MenuetOS: An entire operating system in x86_64 assembly (opens in new tab)

(menuetos.net)

127 pointsgorenb2y ago45 comments

45 comments

1vuio0pswjnm72y ago

2009 might be earliest HN commentary, but MenuetOS dates back to at least 2005 according to the Internet Archive.

https://web.archive.org/web/20051215234548if_/http://www.co....

https://web.archive.org/web/20051030022655if_/http://www.men...

seritools2y ago

Kinda weird to use IA for this instead of just looking it up on Wikipedia

    Initial release: May 16, 2000; 23 years ago (32-bit)

larvaetron2y ago

I don't see anything "kinda weird" about that.

1 more reply

1vuio0pswjnm72y ago

Here's a Windows installer for MenuetOS from 2001.

https://web.archive.org/web/20011122052147if_/http://www.ddj...

https://ftp.math.utah.edu/pub/tex/bib/toc/dr-dobbs-2000.html

fiddlerwoaroof2y ago

Earlier than that: I remember booting it on my Pentium 90 before 2003

snvzz2y ago

Mandatory mention to KolibriOS[0], an open-source fork of MenuetOS.

0. http://kolibrios.org/en/

sparcpile2y ago

covered quite a few times over the years

https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=37514601 (2023)

https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=31290789 (2022)

https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=28988778 (2021)

https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=9595507 (2015)

https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=1494999 (2010)

https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=776381 (2009)

frozenport2y ago

mom said its my turn to repost it!

josephcsible2y ago

Why did they go closed-source for the 64-bit version?

frankjr2y ago

> Menuet64 is closed source because M32 was forked and new copyrights just slapped at the beginning of practically all 32bit source files (multitasking, drivers, GUI, networking..) without any permission. You can take a guess about the country in question.

https://board.flatassembler.net/topic.php?t=22194

mike_hock2y ago

How does that make sense? That has always been and will always be possible with any open source project. Should every other project go closed source too just because Russia can fork it and say "I made this"?

3 more replies

chungy2y ago

That seems like an awfully petty reason. (and does the forum censor the word "Russia" or something?)

weikju2y ago

> You can take a guess about the country in question.

For the curious, it appears to have been done by people in Russia (state-sponsored or not is unclear)

1 more reply

haolez2y ago

They must have at least one customer where this makes sense.

marttt2y ago

Is the IntelHDA audio driver only available for 64-bit MenuetOS? According to the release notes, it was first included in version 0.96X, which seems to be 64-bit.

The developer has only made one 32-bit version (0.86) availabe, though. Would be great to have past releases available as well.

EDIT: Apparently the 32-bit versions have not come too far in the last 12+ years -- in 2011 (when the Intel HDA driver was released), version 0.85 of M32 was downloadable: https://web.archive.org/web/20110615210928/http://www.menuet...

I'm learning some assembly (on FreeDOS), so MenuetOS is interesting. Was hoping to test it (+ the HDA audio, for 24-bit playback -- and maybe try to make sense of the audio driver source, for a hobby project) on a Dell Mini 9, which is 32 bit. It's time to move on then, I guess.

m642y ago

Intel HDA audio driver is available for Menuet64. M64 also has under 1 ms audio latency, or even under 0.1 ms audio latency. Part of the latency setup is adjusting the scheduler interval up to 0.1 Mhz.

marttt2y ago

Thanks! ("Time to move on" = mmmaybe put those 32-bit machines aside, ohwell; I'm long time aware and still curious about MenuetOS, also as a huge fan of minimalist systems. The Dell Mini 9 is a really cool fanless netbook, though, esp for the ~5€ I paid for it, ha. Would be great to test MenuetOS with audio on it as well. That M64 latency is surely impressive.)

anta402y ago

Menuet (and Kolibri) are most likely the only OSes written in asm which are still under active development until today...

jlarcombe2y ago

https://www.riscosopen.org/

anta402y ago

Ah ARM. Nice.

axiomdata3162y ago

Is there any examples of practical uses of this OS or is this more of a passion project?

RetroTechie2y ago

Check under "screenshots".

