Free Linux Operating
Systems
Linux/Windows combinations
Free BSD Operating Systems
Educational operating systems
Other free Unix Operating Systems
Other free Operating Systems
Free BeOS
Windows
Free DOS clones
Emulators
Commercial Operating Systems |
| Introduction |
| This page contains alternatives to
Windows, interesting initiatives for new Operating Systems, commercial
Operating Systems, Operating Systems-related sites, emulators
which can be used to run Operating Systems inside other Operating
Systems and more. |
|
Linux |
| Linux is a popular free
Unix version, initially for the Intel xx86 set of platforms, but
now also for other processors: Alpha, ARM, Motorola 680x0, PowerPC,
SPARC.
In the server area it has become one of the most popular operating
systems. Support for desktop systems is increasing and it is starting
to become a viable Windows alternative.
A variety of Linux distributions are available: one can download
several Linux versions for free, or order CD-versions at a small
price. Real hackers download linux over a modem.
|
| |
| United
Linux |
Joined Linux initiative from Caldera
(SCO), SuSE,
Connectiva
and TurboLinux.
Free single-CD versions for download, or non-free multiple-CD versions
to be sent by postal mail. |
| RedHat
|
Biggest and most famous Linux distribution. Limited
free version for download, or full version on multiple CD-Roms for
purchase. |
| Debian
|
Download
Debian for free or Purchase the complete set of Debian CDs from
your local Debian dealer
|
| Mandrake
Linux |
Download
Mandrake for free or purchase the complete Mandrake Linux version
from your local Mandrake
Store. |
| SlackWare
|
Download
Slackware for free or order the CD-Rom set from the Slackware
store.
A special edition of Slackware Linux, called ZipSlack
can be installed on the same drive (or partition) as Windows. It
just needs a FAT (or FAT32) harddisk with about 100 MB of extra
free disk space.
BigSlack
is more complete than ZipSlack, and can also be installed on a FAT
(or FAT32) harddisk. BigSlack needs about 850 Mb of extra free disk
space. |
| e-Smith
|
A Linux distribution that acts like a full server
and gateway, free alternative for SME Serviers from Mitel.
Easy to install and run, even for Linux/Unix non-literates. |
| Metro
Linux OS |
Customizable Linux solutions for a variety of applications:
set-top boxes, residential gateways/Firewalls, network attached
storage, webpads, embedded OS, personal video recording, etc. |
| Knoppix
|
Linux on a bootable CD. Runs on a large number of
hardware configurations, boots in under two minutes and is adaptable.
Article
on Knoppix. |
| Peanut
Linux |
Small but packed and nice looking Linux distribution,
only 210 Mb download installs to 600 Mb on your harddisk. |
| Tiny
Linux |
Tiny Linux is a small Linux distribution designed
especially for old recycled computers. |
| Linux
Standard Base |
Organization devoted to keeping all distributions
compatible, so that software which runs on one distribution, also
runs on the other. These companies are supporting the initiative:
Compaq, Caldera, Coral, Debian, LinuxCare, Mandrake, TurboLinux,
Read Hat, Suse, VA Linux, HP, IBM, Intel. |
| Linux Desktops |
KDE,
stable graphical user-interface which is part of most Linux distributions.
XPde, a desktop
environment(XPde) and a window manager(XPwm) for Linux. It tries
to recreate the Windows XP interface to-the-pixel point.
Gnome,
free desktop environment competing with KDE, part of most Linux
distributions.
|
| Linux News |
Fresh
Meat
Linux
Journal
Desktop
Linux
|
| |
Free programming tools for Linux, Windows and other
Operating Systems. |
| Java
on Linux |
Information, tools, downloads, programming-tools
for Java on Linux. |
|
Linux/Windows combinations |
| Lindows
|
Non-free operating system, based on Linux, and capable
of running Windows software through emulation (Wine). Hence the
name 'Lindows'.
To run Lindows and receive one year of free upgrades, pay $ 129.
Each additional year of upgrades is $ 99. |
| WinLinux
2003 |
Linux which installs inside Windows 95 or 98. This
means that you can run Linux as an application on Windows 95/98.
Not free, but only $ 29.95. |
| E/OS
LX |
Project to construct a free operating system,
based on Linux, Xfree86, Wine and DOSemu. It is targeted towards
running Windows/DOS programs, and Windows drivers, without having
any Microsoft Windows or DOS components installed.
|
| Free
BSD |
| BSD
home page |
BSD, like Linux is based on Unix. A variety of resources
for users of the various commercial and freely-available bsd Operating
Systems, like FreeBSD, OpenBSD, NetBSD. |
| FreeBSD
|
FreeBSD is an advanced free and open-source Operating
System for Intel ia32 compatible, DEC Alpha, and PC-98 architectures.
