Os8088: A powerful Mac-like OS for the IBM XT, 286, 386

> Hand-written real-mode 8086. No C, no linker, no runtime library.

More like hand-prompted...

I don't know why it seems reluctant to disclose AI use, because this is one of the best advertisements of Claude I've seen, and I say this as someone who has been sitting on the fence on the subject and saw a lot of slop in the past few years. If I was working in Anthropic's marketing department, this is the sort of thing I'd point to as a demo of its abilities.

That said, it's not like something of this nature was thought impossible; many embedded OSes running on even slower and more limited machines (e.g. 8051) had preemptive multitasking and a primitive GUI. It just took several decades for someone with the idea, tokens, and motivation to actually do it.

It's funny how virtually everyone on HN is using AI to write code and simultaneously dismisses all interesting new software as written by AI.

This is great -

It’s almost as impressive as the “GOS” written for Atari 8-bit running on 6502 at 1.79 MHz. Visually it’s almost identical but has a nicer font. The specs are somewhat similar with 16 task slots, calculator app and task manager, serial mouse support (ST mouse) and Atari’s hardware sprites helping with some of the graphics. The XOR window frame is the same idea. Amazingly, Atari GOS runs in 128K of RAM! One has to admire the work and inventiveness in these projects. See description and videos here:

https://atari8.co.uk/gui/

> The graphical operating system that could have been for the IBM XT

Visi On[1] was a graphical operating system for the IBM PC that actually existed as a commercial product, though definitely not a very successful one. It was made by VisiCorp, the same company that created VisiCalc (the first spreadsheet for a personal computer).

It was demoed at COMDEX in 1982, before the Apple Lisa was released. It came out after the Lisa but slightly before the Macintosh.

Here's their promotional video from 1983: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kc4wFeVvKTI

Fun fact: Bill Gates saw the demo at COMDEX, and at first he was skeptical that it was really running on an IBM PC. But ultimately he was so impressed he decided[2] to start developing a product called Microsoft Windows.

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[1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Visi_On

[2] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Windows_1.0

Beveled-buttons Minesweeper (first appeared in Win 3.11 IIRC) running on a preemptive 8086 OS with a bootleg System 1/2/3 interface looks absolutely cursed.

The graphical operating system that could have been for the IBM XT.

A MacOS-like desktop for the Intel 8086, written entirely in real-mode assembly (with Claude). Verified to run on real hardware, with FAT12/16 support, ported apps, games, Sound Blaster support and upcoming Hard Drive support.

Nice, Solitaire in 7KB of RAM[0]. Sadly it only says "You win!" if you win, no bouncing cards animation :-P.

[0] http://runtimeterror.com/pages/iv/images/b869a0cf44a7e7cbc40...

This rewrites what-could-have-been history a bit... better get my IBM XT/286 out of storage! Is this for real?

You'd still need a Wordstar-like app and a VisiCalc-like app (pref. Lotus 123-like).

VGA adapter means you have to wait until 1987 to run this, otherwise you'd deal with CGA's non-square pixels. EGA support would only be possible in Oct 1984.

The website explicitly states a lack of networking. Any interest in pursuing that in a future version?

I have a Pocket 8086 - I would love to give this a try next weekend.

It looks surprisingly Mac-like, except the font kind of spoils the illusion.

Was not expecting the fractal viewer (in disk B/apps)

If it were available back then, Microsoft may be a small shop today or may have gone the way of Lotus.

Fun little toy. Wonder how much in tokens went into it.

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