FAQ

1.1 What does AWOS stand for?: AWOS is an acronym, meaning Andrew Wilcox's Operating System.
1.2 What is AWOS?: AWOS is a fast, optimised, portable operating environment. It is designed to use minimal resources, and it can run on an Intel486; however, it can also take advantage of the latest hardware.
1.3 How much does AWOS cost?: Even though it is a full-featured operating environment, AWOS is completely free and open-source.

2.1 Does AWOS support PPC?: At the present, AWOS does not support the PowerPC platform. The team is currently working on experimental PowerPC support starting in 0.0.11.
2.2 Does AWOS support x86_64?: AWOS will boot on x86_64 machines, but it current runs in 32-bit compatibility mode. AWOS does not yet use "long" or 64-bit mode.

3.1 Is AWOS based on Linux?: No. AWOS is not a Linux distribution, and uses no code from Linux.
3.2 Does AWOS support a GUI?: At the present, AWOS does not have the capability to support a GUI. However, in the future, the developers plan to support some form of the X Window System.
3.3 ...or a desktop environment?: Although AWOS cannot run a desktop environment, the lead developer recommends real X11 applications over a desktop environment (i.e. xfm is preferred over Konqueror or Nautilus).

4.1 Who created AWOS?: AWOS was created in the early 2000s by Andrew Wilcox. More about the history of AWOS can be found on his page.
4.2 Who maintains AWOS?: Many people contribute to AWOS. Andrew Wilcox is the lead developer and maintainer of AWOS.
4.3 Can I contribute? How?: Yes. AWOS accepts contributions of any size. You can post patches to the AWOS-devel mailing list.
4.4 I cannot write code. Can I still help?: Sure! In addition to code, AWOS is in need of documentation writers, translators, beta testers, and more. See the Community Portal for contact information.

5.1 Is AWOS POSIX compliant?: While AWOS currently does not fully implement all POSIX functions, one of the project's goals is the be fully POSIX compliant.

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