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Show HN: My self-written hobby OS is finally running on my vintage IBM ThinkPad (github.com)

575 points by joexbayer · 462 days ago · 116 comments on HN

Article summary

The author has created a 32-bit hobby operating system called RetrOS-32, which runs on vintage IBM ThinkPads and other old hardware. The OS has features like graphics, multitasking, and networking. It is written in C and Assembly for the kernel and C++ for userspace applications. The project is open-source and available on GitHub.

Main themes

  • hobby operating system
  • vintage hardware
  • font system
  • performance optimization
  • porting to other architectures
  • development documentation

What commenters say

  • The author's accomplishment is impressive and deserves recognition.
  • The OS's font system is suboptimal and needs improvement.
  • Supporting variable-width fonts is relatively easy, but combining characters can be complicated.
  • The project's performance is acceptable, but optimization is needed for better results.
  • Porting the OS to other architectures, like ARM, would require significant changes.
  • The OS's development process could be better documented, potentially through videos or blog posts.