Could be just the vehicle someone needed to get into x86 coding on bare metal.

And serves as a nice counterpoint for "optimizing compilers outperform skilled assembly coders". Regardless of whether that's true or not.

RagnarD2y ago

I wonder if using this makes the most sense from a "security by obscurity" standpoint. It doesn't seem likely that blackhats would spend a lot of time hacking into such a marginally used OS.

msla2y ago

It only takes one.

bdhcuidbebe2y ago

there are better fringe OS:es if you care about security.

QubesOS for example

https://www.qubes-os.org/

CyberDildonics2y ago

This is at least 24 years old.

endgame2y ago

The news page indicates a new release on 2023-10-26, which is impressive diligence.

taylorportman2y ago

Menuet & Kolibri are still actively maintained though.

j / k navigate · click thread line to collapse

45 comments

1vuio0pswjnm72y ago

2009 might be earliest HN commentary, but MenuetOS dates back to at least 2005 according to the Internet Archive.

https://web.archive.org/web/20051215234548if_/http://www.co....

https://web.archive.org/web/20051030022655if_/http://www.men...

seritools2y ago

Kinda weird to use IA for this instead of just looking it up on Wikipedia

    Initial release: May 16, 2000; 23 years ago (32-bit)

larvaetron2y ago

I don't see anything "kinda weird" about that.

1 more reply

1vuio0pswjnm72y ago

Here's a Windows installer for MenuetOS from 2001.

https://web.archive.org/web/20011122052147if_/http://www.ddj...

https://ftp.math.utah.edu/pub/tex/bib/toc/dr-dobbs-2000.html

fiddlerwoaroof2y ago

Earlier than that: I remember booting it on my Pentium 90 before 2003

snvzz2y ago

Mandatory mention to KolibriOS[0], an open-source fork of MenuetOS.

0. http://kolibrios.org/en/

sparcpile2y ago

covered quite a few times over the years

https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=37514601 (2023)

https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=31290789 (2022)

https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=28988778 (2021)

https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=9595507 (2015)

https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=1494999 (2010)

https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=776381 (2009)

frozenport2y ago

mom said its my turn to repost it!

josephcsible2y ago

Why did they go closed-source for the 64-bit version?

frankjr2y ago

https://board.flatassembler.net/topic.php?t=22194

mike_hock2y ago

3 more replies

chungy2y ago

That seems like an awfully petty reason. (and does the forum censor the word "Russia" or something?)

weikju2y ago

> You can take a guess about the country in question.

For the curious, it appears to have been done by people in Russia (state-sponsored or not is unclear)

1 more reply

haolez2y ago

They must have at least one customer where this makes sense.

marttt2y ago

Is the IntelHDA audio driver only available for 64-bit MenuetOS? According to the release notes, it was first included in version 0.96X, which seems to be 64-bit.

The developer has only made one 32-bit version (0.86) availabe, though. Would be great to have past releases available as well.

m642y ago

marttt2y ago

anta402y ago

Menuet (and Kolibri) are most likely the only OSes written in asm which are still under active development until today...

jlarcombe2y ago

https://www.riscosopen.org/

anta402y ago

Ah ARM. Nice.

axiomdata3162y ago

Is there any examples of practical uses of this OS or is this more of a passion project?

RetroTechie2y ago

Check under "screenshots".

Could be just the vehicle someone needed to get into x86 coding on bare metal.

And serves as a nice counterpoint for "optimizing compilers outperform skilled assembly coders". Regardless of whether that's true or not.

RagnarD2y ago

I wonder if using this makes the most sense from a "security by obscurity" standpoint. It doesn't seem likely that blackhats would spend a lot of time hacking into such a marginally used OS.

msla2y ago

It only takes one.

bdhcuidbebe2y ago

there are better fringe OS:es if you care about security.

QubesOS for example

https://www.qubes-os.org/

CyberDildonics2y ago

This is at least 24 years old.

endgame2y ago

The news page indicates a new release on 2023-10-26, which is impressive diligence.

taylorportman2y ago

Menuet & Kolibri are still actively maintained though.

j / k navigate · click thread line to collapse