The code is completely open source (under a BSD-like license), and is written by Mike Saunders and other developers.
News
- 9 April 2022: BASIC compiler for MikeOS -- From Wojtek Grzela, this is "written in C and compiles MikeOS's BASIC dialect to executables for the operating system". Download it from GitHub.
- 17 Mar 2019: MikeOS 4.6.1 released -- Includes an updated macOS build script, documentation updates, and MikeTron from TachyonOS. Get it here!
- 9 Feb 2019: MikeOS 4.6 released! -- Many updates in this release, including a Forth Handbook, extra CLI commands, updates to the supplied BASIC apps and more; see doc/CHANGES.TXT for the full list.
- 29 Jul 2018: New spin-off project, MichalOS -- An awesome new MikeOS-based project that runs in 32-bit "unreal" mode, has VESA graphics and built-in mouse functions, custom fonts, a screensaver and more. Check it out!
Downloads
The link below contains the source code (see the source and programs directories), along with disk images for floppies/USB keys and CD-Rs in the disk_images folder.
You can write the images to a floppy disk, USB key or CD-R and boot
your PC from them to test -- or use a PC emulator such as QEMU,
VirtualBox or VMware. See the User Handbook below for a guide. System
requirements: minimum 386 PC with a keyboard and 1MB of RAM.
Here are some contributed add-on programs:
And projects that use (or are for) MikeOS:
Images
Click on the thumbnails below to see full-size versions.
Handbooks
These four Handbooks provide the complete documentation for MikeOS:
Note that the Handbooks are also included with MikeOS, in the doc directory. If you're new to the world of OS development, see our guide: write a simple assembly language operating system from scratch (Serbo-Croat translation).
Discussion
To discuss MikeOS and similar 16-bit real mode operating systems, join us on Google Groups.
Credits
Project admin
Development
- E Dehling
- Ian Seyler
- John Endler
- Joshua Beck
- Justin Tokarchuk
- Matej Horvat
- Michael van Tellingen
- Mike Gonta
- Peter Nemeth
- Paulo Valongo
- Takayoshi Sasano
- Tomasz Gorol
- Tslil Clingman
- Walt Nagel
- Yutaka Saiko
- Pete Dietl
Website, docs and artwork
- Nitin Reddy Katkam -- logo and site design
- Paul Sommers -- Handbook API reference
- Helen Ewart -- MikeOS cat mascot
Some website artwork from the Tango icon set.
Links
Projects based on or inspired by MikeOS:
Resources: