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GentleOS – Classic operating system with a lovely retro GUI
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The 5-second version
- GentleOS/32 is a monolithic hobby OS targeting vintage 32-bit PCs with minimal requirements of i386 CPU, 4MB RAM, and VGA 640x480x16 display.
- The OS supports limited standard PC hardware including VGA/SVGA, keyboard, PS/2 mouse, serial mouse, and PC speaker, with configuration done mostly at compile time.
- A 16-bit spin-off called GentleOS/16 exists, targeting even older 80186-based devices for broader retro hardware compatibility.
- Future development is intentionally scoped to bugfixes, optimizations, and additional applications only—no major architectural changes planned.
- The project is primarily GPLv2-licensed with specific third-party assets sourced from Icons8, Mona Font, and The Ultimate Oldschool PC Font Pack under their respective licenses.
Top voices
Verbatim comments from the thread's most notable / highest-karma participants.
hnlmorg11.4k karma
Whilst that’s definitely old in computer terms, even “retro”, is it old enough to be “vintage”? Personally I’d have said it isn’t. But these terms are subjective.Read on HN ↗
mysterydip7.8k karma
> The only future plans are bugfixes, optimizations, and adding more apps. Perfect. Nice to see a platform target stability instead of constantly reinventing itself and its APIs. Definitely want to give it a go!Read on HN ↗
darkwater7.1k karma
I don't really understand GP's message. User's comment history seems pretty normal, why would they drop a random IG link here? Wrong article?Read on HN ↗
iamnothere4.5k karma
Copy/pasting my comment from the other post: This is great, thanks for releasing your work. Very impressive. You may get some interest from others in the retrocomputing/permacomputing sphere if you implement an Uxn emulator; it is extremely simple and can run on very limited hardware. https://100r.co/site/uxn.html Vintage hardware would be a great host for Uxn programs, so I suspect this would generate some excitement.Read on HN ↗