Somebody Made Windows 98 for a Tiny Espressif Chip

A developer named Jthwho has created a full-blown desktop operating system called BMDS (Bare Metal Do Stuff) for Espressif's ESP32-P4 chip. The OS, built on FreeRTOS, mimics the look and feel of DOS and late-'90s desktops, runs ELF binaries, includes some POSIX compliance, and even has a port of BusyBox. It's currently targeted at an Olimex development board.

The project is a quirky technical marvel that transplants the aesthetics of classic Amigas and Windows 3.x onto a modern, affordable RISC-V processor. While it's unclear what practical niche this nostalgic OS fills in 2026, it's a charming demonstration of the ESP32-P4's capabilities for hackers and a fun blast from the computing past. Ultimately, it proves you can run a slick GUI on a chip smaller than your thumbnail—whether you should is a different question.