Retro-OS is a high-performance, higher-half 32-bit Operating System designed with a focus on modern networking, POSIX compliance, and a rich graphical user interface. Built from the ground up, it features a custom kernel, a robust network stack with HTTPS support, and a dedicated rendering engine.
- 32-bit Protected Mode: Fully utilized x86 architecture.
- Higher-Half Kernel: Linked at
0xC0000000for better memory management. - Paging & Memory Management: Unified mapping with support for large memory regions and a sophisticated slab allocator.
- Multitasking: Kernel-level threading and user-process isolation.
- Modern HTTPS: Support for SNI (Server Name Indication) and ALPN.
- TCP/IP Reliability: Robust sequence tracking and segment reassembly.
- Hardware Support: E1000 network driver implementation.
- Entropy Source: Jitter-based kernel entropy for secure TLS handshakes.
- BGA/VBE Support: High-resolution 1024x768x32 graphics.
- Double Buffering: Smooth, flicker-free rendering.
- GUI System: Native windowing system with mouse and keyboard integration.
- Browser Engine: Custom HTML5 parser and rendering logic.
- IPC: Semaphores and Message Queues.
- Stubs: Growing support for standard POSIX APIs to enable application porting.
- Filesystem: FAT16 integration with a Virtual File System (VFS) layer.
Explore the visual identity and interface of Retro-OS.
| Desktop Environment | Development Progress |
|---|---|
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Note
Above: Snapshots of the GUI system and the kernel booting into protected mode.
- WSL (Windows Subsystem for Linux)
- g++ (m32 support)
- nasm
- qemu
To build the OS image:
./build.ps1This script triggers the build.sh within WSL to compile all components and generate os.img.
Run the following command to boot Retro-OS:
qemu-system-i386 -drive format=raw,file=os.img -m 512M -serial stdio -net nic,model=e1000 -net user/src/boot: Bootloader and kernel entry logic./src/kernel: Core kernel systems (Paging, Tasking, IPC)./src/drivers: Hardware drivers (Graphics, Network, Timer)./apps: Userspace applications./Demo: Visual assets and project screenshots.
Retro-OS is under active development. Current focus areas include:
- MuJS Integration: Finalizing JavaScript execution in the browser.
- Image Decoding: Native support for PNG/JPEG.
- VFS Stability: Enhancing FAT16 state synchronization.
Created with Love, Passion, Grit and Hobby.