Steel OS 3 nearing RTM stage.
Been a while, hasn't it.
Well, I'm going to release a dummy RTM build of Steel OS 3 (that may not work as functionally as older builds, due to a different machine used to package the build). It's basically complete, apart from a few things, mainly a leftover install button.
While I'm at it, allow me to discuss the next project - A very advanced 4th major release, with a new 64-bit kernel (this kernel, being 1.00, and the codename being "Meipuru" (a reference to Steel OS 2.3's OS-tan, Meipuru Hagane, who was originally given the nickname Steel64) built on top of Steel32 called Steel64. Steel64 will be used until I can consider 64-bit technology obsolete, and if that actually happens, well... I'm getting ahead of myself, am I now? ¬_¬
Well, anyways, Steel64 will include technology such as an independent text rendering engine, better window layering, the ability to drag windows around, better animations, and overall better stability over Steel32 (which at one point in Steel OS 3's development, when paired with a 32-bit runtime, caused an out-of-memory "message box of death", forcing a 64-bit runtime resulting in what I consider a "48-bit operating environment"). And, about the next release of Steel OS.
This next release, as a result of being the first applicant of the Steel64 kernel, codenamed Mirai, will add a sidebar and multilingual support, however the only languages (apart from my native-speaking English) I can confirm right now will be Spanish, German, and Japanese, the latter being albeit with a few limitations (as, unfortunately, I don't have the full technology to develop an input method editor, and because I use a US English keyboard, combined with still rather-limited software, it means I cannot add the ability to type some letters of other Latin alphabets (æ, ɐ, ʣ, Ħ, ß, Ü, Ç, Ã, for examples)). I've also attached what will likely be a alpha background for Mirai.
Anyways, why did I choose the codename "Mirai"? Well, it has to do with a few reasons, I didn't do any research when I gave the codename. It was between this and calling it "Waterfall" (no, I am NOT doing another refer-to-this-pre-release-Steel-OS-version-as-an-anime-girl-even-with-the-she-her-pronouns done in Steel OS 3, despite the fact that OS 3's later codename was "GRAPHITE", NOT "SANSANI HAGANE", but as I plan to deploy as similar to OS 3's shell in Mirai, if the Steel OS Mirai gets an OS-tan, said character will look a lot like Sansani). So, there's a few factors. First: Mirai (未来) is Japanese for the word "future", and, well, due to the major technological advancements in this release, I thought to myself during my Steel OS 3 super-development time, "Hmmm... Maybe I should call the next release "Mirai" and not "Waterfall". Second, the unintentional thing, back in 2016, there was a big malware attack from a piece of malware called "Mirai" (some sort of DDoS botnet or whatever) that took down a lot of the internet. I forgot it happened, and when I was looking at crap on Wikipedia I came across an article mentioning this malware (it was really serious I am not glorifying this). So, funny enough, Steel OS codename "Mirai" being released to testers would, if Windows 11 actually sends all usage data back to Microsoft, probably freak out people in charge of developing Windows 12. This silly little prank may intrigue a Windows dev or two only for one to test Steel OS Mirai (technically, version 4.0) and see the progress I've made in less than a year. And, the third reason why (because why not a third reason to be more easay-like, heh) is because I am really interested in Japanese stuff (like JDM cars and the NEC PC-98), why not make the first big release of Steel OS that'll be available in Japanese named after a Japanese word? Oh, also I should clarify, a Japanese variant of Steel OS 1.73 was developed and released, so it's not like it's the first time; in fact this 1.73 "Japanese eXtension" release, or Steel OS 1.73 JX, included an exclusive background.
I won't go into a lot of detail about Steel OS codename Mirai, as it's my biggest software project yet and I haven't been really motivated to work on Steel OS lately, so, just in case all this rambling is for nothing, I won't spoil any more of the system, apart from a lot of the programs mentioned in Steel OS 3 that you could install will actually be first available in Steel OS Mirai.