A from-scratch minimal 64-bit microkernel operating system from BIOS Matrix — booting a real shell, real tools, and real networking, on the road to everyday desktop computing, AI agent integration, broader device support, and a fast network-native windowing system.
BIOS Matrix SlimOS builds a bootable ISO and boots under QEMU into a genuine userspace. Every capability below is verified by automated unit and QEMU integration tests — these are ports of real software, not demos.
Boots straight into GNU Bash 5.2 with pipes, redirection, and scripts. Vim 9.2 is ported for editing. slimsh stays as a tiny fallback.
In-kernel TCP/IP stack with userspace socket syscalls, DHCP, DNS, and NE2000 driver — TCP and UDP clients/servers run on the guest.
Dropbear SSH — server and client — with public-key and password login, PTYs, and interactive shells. Six end-to-end SSH tests pass.
GRUB/Multiboot2 boot, ext4 root filesystem, per-process page tables, PTY/termios, framebuffer graphics, and a broad POSIX-ish syscall surface.
A deliberate path: harden the foundation, complete the command-line experience, expand to more platforms, integrate AI agents, then build the windowing system on top of stable ground.
The current priority is making the repository clean, reproducible, and useful for outside contributors: dependable builds from a fresh checkout, documented QEMU workflows, repeatable tests, and a clear contribution model. Releasing an operating system is not a small undertaking, so BIOS Matrix will need partners, contributors, and resources to do it responsibly. Once those foundations are ready, BIOS Matrix plans to publish SlimOS so developers can study, run, modify, port, and help extend the operating system.
SlimOS is not trying to be another Windows clone. It is for people who want a fast, minimal, practical operating system without the bloat, sluggishness, and power hunger that can come with modern general-purpose platforms.
Most users spend their time browsing the web, checking email, writing documents, editing text, using spreadsheets, and running a small set of trusted applications. SlimOS aims to package the best of open source into a stable, coherent system for those daily workflows.
Modern commercial operating systems keep raising baseline requirements, leaving capable machines behind. SlimOS is designed around minimalism so older 4 GB-class systems, lightweight desktops, Raspberry Pi-class devices, and potentially unsupported Apple hardware can remain useful.
The goal is a powerful, stable daily system that avoids unnecessary background weight, heavy resource demands, and proprietary OS licensing as the default cost of owning a computer.
Linux proved open operating systems can work, but the ecosystem can be fragmented for ordinary users. SlimOS aims for a smaller, more opinionated distribution of core system pieces and applications, with fewer branches between installation and daily use.
SlimOS is intentionally small at the core: keep the kernel lean, keep interfaces explicit, and build higher-level capabilities as services above stable primitives. The small footprint and flexible protocol are meant to support a much wider range of devices than a traditional desktop OS.
BIOS Matrix plans to explore agents that can operate with the OS rather than only above it: provisioning services, managing remote systems, inspecting state, and assisting development workflows through explicit system capabilities.
The long-term goal is to move beyond x86_64 into Raspberry Pi, watches, wearables, phones, embedded and edge platforms, and potentially Apple devices that are being dropped from official support.
It is time to open more room beyond the Android, iOS, Apple, and Microsoft platform silos. SlimOS aims to offer a minimal, portable foundation that can adapt across device classes instead of forcing every use case into a closed ecosystem.
Wide device support only works if security is built into the framework. SlimOS is planned around isolation, explicit permissions, revocable capabilities, and small trusted components so portability does not come at the cost of control.
Most hobby operating systems bolt on an X11 clone. BIOS Matrix SlimOS is designing a clean-slate windowing framework — minimal and fast locally, but built to run a window securely over the network (SSH, satellite, mobile) far better than X ever could.
No ambient authority. Every window, input, and surface is a revocable capability — mapped to kernel objects SlimOS already has.
The same app runs locally or remotely with identical semantics — engineered for high latency, not retrofitted onto it.
Tiny core protocol, tight CPU/RAM budgets, software-first compositing — designed to scale from Raspberry Pi-class systems to desktop.