Kernal and OS designing

[I_TRY]

How Can I make a simple kernal and OS to run on my computer (if possible) apart from windows please? How Would I go about designing a kernel for my laptop?

Thanks.

[Rashakil Fol]

Typically, either you'd learn how to program and do it yourself, or you'd hire somebody else (or a group of people) to do it for you. How much money do you have?

[Cerberus]

This might be helpful www.osdev.org

[I_TRY]

Thank you for the replies.
I do not have much money and doubt whether I will be able to afford much at all so I was expecting to have to do this myself. (mind, this is only for fun and not essential)
Thank you for the link also.

Another question...
Where does the design of a desktop come into designing an OS and/or Kernal?

[Rashakil Fol]

It's spelled kernel, by the way.

What do you mean, the design of a "desktop"? What's a desktop? That's a rather general term. Of course, you can see where it matters, in that features like multitasking are considered useful (as opposed to batch processing). Then you see features like threads becoming more prevalent as a result of the needs of programmers.

[Cerberus]

I have no idea about the desktop but you could create a simple command line driven OS first and then add a desktop layer type thingy. Well that's what Microsoft did with Windows 3.x i think.

I think you need to know assembly language quite well. It might be worth trying to do some tutorials on that.

[I_TRY]

Ok thanks. You have been very helpful

[sgrcorp]

Hello I_TRY
You can try with it-solutionz.com, I use often their services and I am very glad that I found them in the past:)
Hood Luck !

[jbennet]

Well that's what Microsoft did with Windows 3.x i think.

windows 3.x is technically not an OS. Its more like a shell for DOS.

[Rashakil Fol]

You should consider looking up what the word "operating system" means then. It doesn't refer to just the kernel.

[jbennet]

you talking to me, rash?

an OS provides (by definition)

process management (timeslices) and memory allocation as well as I/O and filesystem control.

In win3.x DOS provided all of this, windows was nothing more than a shell.

[Rashakil Fol]

You're pulling definitions out of your ass. All those services are provided by the kernel, if they're provided at all.

I pray to God that by 'memory allocation' you consider that to be part of process management.

[jbennet]

that was from my comp/sci textbook....

wikipedia says basically the same

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Operating_system

The Microsoft Windows family of operating systems originated as a graphical layer on top of the older MS-DOS environment for the IBM PC

[I_TRY]

This has turned into a full-on arguement. You have both been very helpful. Thank you.

[jbennet]

i apligize for starting an argument in your thread :) i will shut up now ;)

[I_TRY]

ha. dont worry, you were very helpful thank you (:

[tyroTechie]

If you are really interested in knowing the nitty-gritty of operating systems and building one of your own, get your hands on "Operating Systems Design and Implementation - by Andrews S. Tanenbaum." You can get all the concepts related to OS and the appendices contain the source code for an operating system called "MINIX".

FYI, Linux has evolved from MINIX, by applying all the recommended improvements to MINIX which this gentleman avoided just to keep the MINIX OS small and academically interesting.