> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://docs.burakov.net/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

# Quickstart

> Download an OMOS image for your machine's chip and boot it — in a virtual machine for a quick look, or on real hardware.

The easiest way to try OMOS is to download a ready-made image and boot it. There's no installer to run and no account to create — an image boots straight into the system.

<Note>
  OMOS is an early preview. Booting it in a **virtual machine** is the safest way to look around and costs you nothing. Writing it to a real disk is for a spare machine you don't mind dedicating.
</Note>

## 1. Download the image for your chip

<Steps>
  <Step title="Pick your architecture">
    On the [OMOS page](https://burakov.net/projects/omos), choose the image that matches your machine's processor: **x86\_64** (most Intel/AMD laptops and desktops), **ARM64** (many single-board computers and ARM machines), or **RISC-V**.
  </Step>

  <Step title="Download and unpack it">
    You'll get a compressed disk image. Unpack it to get the raw image file for the next step.
  </Step>
</Steps>

## 2a. Boot it in a virtual machine

The quickest look. With [QEMU](https://www.qemu.org/) installed, boot the image in a window — no changes to your real machine. OMOS starts on the screen and also prints to the serial console, so you can watch it come up.

<Tip>
  A virtual machine is disposable: close it and nothing on your computer changed. It's the recommended way to explore this early preview.
</Tip>

## 2b. Or boot it on real hardware

<Steps>
  <Step title="Write the image to a disk">
    Write the unpacked image to a USB stick or drive with an imaging tool you trust. This **erases** the target disk — pick the right device.

    <Warning>
      Writing an image overwrites everything on the chosen disk. Double-check you've selected the USB stick or spare drive, not your main disk.
    </Warning>
  </Step>

  <Step title="Boot from it">
    Boot the machine from that disk (OMOS uses UEFI). It comes up the same way it does in a virtual machine.
  </Step>
</Steps>

## What you'll see

This early build boots into a system console rather than a desktop — the graphical shell is on the [roadmap](/omos/roadmap). What you're looking at is a real operating system coming up on your hardware: bringing up the processor's cores, its memory, and its protected user space. It's the foundation everything else is being built on.

## Next

<CardGroup cols={2}>
  <Card title="Platform support" icon="microchip" href="/omos/platform-support">
    What works on each architecture today.
  </Card>

  <Card title="Architecture" icon="layer-group" href="/omos/architecture">
    How the system is put together.
  </Card>
</CardGroup>