Beginning O/S Question

[Hoodsey]

Hey, I'm new to programming in general, but I'm catching on pretty quick for a self-learner. I'm a graphic design student in college and I'm thinking about going into programming too so I thought I'd put my skills to use. But now that I'm thinking of O/S development, two questions arise. Device drivers and previous software. I want the O/S I develop to have massive hardware drivers. Is there any way to do this easily? And the other is, existing programs. Say a program is written in Delphi for Windows. Any way to port that successfully to run on my O/S? Any help is appreciated.

-Hoodsey

[chrisa128]

Why do you want big device drivers? They all take up memory

To port programs your Operating System must have all the required libraries ect used by that program.

[Pype.Clicker]

If you still want to run windows apps and drivers from your OS, it probably means what you actually want to implement is a new SHELL for Windows, not a new OS ... it is possible to do (even if not done very often), just get a look at LiteStep project.

[Hoodsey]

I've thought about a shell replacement, but I'd like it to boot from a CD or something and have none of the programs Windows has available, EXCEPT what the program is capable of. I think I will do the shell as a possible beginning project and work on the O/S as something I'd like to do. It'd look impressive on a job resume. But any other suggestions on the shell are welcome.

-Hoodsey

[Tim]

Since you're new to programming, I'd say working on a custom shell was your best option. OS development is definitely not for the faint-hearted; if you don't have a good grasp of general programming principles then you stand to be disappointed sooner rather than later.

[Hoodsey]

That's probably what I'll do and use the O/S itself as a side project. Any suggestions on where to start on Shell Development?

[Tim]

What do you want to achieve?

[Hoodsey]

Well, right now I kind of have a rough idea. What it's going to be used for mainly is a program called XBConnect. It's used to connect the XBox console online and play. I figure if Windows doesn't take up all the resources and it's all devoted to this one program, then games will run smoother. Plus later on down the road expandability with other programs of this type perhaps.