C# Operating System
· Feb 2, 08:27 PM by Thijs Kroesbergen for Brokenwire.NET
Update: I saw a lot of visitors coming here looking for a method to identify the operating system using C#. I’ve written something down about that too! Please go here.
Just a few days ago the first bootable operating system written in C# has reached it’s first milestone! It’s name is Cosmos (C# Open Source Managed Operating System).
From the official Cosmos page:
Cosmos (C# Open Source Managed Operating System) is an operating system project implemented completely in CIL compliant languages. [...]
Cosmos’ design consists of the following key points:
- Completely .NET based.
- Microkernel or close hybrid
- Configurable using modules
- Cross platform architecture
Currently Cosmos works by compiling IL code (for example it’s shell) to X86 code. This is done by the IL2CPU compiler, which currently emits raw assembly files and puts these through nasm (a free assembler).
Technically this is not the first OS written in C#, Microsoft Research has been working on such a thing before, but that has never been made public. Also (the famous) Scott Hanselman has been working on a (virtual) OS in C# before.
But Cosmos is wide open to the public, if you want to get involved take a look at their codeplex page.
If you want to take a quick look at this gem you can just download the (bootable) .iso and boot that inside a Virtual PC, VMWare or Qemu. A detailed step-by-step guide on using the .iso can be found on the channel8 site.
To be able to do something more "usable" with this OS you can get started using the UserKit. The userkit installs a template into Visual Studio 2008 and using that template you can quickly build on top of the Cosmos base. All this is very well explained on the Cosmos homepage.
Although the current milestone is not yet a very complete OS, it does look like this project has quite some potential. I definitely think this is an exciting project! If this tiny project can create some community support, it could evolve in a very big thing ...
Update (2): Microsoft’s Singularity has been made public.
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I want to write my own operating system.From where i can start,please tell me?
— Jignesh Vasoya Jul 22, 02:44 PM #
@Jignesh, creating an operating system is very difficult. here are some tips to get started if you are really interested.: http://search.live.com/results.aspx?q=create+your+own+operating+system&form=QBLH
— Dan_Defacto Aug 21, 02:37 AM #
i want to write a os in c# how to strat plz help me
— ronit Oct 23, 04:07 PM #
OMFG! Finaly found it ! dude keep it up and i’ll try to contribute you as soon as I learn more about C# and programming :P
Good luck!
Mercurial~
— Mercurial Feb 17, 03:12 PM #
Hello there, I want to know how to make a kernel and what are the things I need to know to get started. Thanks for your support
— Chucks Aug 6, 12:15 PM #
i want to write an os in c# using .net platform.Is it possible to write boot sector code using .net.i have heard it is not possible to write system application using .net,is it true?
— felix Aug 14, 03:55 PM #
@Chucks & @Felix: Start by studying the work that has been done by the cosmos project. You cannot write a boot sector in .NET because .NET needs a runtime to execute its IL code. The special thing about cosmos is that the OS has the runtime at its core, and everything else is built on top of that.
— thijs Aug 22, 11:40 AM #