(Image credit: Future)
The appetite for retro computing grows ever larger, and there are probably hundreds of thousands of homebrew software projects targeting machines from the last century. However, few of those are full-featured, 32-bit, and GUI-driven operating systems that can fit in a single floppy, with some modern conveniences to boot. Enter the upcoming HamsterOS, set for release in November.HamsterOS is seemingly targeted at using PCs from the 386/486 era, along with DOS software. After loading from the floppy disk, it'll present a user interface with most every commonly used utility: a notepad, image viewer, calculator, file finder, drive icons, and a window manager. The file browser should have up to five windows once, complete with per-type icons.Crucially, HamsterOS includes an in-kernel VM86 DOS box, and a FreeDOS fallback for programs that might not run well within. Other noteworthy tech aspects include support for FAT 12/16/32 with read-back verification, dedicated format and disk utilities, a partition manager, and even SCSI diagnostic tools. The operating system defaults to 16-color VGA resolution, but the ability to use 256 colors exists as a diagnostic option. There's a neat fallback to VGA as a safe mode after three failed crashes, too.
