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KolibriOS 0.7.5.0 Released

  Submitted by hidnplayr OS News 11 Comments

The team behind KolibriOS has released a new version, KolibriOS 0.7.5.0. This operating system is written entirely in assembly language and fits on a single floppy disk. Sadly, there is no information available on what exactly has changed between this version and the last one, so all I can do is point you towards the downloads section.

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11 Comments

  1. 2009-02-02 1:41 pm
    uteck

    What is this ‘floppy disk’ they talk about? Did Seagate roll out a flexible drive?

    • 2009-02-02 4:32 pm
      Bobthearch

      Floppy image does seem like an odd way to distribute an operating system, unless it’s an OS designed specifically for vintage hardware.

      Many/most off-the-shelf computers no longer have floppy drives. Fortunately, adding a floppy drive only costs $5-$7, that is if the motherboard has a floppy connector and if the case has an available slot- many don’t.

      Floppy discs themselves are becoming more difficult to buy (there appear to be none currently listed at NewEgg or TigerDirect). And floppy disks cost more than CDs even though they hold 1/500th the amount of data.

      There are some advantages to a bootable floppy though: Configuration and user settings can be saved. And I’ve also noticed, from my own experiences, that floppy OSes have fewer boot problems than CDs (CD drive order being one example glitch).

      • 2009-02-02 5:32 pm
        Bobthearch

        Sorry for the floppy rant. For the record, KolibriOS runs from a bootable CD but can be installed on a floppy.

      • 2009-02-02 6:22 pm
        FunkyELF

        I agree. There are advantages to booting off of a floppy particularly when dual booting.

        It is my preferred way of booting Linux on a machine that still has one. I would install grub on the floppy and leave the Windows bootloader alone. Then when turning the computer on your floppy acts like a 2 way switch, eject it to boot Windows, leave it in to boot Linux.

    • 2009-02-02 5:07 pm
      merkoth

      OSNews readers fail at humour.

      • 2009-02-03 4:31 pm
        Bully

        or maybe it just wasn’t all that funny :p

  2. 2009-02-02 11:03 pm
    lubod

    The first hyperlink, with the text “has released a new version” seems to not link to anything. The second one, with the text “the downloads section” works.

    Not sure what the first should point to, maybe whatever is the home page of the kolibrios site? Possibly “

  • 2009-02-04 4:18 pm
    Bobthearch

    Over the past couple of days I’ve booted and played with KolibriOS several times. It boots up very fast from a CD drive with no user input necessary, and goes right to an attractive and intuitive desktop GUI.

    At first glance the OS seems to be complete: a decent set of small applications, a quick and smooth response time, and a ‘finished’ appearance. Every single program starts and does something. But…

    But here’s the catch, upon closer inspection it becomes obvious that almost every single application and feature is broken or incomplete in some way. Here’s a short list of examples:

    * At first there was no sound at all – it’s surprisingly turned off by default. But even when enabled, the only sounds are the OS ‘beeps’ from the computer case speaker – nothing at all from the external speakers. No sounds during the games (not sure which ones are supposed to have sound, if any), and no sound from the CD player application.

    * The taskbar at the bottom of the screen is similar to Windows, featuring a Programs menu on the left and running services icons on the right. It worked well until I closed it and was unable to open it again.

    * The Device Setup menu is in Russian by default, despite downloading the English version of the OS.

    * No internet or networking detected. The OS includes a browser and other network tools, but could not detect

    the connected internet.

    * There is a system tool for configuring the desktop – the icons, the colors, the backgrounds, etc. It was simple to replace the standard picture with a colored pattern, but it does not seem possible to get that picture back without rebooting the OS, nor is it possible to select a different picture.

    * And many small app-specific glitches: checkers jump backwards, cannot press the “X” to escape the Missile Command game, etc., etc.

    Some of this is to be expected from a complex project that has yet to reach 1.0 status. And some problems are obviously related to the Russian language emphasis.

    Since KolibriOS is an offshoot of MenuetOS, it would be interesting to test the latest version of MenuetOS and see if the same problems exist there.

    • 2009-02-06 7:54 am
      mike.dld

      Wonderful comment. Thanks, Bob. We surely know everything you’re talking about, but a fresh look is always a plus. Hope you wrote this in a good mood and with good intention helping us to improve Kolibri.

      And yes, Menuet is nice to try too. Hope you like it.

      • 2009-02-07 4:25 pm
        Bobthearch

        Hope you wrote this in a good mood and with good intention helping us to improve Kolibri.

        Absolutely. I am a simple computer hobbiest with a strong interest in operating systems – I am not a programmer and do not work in the computer industry. I have no ill feelings at all towards KolibriOS, and I sincerely appreciate the opportunity to download and try it. Since the ‘news’ item was rather lacking in details, my motivation for commenting was to give fellow OSNews readers an idea of what to expect from KolibriOS, both positive and negative with emphasis on actual ‘useability’.

        And yes, Menuet is nice to try too. Hope you like it.

        Yes, I am a fan of Menuet and have been downloading and ‘playing’ with it for several years – since version 0.73 Beta at least. ;)