It is derived from BSD UNIX, the version of UNIX developed at the
University of California, Berkeley. It is developed and maintained
by a large team of individuals. Very popular Operating Systems for
servers. |
| OpenBSD
|
OpenBSD is a free, open-source, multi-platform 4.4BSD-based
UNIX-like Operating System. OpenBSD supports binary emulation of
most programs from SVR4 (Solaris), FreeBSD, Linux, BSDI, SunOS,
and HPUX. |
| Net
BSD |
NetBSD is a free, open-source, secure, and highly
portable UNIX-like Operating System available for many platforms,
from 64-bit AlphaServers and desktop systems to handheld and embedded
devices. |
| BSD-related news |
Daemon
News |
| Other
free Unix Operating Systems |
| Solaris
|
Sun's solaris free for non-commercial use! Intel
and Sparc versions available. You can order this OS on CD by Sun
by paying only media, shipping and handling costs. Alternatively,
to educators, students, and researchers the Aachen
University will send a full copy on CD for $20-$30. |
| GNU
Hurd |
Open-source (GNU) Replacement for the Unix kernel.
The Hurd is a collection of servers that run on the Mach microkernel
to implement file systems, network protocols, file access control,
and other features that are implemented by the Unix kernel or similar
kernels (such as Linux). Currently only available for x86 machines,
but will be ported to other platforms. Advantages: free, object-oriented,
scalable, compatible. |
| |
|
Educational Operating Systems |
| Minix
|
Small free Unix Operating System, open-source, constructed
for educational purposes by TanenBaum.
How
to get and install Minix
Newsgroup: comp.os.minix
|
| Xinu
|
Xinu was originally designed as a vehicle for teaching
Operating System design concepts and is used by many educational
institutions for this purpose.
Xinu is also well-suited for teaching advanced programming concepts
such as Concurrent Processing, I/O, IPC and Client-Server Interaction.
Major advantages of Xinu are its (relative) simplicity, and that
the source code can be modified as needed. |
| Nachos
|
Nachos is an educational operating system simulator
used for undergraduate, and potentially graduate, level operating
systems courses.
Runs on DEC MIPS, running Ultrix, SUN SPARCstations, HP PA-RISC,
running HP-UX, 386 boxes, running 386BSD UNIX.
Does not run on Windows, MAC. |
| |
|
Other free Operating Systems |
| Menuet
OS |
Menuet is a fully 32 bit assembly written, graphical
RTOS for assembly programming & distributed under GPL with the following
features:
* pre-emptive multitasking, multithreading, ipc
* graphical UI with 16 M colours up to 1280x1024
* ide: editor/compiler for applications and kernel
* kernel and application sources included (GPL)
* ethernet: tcp/udp/icmp/ip
* http/mp3 servers, 3D maze
* free-form, skinnable application windows
* hard real-time data fetch
* fits in a single floppy
Since Menuet fits to a single floppy, you only need one blank 1.44
M diskette to install it. Your hard disks are not affected in any
way. |
| Oberon
|
Oberon is the name of a modern integrated software
environment. It is a single-user, multi-tasking system that runs
on bare hardware or on top of a host operating system. Oberon is
also the name of a programming language in the Pascal/Modula tradition.
The Oberon project was launched in 1985 by Niklaus Wirth and Jürg
Gutknecht. Although the project was originally targeted towards
in-house hardware, the language and system have now been ported
to many computer platforms and multiple CPU's.
Freeware, Open Source. |
| V2OS
|
Small and very fast operating system from V2_Lab
in Rotterdam, the Netherlands. Freeware, Open source. |
| EROS
|
'The Extremely Reliable Operating
System', originally implemented at the University of Pennsylvania,
but now migrated to Johns Hopkins University. The result is a small,
secure, real-time operating system that provides orthogonal
persistence. |
| Atari.org
|
Atari.org is a non-commercial service dedicated
to the Atari home- and personal-computer users as well as the Classic
Video Game enthusiasts all over the world. Also: the most up-to-date
news, forums to exchange opinions, hints and support, a comprehensive
search engine, web-hosting for Atari computer or video-game related
pages as well as subdomains and email-forwarding. |
| Amiga.org
|
Site for Amiga-enthousiasts. |
| |
|
Free BeOS |
BeOS is a very fast, reliable operating system, designed
from the ground up for performance.
For example, it boots under 15 seconds. It can run 10 full-screen
MPEG videos simultaneously without any problems. Don't try that
on Windows!
