Those who are always looking for the discovery of new, different and independent operating systems will find in MenuetOS a very interesting alternative. An efficient and lightweight operating system, developed entirely in Assembly language. In this article we explain everything about MenuetOS: what it is, what are its features and its benefits.
It is true that Assembler (ASM) does not enjoy much good press, considered as a language that is difficult to handle, only available to true keyboard masters. We are not going to deny that it is a somewhat complex language that requires a lot of work. Perhaps that is the reason why in recent years it has fallen somewhat out of use. However, betting on it has its rewards, perfectly reflected in operating systems such as the one we are dealing with today.
MenuetOS is the best example that Assembly language can still be used practically today. This operating system, which has 32 and 64-bit versions, It has its own graphical environment and support for USB devices, as well as certain transparency effects. It also has networking capabilities and allows us to browse the Internet.
Having full control over the hardware and the ability to optimize performance as much as possible are the main advantages of Assembler; Its disadvantages are well known: excessive complexity and lack of portability.
Apart from all this, Menuet can also run programs that have not been written in assembly language, which makes it an even more interesting alternative.
What is MenuetOS?
MenuetOS is an open source operating system that appeared in 2000, being Originally developed by Finnish programmer Ville Turjanmaa. It was created with the aim of creating a compact, fast and efficient operating system that was capable of running on computers with limited resources.
Why was a language like Assembly chosen for this idea? There was a compelling reason for this: the great advantage that produce small executable files compared to those generated through compilers of other languages. This provides a lot of agility to the operating system, which translates into high performance.
In this way, MenuetOS is offered to users as a complete operating system, with a graphical interface that works through windows (as can be seen in the images that accompany this post) and that It has many of the features of modern operating systems. There are two versions:
- Menuet64 (64-bit) which is distributed under a restrictive license.
- Menuet32 (32-bit) distributed under the GPL license.
In terms of application development, MenuetOS has been created a simple HTTPC web browser, mail clients and FTP and HTTP servers. It has also been provided with a basic package of applications for text and multimedia editing (audio, video and image). Apart from this, we must mention its network capabilities, the possibility of being able to read other devices such as USB drives, support for multitasking applications and many more things.
MenuetOS is currently in version 1.50, to which a series of updates, bug fixes and improvements have been applied, including a design change to the wallpaper.
Hummingbirds
You cannot talk about MenuetOS without making a reference to Hummingbirds, fork developed from this operating system in 2004. You could say that it is an even simpler and lighter version, although with a more modern-looking interface and more possibilities for compatibility with other applications and drivers.
With both MenuetOS and KolibriOS the user experiences the pleasure of opening programs just by clicking on the corresponding icon, without waiting or cursors that turn into hourglasses. Again, we must thank the use of Assembler. In fact, one of the most notable advantages of working with this language is speed, much superior to that of other systems written in other languages.
In addition to this, it must be said that KolibriOS is a free code which incorporates numerous applications: from a word processor and image viewer to a graphic editor and the essential web browser. Not to mention its well-stocked game gallery.
Conclusions
MenuetOS and KolibriOS are small, open source operating systems that share the same virtues. Among other aspects, they stand out above all for their minimalist design and on the other hand with a clear orientation towards efficiency and performance above all.
These features have made many alternative operating system enthusiasts pay attention to these options, which offer a lightweight alternative with the ability to run applications on limited hardware.
Users who are curious or want to try this system have a floppy disk image and an ISO image to burn to a CD for execution in VirtualBox through this link.
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