The first release of GentleOS has been published, an operating system for old 32-bit PCs and laptops. The project is being developed by an enthusiast as a hobby and aims to provide a simple platform for retro technology lovers with a classic graphical interface. It supports operation on computers with an i386 CPU, 4 MB of RAM, and a VGA graphics card with a resolution of 640×480. The project's code is written in C and is distributed under the GPLv2 license. An 8 MB disk image has been created for installation, along with a 1.4 MB image for writing to a floppy disk.
The OS is built on a monolithic architecture and is configured at build time. Drivers are available for VGA/SVGA graphics cards, keyboard, mouse (connecting via PS/2 and serial port), and built-in speaker. The functionality of GentleOS is marked as complete — future plans include the creation of additional applications, optimization, and bug fixing. It can run both in QEMU and on real hardware.
Available applications include a calculator, calendar, clock, sound generator, a basic graphic editor, and several games, such as Snake, Mahjong, Minesweeper, and Tetris.
A variant called GentleOS/16 is being developed separately, supporting operation on 16-bit systems with an Intel 80186 CPU. This version is built for running from floppy disks, sized 720 KB and 1.4 MB. It supports operation on PCs with 192 KB of RAM and a CGA graphics adapter (320x200x4).
Source: opennet.ru