|
| BeOS
Journal |
Reporting the news for the BeOS community. |
| BeBits.com
|
Tons of freeware and shareware programs running on BeOS. |
| OpenBeOS
|
OpenBeOS is a project dedicated to the re-creation, followed
by the extension, of the BeOS. Individual servers and APIs (known
as kits) are being re-written from scratch by an enthusiastic team
of volunteers who want to continue the revolution started by Be
Inc. The kernel is being based on NewOS, a microkernel written by
a former Be engineer, and adapted by a dedicated team of hard core
programmers. |
| YellowTab
|
'New generation BeOS solutions'. The yellowTAB concept was started
by 10 people in Stuttgart, Germany, who were not willing to give
up BeOS and still saw a market for it. yellowTAB doesn't intend
to compete with Windows, but wants to be an alternative for those
wanting to run a second operating system - or those and who find
Linux too complicated. BeOS is easily installed, and perhaps even
easier to use. It's probably also just as powerful as Linux. YellowTab
will work on getting BeOS out to the masses. |
| |
| DOS |
| PTS
|
Russian MS-DOS clone. |
| FreeDOS
|
Freeware DOS clone, Y2K compliant. |
| RDOS
|
Open source DOS clone, free for non-commercial use. |
| Seal
|
Open source GUI for DOS. |
|
Windows |
| Windows
|
Although not abundantly fast, stable, and cost-effective, it
is by far the most popular Operating System around.
|
| Wine
|
Freeware, open source, emulates Windows. See also
emulators.
Wine is an implementation of the Windows Win32 and Win16 APIs on
top of X and Unix (Linux, FreeBSD, Solaris, etc.).
Wine is also a programming library and can be used to port existing
windows applications to the linux environment. |
| litePC.com
|
Products for customizing, optimizing Windows operating
systems. By removing or replacing certain Windows components, performance
and stability can be improved. |
| ReactOS
|
ReactOS is an Open Source effort to develop a quality operating
system that is compatible with Windows NT applications and drivers.
|
|
Emulators |
| VMWare
Workstation |
Commercial (non-freeware), high-quality PC emulator. Emulates
a PC with Bios and hardware.
Virtual platform which enables running more than one operating system
simultaneously on one xxx86 computer. Currently one can run DOS,
Linux, Solaris, Free BSD, Windows 3/95/98/ME/NT/2000/XP. Up to four
virtual Ethernet cards (having different network addresses) can
each be assigned to each running virtual machine.
Each operating system runs in its own protected sandbox. Each operating
system is executed directly by the processor, which gives a fast
performance. Two versions available of this VM, one which sits on
top of Linux, the other sits on top of Windows NT. Solid and stable.
|
| Virtual
PC for MAC |
Commercial (non-freeware), PC emulator enabling you to install
and run Windows, DOS and Linux on your MAC. It emulates standard
Intel® chip set inclucing Pentium processor and other hardware components.
Virtual PC supports MAC OS 9 and MAC OS X as host operating systems
and Linux, DOS, Windows 3.x, 9x, ME, 2000, NT and XP as guest operating
systems with support for MMX, Sound Blaster, drag and drop file
copy between Mac and Windows. Solid and stable.
Other products from the same company are Virtual
PC for OS/2 and Virtual
PC for Windows. |
| Emulators
and MAC |
Emulators for running Windows and other operating systems on
MAC; run MAC on other operating systems. Freeware, commercial, hardware
and software emulators. Very large listing! |
| Wine
|
Freeware. Wine is an emulator, running on Linux, allowing you
to run Windows applications on Linux without the need to pay for
a Windows licence (legally).
|
| DosEMU
|
Emulates DOS on Linux. Freeware. |
| Plex86
|
A virtual PC environment running on Linux and other operating
systems, formerly known as 'Bochs'. |
| CP/M
Emulator |
Freeware application to emulate CP/M-80 ver2.2 on the Macintosh.
|
| True
Reality |
Free Nintendo 64 emulator for the MAC. |
|
Commercial Operating Systems |
| Petros
|
Petros is a new 32-bit operating system for the PC platform released
by Trumpet Software. Non-bloatware approach (KISS), small in size,
modular, based on Object Pascal, and only $ 50 USD.
Petros is a system that is intended to co-exist with and complement
the existing platforms rather than supplant them. |
| MAC
OS |
The Operating System for the iMac and other Apple computers.
A site with lots of good Mac related links is The
Page.
|
| OS/2
|
Operating system for Intel-based PC's.
OS/2
related sites. |
| QNX
|
Real-time operating system with UNIX-like functionality. |
VAX
and Alpha
VMS for hobbyists |
An interesting initiative is the "OpenVMS and the OpenVMS
hobbyist licensing Program". For a few hundreds of dollars you
can now own your own (secondhand) VAX or Alpha computer!
|
|
Operating Systems-related sites |
| OSDev.org
|
"The place to start for OS developers": newsgroups, message board,
links,
OSDev
ring. |
| OS
News |
Daily news on Operating Systems. |
| Review
of Operating Systems |
One of the largest lists of Operating Systems, related
projects, etc. on the Net. |
| OS
News discussion forum |
Discussions on Operating Systems related subjects.
|
OS
Opinion
Resources Page |
Articles and columns on technical- and Operating Systems-related
matters. |
|
Operating Systems Project Information |
Links to all sorts of Operating System projects
scattered across the world-wide web.
|
Information
wanted!
|
If you know of any good free and/or interesting Operating
Systems,
which are not listed here, please let us know! |
