Resources - Operating Systems - Other

The Operating Systems listed here don't fit into the other categories.  They are typically unique in a non-standard way, but provide a great deal of usefulness either for a specific market, or as an effort to create a whole new type of Operating System (e.g., in an effort to build everything from scratch with a vision to emphasize a certain type of usability and/or functionality).

Acorn RISC OS
http://acorn.riscos.com/

A ROM-based OS by a company named Element 14 (after Silicon, the 14th element in the Periodic Table of Elements) that provided a full GUI-style desktop environment that was tailored to Acorn computer system hardware.  RISC OS has its roots here, and began to branch out in 1999 as a number of new and spin-off vendors continued development in various directions.

BareMetal OS - For a lean, mean, processing machine
http://www.returninfinity.com/baremetal.html

BareMetal is a 64-bit OS for x86-64 based computers.  The OS is written entirely in Assembly, while applications can be written in Assembly or C/C++.  Development of the Operating System is guided by its three target segments:  High Performance Computing, Embedded Applications, and Education

The OS also features a true 64-bit native boot loader, called Pure64, which can be used independently with other applications or Operating Systems projects.

BeOS
http://www.bebits.com/

BeOS is an operating system for personal computers which began development by Be Inc. in 1991.  It was optimized for digital media work and was written to take advantage of modern hardware facilities such as symmetric multiprocessing by utilizing modular I/O bandwidth, pervasive multithreading, preemptive multitasking, and a custom 64-bit journalling file system called BFS.  The BeOS GUI was developed on the principles of clarity and a clean, uncluttered design.  A copy of the free personal edition may be downloaded from http://www.bebits.com/app/2680/ (some patches may be needed to run on some modern hardware).

Haiku
http://www.haiku-os.org/

Haiku is an open-source operating system currently in development designed from the ground up for desktop computing.  Inspired by the BeOS, Haiku aims to provide users of all levels with a personal computing experience that is simple yet powerful, and free of any unnecessary complexities.

As a tool, software is a means to an end, and not an end in itself.  The Be Operating System introduced progressive concepts and technologies that represent the ideal means to the end of desktop computing.  Haiku will continue the realization of those concepts and technologies in the form of an operating system that is open source and free.

MenuetOS
http://www.menuetos.net/

MenuetOS is a real-time and multiprocessor Operating System in development for the PC written entirely in 32/64 bit assembly language.  It supports 32/64 bit x86 assembly programming for smaller, faster and less resource hungry applications.

Menuet isn't based on other operating system, nor has it roots within UNIX or the POSIX standards.  The design goal, since the first release in the year 2000, has been to remove the extra layers between different parts of an OS, which normally complicate programming and create bugs.

MorphOS - Made to fly
http://www.morphos.de/

MorphOS is a lightweight, highly efficient, and flexible media-centric operating system.  The project's original goal was to create a new operating system which allowed to transparently run legacy applications originally written for Commodore's Ax00 range of computers on modern hardware, which includes the highly popular MUI graphical user interface development system, which has been used to create many hundreds of applications for Commodore's computer platform.

Novell NetWare
http://www.novell.com/netware/

With its flagship product, the NetWare Operating System, Novell pioneered PC networking in corporate and educational environments from its infancy in the early 1980s through to the late 1990s.  One of Novell's most notable contributions to the scalability aspects of networking was their flagship Directory Services product, which still remains unmatched in its grand scalability, high performance, and logical ease-of-use.  Unfortunately for the marketplace, NetWare's marketshare gradually declined as businesses favoured some inferior high-maintenance altneratives that were marketed far more frequently.

Novell has since jumped onto the Linux bandwagon with the acquisition of SuSE Linux, which now provides nearly all of the same services as NetWare.  Novell was always ahead of their time technically, and their concepts and implementations basically set the standard for what PC networking should aspire to.  Although discontinued, the NetWare Operating System continues to provide reliable, high-performance services to many organizations (including the Lumber Cartel) as we near the end of the first decade of the year 2000, which clearly is a testament to its usefulness.

RiscOS
http://www.riscos.com/

RiscOS is a ROM-based Operating System designed to be embedded in small electronic devices that can benefit from a Unix-like backend.  Since 1988, the Risc OS has been bundled with nearly every Acorn computer model, including the Archimedes range of computers, and RiscPC and A7000 computers.

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