KolibriOS

π§© 1. Basic Information
Field β>Description
OS Name β>KolibriOS
Developer β>KolibriOS Project Team (open source community)
First Released β>~2004 (forked from MenuetOS)
Latest Version β>Rolling development (small updates on SourceForge & GitHub)
License Type β>GPL v2 (Free and open source)
Supported Platforms β>x86 (32-bit), experimental x86_64
Still Active? β>β
Yes (actively developed by hobbyist community)
βοΈ 2. Kernel & Architecture
Kernel Type: Monolithic
Based On: Fork of MenuetOS (which is also entirely in FASM assembly)
Architecture Support: Primarily x86 32-bit; early work on 64-bit
Written Entirely In: FASM (Flat Assembler) β entire OS written in x86 assembly
File System Support: FAT12/FAT16/FAT32 native; can read NTFS/ext2/ext3 with drivers
π 3. Key Features
Extremely small footprint: ~1.44 MB fits on a floppy, ~10 MB installed on disk
Ultra-fast boot: Boots in ~1-2 seconds on modern hardware
Fully graphical GUI (no text mode boot) with windows, themes, icons
Includes text editor, image viewer, web browser (kiv), media player, games
Multitasking & multithreading, even though under 10 MB
Network stack with TCP/IP, HTTP client & FTP support
Can run from a floppy, CD, USB, or inside virtual machines easily
π 4. Version History & Important Milestones β
Milestone / Version β>Year β>Description
MenuetOS 0.7Β± β>Early 2000s β>Kolibri forked from MenuetOS to pursue independent direction
KolibriOS 0.7.xx β>~2004Β± β>First stable standalone GUI OS on floppy
Ongoing small builds β>2010sΒ± β>Added networking, browser, FAT32 support
GitHub mirror created β>~2020 β>Easier contributions, translations, localization efforts
Today β>2025 β>Maintained by hobbyists; demos at OSDev forums, retro computing events
π― 5. Target Audience & Use Cases
Hobbyists & OS developers: Studying how a full OS can be built in pure assembly
Legacy PCs: Reviving very old x86 machines that canβt run modern OSes
Embedded or kiosk-like scenarios: Ultra-fast boot for a single app or demo
Retro computing fans: Fascinated by minimalist, low-level control
β 6. Pros & Cons
Pros β>Cons
Boots instantly, ultra-lightweight footprint β>Limited hardware drivers (especially modern GPUs, WiFi)
Entire source code fits on a USB stick β>No POSIX layer, limited to Kolibri-native apps
Written fully in assembly β great for learning low-level OS concepts β>Small community, few mainstream apps
Surprisingly functional (browser, player, games) β>Not a general-purpose OS replacement
π¨ 7. UI Demo & Visuals
Colorful desktop with taskbar & icons right after boot
File manager browsing local FAT drives
Text editor editing ASM or TXT files
Built-in browser visiting lightweight sites
Kolibriβs little graphical games (Tetris, minesweeper clones)
Network panel showing IP config & pings
π¦ 8. Ecosystem & App Support
Native apps: Compiled in FASM or Kolibri-specific toolchains
Comes with a suite of small utilities: disk viewers, calculators, hex editors
Networking tools like FTP, basic IRC client, simple HTTP browser
Some efforts to port SDL-style or tiny graphical apps
π 9. Security & Updates
Minimalistic system β by design has a tiny attack surface
Lacks multi-user accounts or advanced permissions (single-user OS)
Updates handled by downloading new floppy or ISO images from project site
Community typically shares patched builds for new hardware experiments
π 10. Community, License & Development
License: GPL v2 β entire source freely available on SourceForge & GitHub
Global hobbyist community; active threads on OSDev.net and Russian developer forums
Frequently showcased in lightweight OS contests & embedded demos
Used in education to teach x86 assembly, low-level drivers, and file system code