GentleOS/32

* Project handcrafted by a human

GentleOS/32 is a nostalgic fantasy OS for vintage 32-bit PCs with a retro-style GUI, a handful of built-in apps, and a selection of classic games.

Its minimal requirements are a PC-compatible machine with an i386 CPU, 640KB of RAM, a PS/2 or serial mouse, a keyboard, and a VGA display supporting 640x480x16 mode.

It's built specifically for tinkering with old hardware on the bare metal, using plain C. By design, it doesn't have any "practical" use, there's no web browser, no filesystem, and no way to run third-party apps.

It has a pure 16-bit spin-off called GentleOS/16, which targets even older PCs.

For more information, see Questions and Answers.

Photo of GentleOS/32 on Toshiba T1900C

Try in your browser

Open this page in a desktop browser to run an online PC emulator

Click here to launch GentleOS/32 in a PC emulator.

Gallery

Photo of GentleOS/32 on Toshiba T1900C
Toshiba T1900C (Intel 486SXA)
Photo of GentleOS/32 on ThinkPad 380Z
IBM ThinkPad 380Z (Pentium 2)
Photo of GentleOS/32 on Toshiba T1800
Toshiba T1800 (Intel 386SX/20)
Photo of GentleOS/32 on Toshiba Libretto 20
Toshiba Libretto 20 (AMD 486 DX4)

Downloads

⚠︎ Warning: GentleOS/32 is written in good faith, but it's experimental and the author takes no responsibility for any lost data or damaged hardware. It is free software, licensed under GPL-2.0, and comes with no warranty. Proceed at your own risk.

gentleos32-disk.img - Bootable disk image that can be written to a 1.44M/720K/360K floppy, HDD or USB flash drive.

gentleos.bin, gentleos.rd - Kernel and initrd files that can be booted with either GRUB 2, GRUB Legacy or GRUB4DOS.

Links

Discussion threads:

License

Copyright © 2026 luke8086. GentleOS/32 is licensed under the GNU General Public License, version 2.