Skip to main content

KolibriOS – An OS on a 1.44MB floppy

KolibriOS is a piece of programming marvel. An entire Linux distribution Operating system, and not just a blinking cursor on a terminal, but with a graphical environment complete with text editors, system utilities, games, browser, media players and lots of other stuff. All neatly and impossibly stuffed inside a meager 1.44 MB floppy disk.

kolibrios

I tried KolibriOS on Virtual Box. The system boots in 2 to 3 seconds and shuts down instantly, like turning off a light bulb. The graphical UI is dated, reminds me of Windows 3.1 era, but I won’t be too critical. After all they have squeezed an entire distribution under one and a half Megabyte, for god’s sake. All I want to say is the graphics is non too bad and pretty usable if you don’t mind compromising.

Kolibri is coded in assembly language, which explains it’s small size to some extent, and forked off MenuetO – another tiny assembly language coded Linux distribution OS.

The distribution comes in two version – a floppy image and a disk image. The disk image is slightly larger than the floppy version at 3MB, but still incredibly small. There is no mention of hardware requirement anywhere on the site, but I guess it would run any antique piece you can find.

Labels:

Comments

  1. AnonymousFebruary 15, 2010 at 1:06 PM

    These three statements are incorrect:

    "KolibriOS – A Linux distro on a 1.44MB floppy"

    "KolibriOS is a piece of programming marvel. An entire Linux distribution ..."

    "... forked off MenuetO – another tiny assembly language coded Linux distribution."

    KolibriOS and MenuetOS have nothing whatsoever to do with Linux. It is coded from the ground up in assembly. As the MenuetOS states: "Menuet has no roots within UNIX or the POSIX standards, nor is it based on any operating system."

    ReplyDelete
  2. Kaushik PatowaryFebruary 15, 2010 at 1:19 PM

    Thanks for clearing my mis-understanding.

    ReplyDelete
  3. AnonymousDecember 19, 2010 at 7:10 AM

    It's "its" not "it's".

    ReplyDelete
  4. AnonymousApril 13, 2011 at 12:53 PM

    Okay... I got it. But can you help me in one thing ?? Which Operating Sytem type (and Version) should I choose before installing KolibriOS in Virtualbox ??

    ReplyDelete
  5. Kaushik PatowaryApril 13, 2011 at 8:58 PM

    It doesn't matter which OS Virtualbox is installed on. Besides, KoibriOS is supposed to be installed directly on the system. I used Virtualbox for testing purposes.

    ReplyDelete
  6. Kaushik PatowaryApril 13, 2011 at 10:21 PM

    I don't remember what I did, but there is an "other OS" option. Use that.

    ReplyDelete
  7. JimiFebruary 23, 2013 at 6:47 AM

    show me an img file that fits on a 1.44mb floppy! There aren't any! They're all 1.5Mb!

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

69 alternatives to the default Facebook profile picture

If you have changed the default Facebook profile picture and uploaded your own, it’s fine. But if not, then why not replace that boring picture of the guy with a wisp of hair sticking out of his head with something different and funny?
332 comments
Read more

How to Record CPU and Memory Usage Over Time in Windows?

Whenever the computer is lagging or some application is taking too long to respond, we usually fire up task manager and look under the Performance tab or under Processes to check on processor utilization or the amount of free memory available. The task manager is ideal for real-time analysis of CPU and memory utilization. It even displays a short history of CPU utilization in the form of a graph. You get a small time-window, about 30 seconds or so, depending on how large the viewing area is.
17 comments
Read more

How to Schedule Changes to Your Facebook Page Cover Photo

Facebook’s current layout, the so called Timeline, features a prominent, large cover photo that some people are using in a lot of different creative ways. Timeline is also available for Facebook Pages that people can use to promote their website or business or event. Although you can change the cover photo as often as you like, it’s meant to be static – something which you design and leave it for at least a few weeks or months like a redesigned website. However, there are times when you may want to change the cover photo frequently and periodically to match event dates or some special promotion that you are running or plan to run. So, here is how you can do that.
1 comment
Read more