OS Wars

E/OS LX is an GNU/Linux operating system that is different. Most operating systems want to make you use their software, but E/OS is different. Utilizing utilities such as Wine and MESS, E/OS is meant to try to run any program from any operating system, such as Windows, Mac OS, BeOS, OS/2, DOS, or Linux. The project, according to Wikipedia, was

started in 1995 with the goal of a free DOS. Until 1998 it was based exclusively on FreeDOS, since then based on SEAL GUI In 2000 the E/OS project switched to a larger focus, to create a system capable of running programs written for multiple platforms, including BeOS, Microsoft Windows, Mac OS, OS/2, MS-DOS, and Linux, on the same computer simultaneously.

I loved the idea. So, I downloaded and installed it in QEMU.

Programs

E/OS will run Windows programs out of the box (though not all of them either, take a look at the Wine AppDB page for more). It also will run a ton of gaming ROMs via MESS. In addition, E/OS also has it’s own file format, known as “iFiles”, but there aren’t very many of them (see the iFiles page at the E/OS homepage for more). For non-Windows (like Linux, FreeBSD, and Darwin), you need to put the respective libraries in the “posix” directory. One thing I did wish E/OS would do is bundle more programs. It has a calculator, two file browsers (Midnight Commander and BExplorer), Wine and MESS, and a notepad. Adding some office programs like OpenOffice.org, an email client like Thunderbird, and an Internet browser like Firefox.

GUI

E/OS’s GUI is based on FLTK and the Equinox Desktop Environment. It has a definitely Mac-like look, but a more GNOME-like feel for the menus. I personally think this is a good choice, since OS X in my opinion is the most beautiful, while GNOME is one of the more user friendly.

Minimal Requirements

According to the site’s Minimal Requirements Page,

Any Intel Pentium or Celeron processor and any AMD K6/II/III, Duron, Athlon, Athlon XP/MP processor with RAM 128 MB and a Hard Disk with 300 MB of available space.

Installation

You can install E/OS via an emulator, or a live CD.

External Links

Homepage: http://meos.sourceforge.net/
Download: Sourceforge source, Sourceforge QEMU Image, Sourceforge QEMU Windows EXE
Screenshots: Official, OS Wars