MicroOS C and MicroOS ASM is NOT the same operating systems, their philosophy is DIFFERENT. However, they are in the same family.

A small 32-bit x86 Unix-like operating system written primarily in C, with a minimal assembly bootstrap.

MicroOS C is the C-based evolution of the MicroOS project, focused on learning low-level systems programming, kernel development, memory management, hardware interaction, and operating-system fundamentals.

Status: Experimental / Work in Progress

• 32-bit x86 kernel
• GRUB bootloader
• Multiboot-compatible boot process
• VGA text-mode output
• Basic keyboard input
• Simple command shell
• Basic user/password handling
• Freestanding C kernel
• Custom linker script
• QEMU support
• ISO generation with GRUB

MicroOS C currently targets:

Architecture:  i386
Mode:          32-bit protected mode
Bootloader:    GRUB
Language:      C + Assembly
Firmware:      BIOS / Legacy boot through GRUB
Display:       VGA text mode

A Linux environment with the following tools:

• GCC
• GNU Binutils
• GRUB utilities
• grub-mkrescue
• xorriso
• QEMU

On Debian/Ubuntu-based systems, the required packages can generally be installed with:

sudo apt install gcc gcc-multilib binutils grub-pc-bin xorriso qemu-system-x86

Clone the repository and run:

make

This builds the kernel and creates the bootable ISO.

Start MicroOS C with Make:

make run

The boot process is handled by GRUB.

The general flow is:

BIOS
  ↓
GRUB
  ↓
Multiboot entry
  ↓
boot.S
  ↓
C kernel
  ↓
MicroOS shell

Assembly is kept minimal where possible, while the main kernel logic is implemented in C.

MicroOS C includes a small kernel-level shell for interacting with the system.

The shell is intentionally simple and is expected to grow as more kernel functionality is implemented.

Future shell functionality may include:

• File system
• Process management
• Memory information
• Hardware information

The project is mainly focused on implementing operating-system fundamentals from the ground up.

MicroOS C is intentionally kept small and understandable.

The project prioritizes:

• Simple code
• Explicit low-level behavior
• Minimal dependencies
• Learning over abstraction
• Understandable kernel architecture

MicroOS C is not intended to compete with Linux, BSD, or other production operating systems.

It is a personal systems-programming project designed to explore how an operating system works underneath the abstraction layers.

MicroOS C is part of the broader MicroOS project.

The original MicroOS implementation explores 16-bit x86 real-mode development, while MicroOS C moves the project toward a more traditional 32-bit protected-mode kernel architecture.

See the repository license for details.

MicroOS C is experimental software.

It is not intended for production use, real hardware deployment, or security-critical workloads.

Use QEMU or another emulator for development and testing.