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Welcome to AURORA OS

A production-grade operating system with a hybrid kernel (monolithic core + modular services) that runs both natively on bare metal and in your browser via WebAssembly.

Quick Start

Get Aurora OS running in seconds — browser or native

Features

Explore the unique capabilities that set Aurora apart

Architecture

Deep dive into kernel design and subsystems

API Reference

System calls, IPC, and development guides

What Makes Aurora Special

Aurora runs everywhere:
  • Native: Boots on x86_64 and ARM hardware via UEFI/BIOS
  • Browser: Full OS experience via WebAssembly/WASI runtime
  • Same kernel, same apps, seamless experience
The browser runtime uses a BPE/U Engine (Browser Processing Engine/Unit) that emulates a complete virtual CPU.
Best of both worlds:
  • Monolithic core for performance (scheduler, memory, VFS)
  • Modular services for security and flexibility
  • Signed loadable modules for drivers
  • Capability-based IPC for process isolation
Hot paths stay in-kernel for speed, while drivers can be updated independently.
  • 4-level paging with higher-half kernel mapping
  • KASLR + ASLR for security
  • CFS-inspired preemptive scheduler
  • TCP/UDP/IP network stack
  • VFS with tmpfs, ext2, FAT support
  • Signal delivery with user-handler support
  • COW (Copy-on-Write) page fault handler
  • 60fps animations with GPU acceleration
  • Glass morphism and translucent surfaces
  • Material Design ripple effects on all interactions
  • Comprehensive keyboard shortcuts (press Shift + ?)
  • Persistent auth with OPFS + WebCrypto
  • Real boot sequence: BIOS POST → Bootloader → Kernel → Login

Design Philosophy

Performance First

Every animation runs at 60fps. Window open: 380ms. Button response: 120ms. Boot to desktop: < 2 seconds.

Security by Design

KASLR, ASLR, stack canaries, signed modules, capability-based IPC, and sandboxed agent execution.

Developer Friendly

Clean C/Assembly/Rust codebase. Comprehensive syscall API. Modular architecture. Full documentation.

Applications

Aurora includes a complete userland with modern applications:
  • Terminal — Full-featured shell with command history and xterm support
  • Files — Modern file manager with grid/list views and drag-drop
  • Browser — Web browser with tab support and real rendering
  • Text Editor — Code editor with syntax highlighting (CodeMirror)
  • System Monitor — Real-time CPU, memory, network metrics with charts
  • Settings — System configuration and preferences

Performance Metrics

MetricValueDetails
Boot Time< 2sBIOS POST → Desktop
Window Animation380msSmooth open with bounce
Frame Rate60fpsGPU-accelerated transforms
Button Response120msMaterial ripple effect
Memory FootprintLowOptimized for efficiency
Aurora OS respects user preferences: prefers-reduced-motion, prefers-color-scheme, and prefers-contrast are all supported.

Browser Compatibility

Chrome/Edge
Recommended
Full support with all features enabled
Firefox
Supported
Full support with excellent performance
Safari
Supported
Full support with WebKit optimizations
Mobile Browsers
Limited
Desktop mode required (≥1024px width)

Next Steps

1

Try it Now

Jump to the Quick Start to run Aurora in your browser instantly.
2

Explore Features

Learn about unique capabilities like the BPE/U engine and agentic runtime.
3

Build Native

Follow the native build guide to create a bootable ISO for real hardware.
4

Develop Apps

Check the API documentation to build applications for Aurora.
Aurora OS is open source and welcomes contributions! See CONTRIBUTING.md for guidelines.

Build docs developers (and LLMs) love