"XOSL - eXtended Operating System Loader" is a boot loader originally made by Geurt Vos with layout design by Dan Duskin, and logo by Mark Monciardini.
XOSL is free open source software released under the GPL-2.0 license.
After Guert Vos disappeared, Johnny Marlow took over the XOSL project and began development under the XOSL2 title. Marlow was sidelined by corruption also and vanished for almost two decades. Now, I am back! This XOSL project is a place for me, johneric, to help you understand what XOSL is and where it fits into the history of operating system loaders as I keep you updated on the legacy of XOSL that will play out in a new super dooper boot loader called *FOSL* (Fun Operating System Loader). Back in 2006 I had the idea to make a full blown GUI version of XOSL with clickable icons to load the various OS rather than the text list. I started on the project and called it XOSL2. Today, with the need for UEFI that XOSL does not support, along with many other features XOSL cannot handle, I have begun a new program with the same passion that originally gave birth to XOSL. *FOSL* will be a compilation of multiple programs. *FOSL* will have a modern, snazzy GUI with clickable icons and vibrant backgrounds. An eye candy boot loader. There will also be FOSL_win, FOSL_deb, FOSL_fed, FOSL_bsd, etc. These programs will run inside their respective operating systems allowing you, the user, to open a *FOSL* menu inside the current OS and choose which OS to reboot into without needing to wait for the computer to reboot and the subsequent display of the *FOSL* boot menu. Yes, click the *FOSL* icon on your task bar and the fully graphical *FOSL* menu appears right there in your desktop manager! Point your mouse and click the icon for the OS you want to reboot into and instantly, without any other interaction, your system shuts down and reboots directly into the chosen OS!! I know, why didn't we do this decades ago... You are welcome. There will also be a *FOSL* micro OS that you can also boot into from any *FOSL* menu. Inside that micro OS you will have a complete partition manager and every disk tools imaginable as well as all your *FOSL* items, such as installing the *FOSL* boot manager, repairing it and customizing it. All these options will have a fully graphical interface that is extremely powerful yet dumb as dirt simple to use, like all my apps! And there will be a fully graphical file browser so you can copy files between every file system imaginable, even HAMMER2. Yes, pretty dragonfly for a wit guy! All in one: Boot Loader, Partitioner, EVERY Disk tool, & File Browser, all in a snazzy GUI, and since its made by johneric, you know it will WORK CORRECTLY, be FULLY FUNCTIONAL and be EXTREMELY EASY TO USE. If you are going to do something, ALWAYS DO IT CORRECTLY & COMPLETELY!!!
Here in this XOSL project, I recently (October, 2026) made a Bootable USB image so XOSL can be installed from USB easily. It is in the download section aptly named USB_IMAGE (zip or tar.gz). After extracting the files from the download, you will find 'FD_XOSL.img'. You can use Rufus (which is free) or a similar program to write it to a USB drive. The created USB will be self bootable on systems that support BIOS (or legacy BIOS mode). It achieves this by using FreeDOS. I hacked the FreeDOS bootable USB image and added the XOSL installation program and then altered FreeDOS to tell you how to run the XOSL installation program. Thought this might make things easier for anyone needing to install XOSL.
REMEMBER, XOSL only installs in BIOS (or LEGACY BIOS mode). Your newer UEFI computers will choke on it, vomit and complain. :) or simply ignore it and boot your default OS. The later is most likely...
Thanks to FreeDOS for their sacrifice! Thanks to Guert Vos and all the XOSL team!
Both FreeDOS and XOSL are distributed under the GNU General Public License (GPL).
https://www.freedos.org/
https://sourceforge.net/projects/xosl-with-documentation/
XOSL can natively boot OS on: FAT12 - FAT16 - FAT32 - NTFS - ext2 - ext3 - ReiserFS
***************************
FILE DOWNLOAD DESCRIPTIONS:
>> USB_image: This is the file you can use in Rufus (or similar) to make a bootable USB to install XOSL.
>> HowTo: An instructional video showing How To install XOSL completely from 'scratch'. Nothing but Linux on the system when we start. We install FreeDOS, then XOSL, then make it all work. You're welcome.
>> HowTo_2: Another instructional video about adding an OS to XOSL after XOSL is already installed.
