MenuetOS
Shares rank 43 of 87 operating systems by recommenders
Impressive graphical OS fitting one floppy disk, admired for its longevity. Critics say it is incomplete and reads more like a technology demo.
Impressive graphical OS fitting one floppy disk, admired for its longevity. Critics say it is incomplete and reads more like a technology demo.
16 people gave an opinion
- recommend it
- 12
- criticize it
- 4
- approval share
- 75%
Recommended in 3 of 13 months
- November 2025: not recommended
- December 2025: not recommended
- January 2026: not recommended
- February 2026: recommended
- March 2026: not recommended
- April 2026: not recommended
- May 2026: not recommended
- June 2026: recommended
- July 2026: recommended
- August 2026: not recommended
- September 2026: not recommended
- October 2026: not recommended
- November 2026: not recommended (month in progress)
Why it doesn’t carry the badge
- 12 people recommend itNeeds 10 or more, met.
- 3 recommenders for every criticNeeds 2 to 1 or better, met.
- Recommended in 3 of 13 monthsNeeds 4 or more, not met.
The same three rules apply to every product, and the badge can’t be bought. How the badge works
What people say about it
The reasons people give, with the number of comments that give each one. Open a reason to read what they said.
Why people recommend it
Each mark is one comment
Impressive graphical OS on one floppy
“I was absolutely floored at how capable (and decent looking) an OS that lives entirely on a 1.44mb floppy could be.”
Comment from 3 Feb 2026 in “Floppinux – An Embedded Linux on a Single Floppy, 2025 Edition” “Impressive to see it's still around, great project!”
Comment from 6 Feb 2026 in “MenuetOS – a GUI OS that boots from a single floppy disk” “it is pretty cool that this exists”
Comment from 6 Feb 2026 in “MenuetOS – a GUI OS that boots from a single floppy disk” Long-running project still actively progressing
“I can only be jealous of such stamina and wish it prosperous years ahead.”
Comment from 5 Feb 2026 in “MenuetOS – a GUI OS that boots from a single floppy disk” “Impressive to see it's still around, great project!”
Comment from 6 Feb 2026 in “MenuetOS – a GUI OS that boots from a single floppy disk” “creativity is still leading to changes”
Comment from 29 Jul 2026 in “User Interfaces of the Demo Scene”
What people warn about
Each mark is one comment
Limited, incomplete system with basic USB
“really basic USB stack with no hot-plug USB support”
Comment from 7 Feb 2026 in “MenuetOS – a GUI OS that boots from a single floppy disk” “the limitations and incompleteness of MenuetOS”
Comment from 6 Feb 2026 in “MenuetOS – a GUI OS that boots from a single floppy disk” Weak edge-case handling and reliability
“90% of the work is in all the edge cases that we take for granted.”
Comment from 6 Feb 2026 in “MenuetOS – a GUI OS that boots from a single floppy disk” “It would churn on the disk for minutes on end, and usually fail.”
Comment from 5 Feb 2026 in “MenuetOS – a GUI OS that boots from a single floppy disk”
Other operating systems people recommend
The four most recommended other operating systems, with the same counts for each, so you can compare like for like. The tick on each bar marks the 2 to 1 line the badge needs.
See all 87 operating systems, rankedWhat people said
16 of the 18 comments that mention it, newest first. Each links to the original comment.
“creativity is still leading to changes”
“I prefer MenuetOS with GPL sources.”
“really basic USB stack with no hot-plug USB support”
“it is pretty cool that this exists”
“Prohibiting disassembling is worth about as much as”
“90% of the work is in all the edge cases that we take for granted.”
“the limitations and incompleteness of MenuetOS”
“Impressive to see it's still around, great project!”
“a bit like a backup OS that could read docs and download a file”
“this is how you distribute source without accepting contributions”
“It pretty much negates the value of the software as an educational tool, reducing it to a technology demo.”
“it's okay to want to be paid for effort”
“MenuetOS has progressed much further than KolibriOS over the years in both performance”
“It would churn on the disk for minutes on end, and usually fail.”
“I can only be jealous of such stamina and wish it prosperous years ahead.”
“I was absolutely floored at how capable (and decent looking) an OS that lives entirely on a 1.44mb floppy could be.”
Counts come from 1,795,640 Hacker News comments, November 2025 to November 2026. How we count. Report a mistake.