Download

Z-OS Alpha 0.1. It boots. It has a desktop. It discovers hardware. It runs Z+ programs. It's real, and it's early.

ALPHA 0.1

Z-OS Alpha 0.1

UEFI bootable. x86-64. 32K+ lines of kernel C across 130+ source files. Desktop environment, signal chain engine, hardware discovery, browser, NVMe storage, networking, 32 Z+ programs.

View on GitHub Learn Z+

Quick Start

Option 1: QEMU (recommended)

Run Z-OS in a virtual machine. No hardware required.

$ git clone https://github.com/theBullfish/zeos.git

$ cd zeos

$ make run

Requires: QEMU with OVMF UEFI firmware, cross-compiler toolchain.

Option 2: USB Boot (bare metal)

Write Z-OS to a USB drive and boot real hardware.

$ make usb

$ sudo dd if=build/zeos.img of=/dev/sdX bs=4M status=progress

Replace /dev/sdX with your USB device. Boot with UEFI enabled.

What's in Alpha 0.1

UEFI bootstrap + framebuffer console

Desktop: panel, dock, snap/tile, spring physics

Command palette

First boot wizard with passive education

IDT + keyboard/mouse IRQ handling

PCIe bus enumeration + hardware discovery

Physical memory manager (bitmap allocator)

Virtual memory manager + heap

Timer + TSC calibration

Signal chain engine

NVMe storage driver

Networking (TCP/IP, DNS, HTTP)

Native browser

Z+ parser + resolver

32 Z+ programs

Sacred corners + spring animations

Hardware telemetry framework

Component provenance system

AI inference routing

Multi-monitor support

Tested Hardware

Device	Status	Notes
QEMU/KVM	Tested	OVMF UEFI, virtio — recommended for first look
ASUS Chromebox CN60	Tested	Primary bare-metal target, x86-64 UEFI
ASUS Z13 (Ryzen AI MAX+)	Primary dev	128GB unified, TB4, daily driver
Any x86-64 UEFI	Should work	UEFI + GOP framebuffer required

Requirements

arch: x86-64

boot: UEFI (no legacy BIOS)

ram: 64MB minimum

display: GOP framebuffer

storage: USB boot or QEMU image

build: GCC cross-compiler, NASM, QEMU + OVMF

EXPERIMENTAL

Z-OS Alpha 0.1 is experimental software for developers and tinkerers. It will break. APIs will change. Do not use it for production workloads. This is an invitation to explore, not a promise of stability. If you find bugs, open an issue on GitHub.