>> XOSL 1.1.5 Install: This is the 'Ready to Use' XOSL installation program. It must be run from some kind of DOS using 'INSTALL.EXE'.
>> XOSL 1.1.5 Source Code: This is the code used to make XOSL. You need a very old Borland C++ compiler to build this (or something comparable and a lot of knowledge peppered with patience...)
Which to choose: .zip or .tar.gz?
.zip (extension on end of file): A zip archive able to be unpacked by Windows and many others.
.tar.gz (extension on end of file): A tarball able to be unpacked by Linux and similar.
the .zip & .tar.gz extensions contain the exact same files. You only need one of these based on what extraction software you will be using.
********************************************************************
********************************************************************
********************************************************************
CHECKSUM FOR ALL "XOSL - eXtended Operating System Loader" DOWNLOADS
<<<<<<< USB_image.zip >>>>>>>
MD5.zip:6415fb459477455b99ad48b9a75f6a84
MD5.tar.gz:feb55da445d1db8a2cf3e4485c7e2487
SHA1.zip:b7d588ed6382023d6d9f54feec771d5939c7edf4
SHA1.tar.gz:3a74633fa330e74c9cbfa2c46caf7c56b389ae87
SHA256.zip:cb5c4c3e49b9ab8c47e22e9c06d522df97d3bdcbdd5d7ce3538039ca37c04856
SHA256.tar.gz:688cf2f629232161fc8e437285c5c7ab56ad2927074d184452d6553c1b91688b
SHA512.zip:fe6d4289ec5d7d97035f26da6b53b64f27e42c37861cff1ea3c913632f3089c27a747ef17d8c7585c69af321a22069076c7bdae44cf9188dab69c7b49cc7b249
SHA512.tar.gz:2ff1647737d1b15a8d6576947586b271d44bc16564fb3affe73c099a61da80371236892ec7835453b57c398d31a58b9c8c9be5460945c21084b32426eb231e65
<<<<<<< XOSL 1.1.5 Install >>>>>>>
MD5.zip:f17a8eb24402bdc22c225b89ba232bf3
MD5.tar.gz:860e2af802036b51958ca018eb49a6a8
SHA1.zip:1475e149489b50a522d4495ce83e4b4e11d9fb2e
SHA1.tar.gz:fc6981bf3583f50765e7f0e1f346ee60ad465242
SHA256.zip:281714788786ba51a329d6f2a2cd354cc0d48910bc739fc183fab310a6173b07
SHA256.tar.gz:db7ecb83c75e939c06738048785484852d5a1e7096bb35aefae35ba8edfb7cc8
SHA512.zip:5840c8a163de3dc755de9ebde843b68aa36245c063e05a891e093e7d1433d94a84c19f93cc046a5a5ff171d63e36ae51acdd882ac5652fd90b671f8dfb9df4e5
SHA512.tar.gz:7b551744f9a08df21698802c86fe1c9d80213b3201996690bee07265767eca842cc78646f48ccaa5378b365a62661240a86e932edbb9c80d0b944bbc3207548d
<<<<<<< XOSL 1.1.5 Source Code >>>>>>>
MD5.zip:48dc8716517d1d921b6493d39ec3ec13
MD5.tar.gz:56466d8e49deed84d189c989d70a01bf
SHA1.zip:f48b2490384787ea0453bd4058df806d5f901315
SHA1.tar.gz:fa47364cfcb9e9dd1916d79c1a752f5254a2b7de
SHA256.zip:ad0ce5ef81f5c4b6b47049844a31f4cb5c1ce951c641f28968a683e1d1f8c715
SHA256.tar.gz:f7aaf2114362c161add8cb38936c5acb393928abd270ec71c4db03a238a09bea
SHA512.zip:62bbd1d88f46d7c2211370514d8bbec98c716c332a2d729f8c46b6361ddea35aeb073059702aa4c47993e5f97422bd5623c0ac5fde2ae2f50a0750cd1adeb9e4
SHA512.tar.gz:a202e3d11a12ff9ba84d65e223477baa32844c9501bba4c440ed054fe9e163c8705aa3a53d659bc028cea9f9a82f50a9c07392a07b7357ec7c3d17de19154fd3
