Haiku

2001 → today · Independent

A free, open-source system for personal computers, inspired by BeOS.⁶ The project began in 2001;¹ as of November 2026 it is in beta.⁴

▶ Try it Sources

Project started: 18 August 2001, as OpenBeOS¹
First release: R1 Alpha 1, 14 September 2009¹
Inspired by: BeOS, from Be Inc.^{2, 3}
Newest release: R1/beta6, 26 August 2026 (as of November 2026)⁴

Picking up after BeOS

Be Inc., started by former Apple executive Jean-Louis Gassée, made an operating system called BeOS.² In August 2001, Palm agreed to buy BeOS and Be's other technology for $11 million in Palm shares.² That same month, on 18 August, volunteers started OpenBeOS to build a free system like it.^{1, 3} In 2004 the project took a new name, Haiku, to avoid trademark problems.^{1, 3}

The Welcome to Haiku! window on a blue desktop: a language list with English selected, a keymap menu set to US-International, the words "Thank you for trying out Haiku! We hope you'll like it!" and two buttons, Install Haiku and Try Haiku. — Haiku R1/beta6 starting in our virtual PC. You can install it or try it out first; our lesson tries it.

Yellow tabs and the Deskbar

Instead of a full-width title bar, each Haiku window has a small yellow tab. You can slide it along the window's top edge and use it to stack windows together.⁵ The Deskbar works as Haiku's start menu and taskbar.⁵ Tracker, the file manager, and the Deskbar are the only BeOS code in Haiku: Be released them as open source in 2001.³ The 32-bit Haiku can still run programs made for BeOS R5.³

The Haiku desktop: icons for Haiku, home, BeBook, Quick Tour, User Guide and Trash along the top; a StyledEdit window with the words "hello from haiku" and a gray tab named Untitled 1; a DeskCalc calculator in front with a yellow tab; and the Deskbar at the top right with a blue leaf, the time 1:16 AM and the entries Tracker, StyledEdit and DeskCalc. — Haiku in our virtual PC. The window in front has a yellow tab, the one behind it a gray tab. The Deskbar at the top right lists the running programs.

Still in beta

Haiku R1 Alpha 1 came out on 14 September 2009, and the first beta in September 2018.¹ As of November 2026, the newest release is R1/beta6, from 26 August 2026, about a week after Haiku's 25th birthday.⁴ One team writes the whole system, from the kernel and drivers to the desktop apps.⁶

Haiku's About window in our virtual PC says R1/beta6. The emulated processor shows up as a Pentium III.

Key moments

2001 On 18 August, the project starts as OpenBeOS.¹
2004 In June, the new name Haiku is announced.¹
2009 Haiku R1 Alpha 1 comes out on 14 September.¹
2018 Haiku R1 Beta 1 comes out in September.¹
2026 Haiku R1/beta6 comes out on 26 August.⁴