Syllable (operating system)

From ArticleWorld

Syllable is a free, open-source, general-purpose desktop operating system for x86 processors. It aims to create a stable and powerful desktop platform, and has its roots in AtheOS, from which it forked in 2002. AtheOS itself had a similar objective, after abandoning the idea of cloning AmigaOS, but the project stagnated, mainly because of the main developer's reluctance in accepting source code from others.

Features

Syllable is built around a monolithic kernel, supporting most of the POSIX standards. It has a 64-bit, journaled file system, called AFS (AtheOS File System), with strong protection against data loss. The kernel supports multitasking and multithreading, as well as SMP.

Just like AtheOS, it has a complete and elegant C++ API, making it a good choice for many developers and ensuring a rather fast growing of the number of ported applications. The GNU toolchain itself has been ported, along with a number of common programs, like Emacs, Vim or Apache.

Like AtheOS, Syllable does not use X11. Instead, it features its own windowing system, which is considerably faster. Along with a well-built and very quick kernel, the system boots extremely fast and seems very responsive, a reason why Syllable is very highly regarded among operating systems of its kind.

Future plans

Although Syllable has grown very quickly, the number of applications is still somewhat limited. In fact, this is quite about the greatest concern, as many people feel driven off by it.