A new open operating system called BMDS brings a late-1990s style desktop to Espressif's ESP32-P4 processor. It targets an Olimex board.
Espressif's ESP32-P4 is a high-end application processor with two fast RISC-V cores, sold at a surprisingly modest price. Because it is capable enough to act as a small computer, several operating systems have already been written for it, and the latest is BMDS, short for Bare Metal Do Stuff, created by developer Jthwho. The system runs on the Olimex board and is built on the FreeRTOS kernel, which is common in similar projects.
BMDS sits on top of that kernel as a single-user system with a light touch, somewhat like DOS. It can run ELF binaries and offers a degree of POSIX compliance, with BusyBox ported to it. Its most eye-catching feature is the graphical interface, which presents a sleek desktop that looks much like software from the late 1990s.
Had a system like this appeared alongside the Amiga, early Macintosh machines and Windows 3.x, it could have been a serious contender. Whether it has a place in 2026 is the open question. The ESP32-P4 is gradually becoming a platform for a new class of powerful devices aimed at hackers and tinkerers, and BMDS may find an audience there.
Regardless of its future, the project is an impressive achievement, and its development will be worth following in the coming period.
Source: Hackaday
