HN Showcase
Back to browse
GitHub Repository

A custom 32-bit x86 operating system built from scratch in C and Assembly. Features a graphical window manager, TCP/IP stack, and custom filesystem. Developed solo in 14 days. by a 13-year-old

35 starsC

Aurion OS – A 32-bit GUI operating system written from scratch in C

by Luka12-dev·Mar 12, 2026·35 points·26 comments
Visit ProjectView on HN

AI Analysis

●●SolidWizardryCozy

Impressive 14-day solo build, but OS-from-scratch is a well-trodden path.

Strengths
  • •Custom bootloader with GDT setup and Protected Mode transition in pure assembly
  • •VESA framebuffer with double-buffered window manager supporting Z-order and clipping
  • •Memory Control Block heap manager providing kmalloc/kfree from 1MB mark
Weaknesses
  • •No real hardware support yet, QEMU/VirtualBox only for now
  • •TCP/IP stack marked WIP, limiting practical networking use cases
Category
Open Source
Target Audience

OS hobbyists, students learning systems programming

Similar To

SerenityOS · MikeOS · ToaruOS

Post Description

Hi HN! I'm 13 and I built Aurion OS as a solo learning project over 14 days (~12 hours/day).

It's a 32-bit x86 operating system written entirely in C and x86 Assembly with no external libraries.

What it has: Custom bootloader and kernel VESA framebuffer graphics (1920x1080, double-buffered) Window manager with draggable, overlapping windows macOS-inspired dock with transparency PS/2 keyboard and mouse drivers ATA hard drive driver with filesystem PCI bus enumeration RTL8139 network driver (WIP) Real-time clock Runs on just 16MB RAM (up to 10 windows simultaneously)

Built-in apps: Terminal (with DOS mode), Notepad (save/load), Calculator, Paint (multiple colors and brush sizes), Snake game, Settings (theme switching), and System Info.

Currently works best on QEMU, VirtualBox, and VMware. Real hardware support is still a work in progress.

Next goal: TCP/IP networking stack.

I'd love any feedback, suggestions, or criticism. This is my first OS project and I learned mass amounts while building it. Happy to answer any technical questions!

Similar Projects