We’re excited to announce the release of a new portable AROS distribution, designed to run directly from a USB stick. This project was created for users who want to explore AROS without the need to install it on a hard drive or invest in dedicated hardware.

Watch the system in action:

[youtube]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0OeMbB2rGXc[/youtube]

Who is this for?

This distribution is aimed at:

- curious users who want to try out AROS without prior experience,
- those who don’t own (or don’t want to buy) compatible recommended hardware,
- enthusiasts who want to carry AROS in their pocket – ready to boot on the go.

This is not meant to replace existing AROS distributions, but rather to complement them. It’s a convenient tool for discovering and using AROS in a modern and accessible way.

System requirements:

- A reasonably modern x86_64 (64-bit) computer,
- USB 3.0 support (both host and USB stick),
- A 1920×1080 display,
- Processor virtualization option (usually Intel VT-x, “Intel Virtualization Technology” or AMD-V, “SVM Mode”) available in BIOS/UEFI and enabled.

What does it offer?

- Quick and easy boot from USB – no installation required,
- A ready-to-use graphical environment upon launch,
- User experience similar to that of dedicated hardware.

Download links:
[url]https://arosnews.github.io/aros-portable[/url]

The image should be written to a flash drive of at least 16GB (under Windows, for example, using Rufus).

@All

I've been testing this solution for last couple of weeks and I encaurage you to at least try it out once. It's remarkable to see AROS running on a modern laptop with WiFi working and being able to just "portable" AROS around.

Congrats very nice work!!

Congratulations, I hope it can help those who do not know AROS or some users who only have modern computers.

Congratulations retrofaza, I noticed that you used an old large Icon for the Pendrive, this causes the text on the standard AROS One Icons to move away.

That's why the Icons on AROS One are all the same size, if you want I can attach the Disk.info icon for the Live Pendrive or other Icons you might need in the future!

Sure! A matching icon will come in handy

Icona Disco Pendrive Live

Thank you very much, the icon is great, will use in the next build

@AMIGASYSTEM

It would be useful to have an icon for WiFi Prefs in AROS One style, if you have time to make one

Is WiFi Preferences an Application ? do you need the icon for this Application ?

On AROS One Native there is already the icon "def_Wireless.info", it appears automatically as soon as you are connected to the Wifi and when you click it, you start the Wiriless Manager !

You can use that icon or I can send you a different one !

Hi at all,
I've tried this distribution on my PC Desktop and often I got an error (see first picture), making the system unstable.
My PC is based on AMD FX-6300, Asus M5A99X EVO R2.0 motherboard, 16 GB RAM, GeForce GTX 1650 Super and a Focusrite Scarlett Solo USB as sound interface. The issue happens after a while of little usage, basically after I can hear the welcome sound effect.
For the first time I can run AROS "natively" on my PC, well done! Even thought it looks QEMU over a stripped Linux is used here. In the last 10-15 years I occasionally used to try Icaros only with VirtualBox, but for a reason or another it wasn't much usable and stable.

[quote name=sonountaleban post=8346]@sonountaleban - Hi at all,
I've tried this distribution on my PC Desktop and often I got an error (see first picture), making the system unstable.
My PC is based on AMD FX-6300, Asus M5A99X EVO R2.0 motherboard, 16 GB RAM, GeForce GTX 1650 Super and a Focusrite Scarlett Solo USB as sound interface. The issue happens after a while of little usage, basically after I can hear the welcome sound effect.
For the first time I can run AROS "natively" on my PC, well done! Even thought it looks QEMU over a stripped Linux is used here. In the last 10-15 years I occasionally used to try Icaros only with VirtualBox, but for a reason or another it wasn't much usable and stable.[/quote]

Hi!

Thanks for trying out AROS portable. I think the problem may be a poor quality Flash Drive. If you have the possibility, check it on another one (it should be USB 3.0 and your computer should also have a USB 3.0 slot).

You can also try a second image, which contains the 64-bit version of AROS One.

An image containing AROS One 1.0 64-bit is also now available. Links to both available here:
[url]https://arosnews.github.io/aros-portable[/url]

Yes, it could be because I think it's a quite old USB pendrive.

[quote name=retrofaza post=8347]@retrofaza - [quote name=sonountaleban post=8346]@sonountaleban - Hi at all,
I've tried this distribution on my PC Desktop and often I got an error (see first picture), making the system unstable.
My PC is based on AMD FX-6300, Asus M5A99X EVO R2.0 motherboard, 16 GB RAM, GeForce GTX 1650 Super and a Focusrite Scarlett Solo USB as sound interface. The issue happens after a while of little usage, basically after I can hear the welcome sound effect.
For the first time I can run AROS "natively" on my PC, well done! Even thought it looks QEMU over a stripped Linux is used here. In the last 10-15 years I occasionally used to try Icaros only with VirtualBox, but for a reason or another it wasn't much usable and stable.[/quote]

Hi!

Thanks for trying out AROS portable. I think the problem may be a poor quality Flash Drive. If you have the possibility, check it on another one (it should be USB 3.0 and your computer should also have a USB 3.0 slot).

You can also try a second image, which contains the 64-bit version of AROS One.[/quote]

@sonountaleban

The first error usually happens when you click on an icon and the pendriver had been disconnected.

It may be that the Pendrive has some connection problem, although you should have had problems during the burning process.

The fact that you also got the same error on another PC confirms that the Pendrive is not working properly.

To remove your doubt, try other Pendrives!

From a performance point of view, wouldn't AROS hosted be a better option?

Hmm, did you notice any performance issues of portable distribution versus hosted?

I have not been at home, so I haven't tried it yet. Once I get home I will try

FYI, TheRegister has a nice article about recent developments in AROS:

[url]https://www.theregister.com/2025/05/22/aros_live/[/url]

Well, overall it's quite neat, I got it working with wifi, went to the internet for a spin, which was nice. I tried the opaque commodity and it didn't work. When you opened the window, I wasn't able to move it around. Other than that all seems to be quite snappy. Now to make this distro work hosted on linux will take me some time.