CopperOS v1.6

Big Waterfall

Bug fixes and real improvements for your computer, on Waterfall's foundation.

Big Waterfall is a focused update, not a rewrite: a real AHCI/SATA disk driver so Setup and Disk Manager work on the modern hardware Waterfall's legacy-IDE-only driver couldn't see, a Disk Manager that no longer hides your disks behind its own scanning animation, corrected image rendering in Internet Explorer and Image Previewer, and a new wallpaper — all on top of Waterfall's memory isolation, signed applications, and CopperTable.

Download the ISO · 17.5 MB All release files Roadmap

On real hardware take copperos-usb.img instead — it carries an EFI System Partition, so UEFI firmware can actually find it.

Status Released Version 1.6 “Big Waterfall” Downloads Available now
Bug fixes and improvements

What's new in 1.6 Big Waterfall.

Real AHCI/SATA disk support

  • A new driver alongside the legacy IDE one, for the SATA-in-AHCI-mode setup essentially every 2010s-2020s PC and laptop ships with by default
  • Setup's disk scan, Disk Manager, and the installed system's own filesystem all see and use it — install CopperOS on real hardware that legacy IDE alone couldn't reach

Disk Manager, fixed

  • Its own "scanning disks" animation never used to finish, so the real disk list it already found sat there undrawn forever
  • Disks are visible immediately now; only Format and Encrypt stay restricted outside an installed session

Image rendering, corrected

  • Opaque white pixels no longer turn invisible in Internet Explorer and Image Previewer
  • Real alpha transparency is honored instead of guessed from color, and palette/grayscale PNGs decode instead of being rejected

New wallpaper

  • A more colorful default desktop background
Foundation

What is Waterfall?

Waterfall is not just an update. It is a foundation upgrade that introduces new internal systems, smarter application handling, improved visuals, and deeper control over how software interacts with the machine. Big Waterfall builds on exactly that foundation with the fixes and hardware support above.

Everything has been designed with one goal in mind: a modern operating system that works for the user, not against the user.

Key highlights

Security, control, and a cleaner desktop.

Advanced Security

  • Encrypted system drivers
  • Secure internet connectivity
  • Strong privacy-first design
  • Reduced exposure to external tracking

MIWIN - Win App Loader

  • Custom implementation inspired by Wine
  • Designed to load and manage Windows applications safely
  • Deep integration with CopperOS system rules

CopperTable

  • Intelligent control for .DLL and .VBS files
  • Prevents unsafe installations
  • Installations must be validated through ccTermiX

Refined UI / UX

  • Cleaner interface
  • Improved window and application behavior
  • Support for images and custom wallpapers
  • New system animations and visual polish

Built-in Experiences

  • Native CopperOS games
  • Optimized for performance and stability

System Improvements

  • Faster file and folder creation
  • Enhanced right-click context menus
  • Better recovery and error-handling tools
Desktop

Twelve applications, and a launcher to reach them.

The desktop is drawn on an HD framebuffer with no blink on redraw, so windows and icons no longer flash while the screen is being composed. Press space and AppPad opens — one grid, every application, keyboard or pointer.

Everything on screen is still drawn by the kernel itself. There is no toolkit underneath it and nothing is borrowed; if a pixel appears, code in this repository put it there.

File Explorer Internet Explorer Activity Manager Paint System Settings System Updates Calculator TXT Editor Copper Store Snake Image Preview ccTermiX

Disk Manager joins them inside AppPad. ccTermiX is where CopperTable sends anything that wants to install itself — an application does not get to place a .DLL on the system without passing through it.

Preview

Waterfall, running.

The CopperOS Waterfall installer asking for a username over a colorful gradient background
Setup, step one. The UNIX-based installer on the new blue gradient.
The CopperOS welcome dialog after setup completes
The welcome screen after setup finishes.
The CopperOS Waterfall desktop with twelve application icons and a taskbar
The desktop: HD framebuffer, no blink on redraw, twelve icons.
AppPad, the CopperOS application launcher, showing a grid of applications
AppPad. Space opens it, 1–9 launches, Enter confirms.
Reliability and recovery

Clearer paths when the system needs attention.

Automatic update detection

CopperOS v1.6 includes improved checks for available system updates.

Recovery options

Error and crash screens include recovery options instead of leaving the system unclear.

Status notifications

Updates report clear system status after installation.

Downloads

Get Big Waterfall.

ISO image copperos.iso · 17.5 MB

The tested path for virtual machines. Boot it in QEMU or attach it to a VirtualBox optical drive.

Download ISO

USB image copperos-usb.img · 17.4 MB

For a physical machine, BIOS or UEFI. This is the one to write to a USB stick — the ISO cannot do that job.

Download USB image

VirtualBox VDI copperos.vdi · 16 MB

Attach as a hard disk instead of a CD.

Download VDI

Source archive CopperOS.tar.gz · 4.0 MB

The whole tree with the Makefile. make run builds it and boots it.

Download tar.gz

The raw disk image and the SHA-256 checksums are on the full download page, along with the exact commands for each format and how to flash the USB image without ruining it.

Run locally

Two commands, no configuration.

qemu
# Grab the ISO from the download page, then:
qemu-system-x86_64 -cdrom copperos.iso -m 256M -boot d

# Or build the whole thing yourself:
make
make run

If a virtual machine refuses to start, it is almost always EFI being switched on for the ISO — that path is still BIOS. The full list of boot problems and fixes.

Previous release

Copperhead is still where you left it.

CopperOS v1.0 Copperhead has not been deleted, rewritten or quietly replaced by this page. It is archived at copperos.org/copperhead with all four of its original downloads and their original checksums, exactly as they were published.

If you are reading a link, a bug report or a forum post that talks about 1.0, that is the page it belongs to.

Final notes

The waterfall arrived.

Waterfall is written from scratch, in the open, by one person, with no borrowed kernel underneath it. That is slower than the alternative and it is the point. Nothing here was announced before it worked.

Verify what you downloaded before you boot it — SHA256SUMS covers all five files, and a truncated download is still the most common reason a machine will not start.