Okei OS

Okei OS

A 64-bit x86_64 operating system being built from scratch — bootable today in QEMU, with a real shell, real upstream tools, and an early Okei Windows desktop. Not a product release. Not a promise of what ships tomorrow.

● Boots to Bash ● Okei Windows desktop ● In-kernel TCP/IP ● QEMU-first development
Honest status. Okei OS is active research and engineering — pre-alpha throughout. What works is what the tests and build scripts verify. Everything else is design, prototype, or not started. No ship dates here.
115k
first-party lines
846
host unit tests
75
syscalls
14
GUI app shells
Today

What exists in the tree

Okei OS boots in QEMU into ring-3 userspace with GNU Bash, a Okei Windows compositor, and dozens of ported utilities. That is the current scope — a working foundation, not a finished desktop platform.

Kernel & hardware

Monolithic ring-0 kernel: paging, scheduler, VFS, custom TCP/IP, PTY, console, framebuffer, NE2000 networking. Boots via GRUB/Multiboot2.

Userspace & ports

GNU Bash 5.2, Vim 9.2, Dropbear, 75 GNU coreutils — upstream ports, not rewrites. Newlib-linked static ELF binaries.

Okei Windows

Display server and desktop shell with 14 registered app shells (terminal, notepad, calculator, chess, …). Pre-alpha — runs in QEMU, not beta quality.

Testing

Host cmocka suites plus QEMU integration scripts for boot, bash, networking, SSH, Okei Windows, and more. Tests define “done,” not slide decks.

The OS in detail →

Direction

Where the project is headed

Okei OS is exploring a, local-first operating system: opinionated packaging, capability-aware windowing (Okei Windows / Aether), and real tools instead of toy subsets. Application categories — browser, office, creator tools, on-device AI — are on the horizon but largely unbuilt. See Horizon.

Horizon overview →

FAQ

Common questions

What is Okei OS?

A from-scratch x86_64 OS — monolithic kernel, Bash userspace, Okei Windows desktop. Pre-alpha engineering project.

Can I install it on my PC?

Today it targets QEMU development workflows. Native hardware install and UEFI polish are not product-ready.

Is there a web browser or office suite?

No. Those categories are on Horizon — not built today.

Where is the technical truth?

The OS page has the platform detail.

Open source

Availability

Okei OS is under active development. An open-source release is intended when contribution workflows are ready — no date committed.