MenuetOS

🧩 1. Basic Information

Field —>Description
OS Name —>MenuetOS (also known as MeOS)
Developer —>Ville M. Turjanmaa (original), plus community
First Released —>~2000
Latest Version —>Menuet64 v0.99.98 (2024 updates for x86-64)
License Type —>Menuet64 is Freeware (source partially open); Menuet32 has more open community ports
Supported Platforms —>x86 (32-bit) & x86-64 (64-bit)
Still Active? —>✅ Yes (especially Menuet64, under active updates by Ville)

⚙️ 2. Kernel & Architecture

Kernel Type: Monolithic

Based On: Written completely from scratch, entirely in FASM (Flat Assembler) x86 assembly language

Architecture:

File System Support: FAT12, FAT16, FAT32 native; reads from USB and local disks

Can boot from floppy, CD, USB, or directly from a hard disk

🌟 3. Key Features

Tiny footprint: Core OS fits on a 1.44 MB floppy (still with GUI, network, and apps)

Full GUI from the start: Boots directly to a graphical desktop, no text mode login

Multitasking & multithreading with preemptive scheduling

Includes a graphical text editor, image viewers, games, system monitors, and a simple web browser

TCP/IP stack with Ethernet support

GUI API accessible directly from assembly for making small, fast apps

Menuet64 adds 64-bit support, more memory, and modern drivers

📈 4. Version History & Important Milestones ✅

Milestone / Version —>Year —>Description
MenuetOS first demo —>~2000 —>Showed a full GUI multitasking OS on a floppy
Menuet32 stable versions —>Early 2000s —>Became popular among hobby OS developers
KolibriOS fork —>~2004 —>Community forked to add more features, translations
Menuet64 —>~2010± –>Shifted to 64-bit architecture, supporting more RAM and modern CPUs
Latest builds —>2020s± –>Ville continues updating with new drivers & bug fixes

🎯 5. Target Audience & Use Cases

Hobbyist OS developers: Perfect for studying low-level assembly OS design

Retro PC enthusiasts: Runs on extremely low-spec machines (Pentium-class CPUs with 16 MB RAM)

Quick boot demos or hardware test: Can boot instantly off a floppy or USB to test old hardware

Embedded GUI demos: Minimal overhead for running a graphical app or kiosk-like system

✅ 6. Pros & Cons

Pros —>Cons
Tiny size, boots instantly even on old PCs —>Written entirely in assembly, harder to maintain or port large apps
Completely self-contained GUI & network stack —>Limited driver support for modern hardware (WiFi, advanced GPUs)
Excellent for learning low-level OS internals —>No POSIX layer, so limited software portability
Can run from floppy, CD, USB with no install —>Small user base, niche community

🎨 7. UI Demo & Visuals

Colorful GUI desktop after boot (with analog clock, taskbar, system stats)

File manager navigating FAT folders

Basic text editor editing .ASM or .TXT files

Playing simple games (like Tetris clones, card games)

Tiny web browser opening a page over Ethernet

📦 8. Ecosystem & App Support

Mostly Menuet-native apps, written in FASM with direct system calls

Comes with sample games, calculators, paint, music player

Can run TCP/IP stack for web browsing or simple servers

Some community-created small apps & drivers on forums and archives

🔐 9. Security & Updates

Single-user system, no concept of user accounts or access permissions

Extremely small codebase means minimal attack surface (but also minimal defenses)

Updates come as floppy or ISO images directly from the MenuetOS site

Community sometimes shares bug-fixed or hardware-patched builds

🌍 10. Community, License & Development

License: Menuet64 is Freeware (source available under specific conditions), Menuet32 partially open with examples

Active forums on sites like OSDev, plus the official MenuetOS forum

Frequently cited in OS development courses as an example of ultra-low-level implementation

Inspires forks like KolibriOS, and many small experimental assembly-based OS projects