Now Public · MIXOS 1.1.0 · Kernel 1.1.0 for Synapse-X Helix-Q

The first operating system written for the quantum era.

Four years in production across Synapse-X fabs, treasury systems, and a short list of partner deployments under NDA. The 1.0.4 release is the first to ship as open source under MPL-3.0 — the same kernel, build pipeline, and Helix-Q dispatch path that has been running real workloads since 2031.

Free and open source forever. MIXOS Pro adds extended security maintenance, livepatching, and regional compliance bundles.

root@host01:~ — ssh session
$ uname -a
MIXos host01 1.1.0 hsx-q64 Synapse-X Helix-Q

$ cat /etc/release
MIXos release 1.1.0

$ adminspect --service web
[ ok ] web.mixd: running (pid 4812, up 14d 03:07)
[ ok ] listening on 0.0.0.0:80, 0.0.0.0:443
[ ok ] last config reload: 2035-04-12 03:14:07
[ ok ] qcoproc queue: 0 pending, 14ms p99

$ ps
  PID  USER       %CPU  Q%  COMMAND
    1  root        0.0  --  /sbin/mixd
  812  www-data    1.2  --  web.mixd
 4812  www-data    0.4  03  qtls-handshake

Standards, Listings, and Conformance

POSIX.1-2024OCI CompliantISO 27001:2028FIPS 140-4DANSA Article 6 ConformantCommon Criteria EAL5+

Why MIXOS

Built by people who run systems, for people who run systems.

Familiar

Everything you already know, in the places you expect it

Standard POSIX userland — bash, ls, cat, grep, ssh, find, the /etc layout, the system call surface — preserved without surprises. Scripts written for other Linux distributions run unmodified. Migrating an existing fleet typically takes a single maintenance window, and there is no proprietary toolchain to learn.

Performance

First-class quantum, predictable classical

MIXOS Kernel 1.1.0 is the first production kernel with first-class support for the Synapse-X Helix-Q hybrid architecture. Classical threads run on a tail-latency-aware scheduler; quantum kernels dispatch through an in-kernel coprocessor queue with deterministic admission and per-cgroup quotas. Post-quantum TLS handshakes complete in single-digit milliseconds on commodity Helix parts.

Stability

Ten-year support windows mean ten years

Every LTS release receives five years of security patches and kernel backports under the open-source license, with an additional five years of Extended Security Maintenance available to MIXOS Pro subscribers. We publish the deprecation calendar four releases ahead so platform teams can plan, not react.

Security

Verified boot, signed packages, optional attestation

MIXOS boots from a measured, signed chain anchored in the platform TPM. Packages are cryptographically signed and verified before installation. For organizations that need it, the attestation subsystem can stream system measurements to an audit endpoint of their choosing — internal SOC, third-party assessor, or a Qualified Verification Provider listed on the Reykjavik registry. For everyone else, it stays off.

Editions

Free forever. Paid when it matters.

MIXOS is open source under the MPL-3.0. Anyone can download, audit, modify, and redistribute it. MIXOS Pro adds extended security maintenance, a curated package repository, livepatching, and the compliance hardening profiles fleets ask us for. The two regional Pro editions ship with the certifications and identity bindings required on each side of the Atlantic — DANSA Article 7 attestation for Reykjavik Accord signatories, EOSR 2033 and the EDZ post-quantum framework for the European Digital Zone.

CapabilityOpen SourceProMost deployedPro — US EditionPro — EU Edition
MIXOS kernel + userlandIncludedIncludedIncludedIncluded
Source codePublicPublicPublicPublic
Security & kernel updates5 years10 years10 years10 years
Extended Security Maintenance+5 years+5 years+5 years
Vendor patch SLABest effort24 hours24 hours4 hours
Pro repository (managed builds)IncludedIncludedIncluded
Kernel livepatchIncludedIncludedIncluded
Compliance hardening profilesCIS, genericCIS, FedRAMP, CMMCCIS, NIS2, eIDAS-Q, EOSR 2033
DANSA Identity AttestationAvailableAvailableIncludedNot applicable
Per-host coverageUp to 5 hosts (personal)UnlimitedUnlimitedUnlimited
Annual list price (per host)Free$0 personal / $25 commercial$300€340

MIXOS Pro — US Edition is sold to entities operating under US jurisdiction and includes FedRAMP High, CMMC Level 3, and Digital Authentication Compliance Act of 2035 (Title IV) alignment. Identity attestation is provided through a Qualified Verification Provider of the operator's choice. MIXOS Pro — EU Edition is sold within the European Digital Zone and aligns with NIS2, eIDAS-Q, and the EOSR 2033 child-safety framework; it does not implement DANSA, which the EDZ has not adopted. The base MIXOS Pro tier is available worldwide where export controls permit.

Security Architecture

Defense in depth, on by default.

Mandatory access control, signed packages, a hardened network stack, and an attestation subsystem for the workloads that need one. The defaults are conservative; the knobs are documented.

Read the Security Whitepaper
01

Hardware Root of Trust

Boot measurements anchored to TPM 2.0 or a vendor silicon key. Tampered firmware refuses to boot. Detection is the default; alerting is configurable.

02

Signed Package Chain

Every package in the MIXOS repositories is reproducibly built and cryptographically signed. The package manager verifies signatures before any file touches disk. Operator-private repositories are first-class.

03

Mandatory Access Control

Per-process confinement profiles ship with every package in the base system. Kernel LSM hooks enforce the profile regardless of process privilege. Override requires an explicit, audited operator action.

04

Tamper-Evident Audit

Kernel audit events are written to an append-only Merkle log. Operators choose retention windows and whether to forward roots to an external attestor.

05

Optional Remote Attestation

Workloads that need to prove their state to a third party can opt in to remote attestation via mixctl(1). The endpoint is operator-configured. Workloads that do not need it are not subject to it.

Platform Stack

One stack, top to bottom.

Workloads
Containers, services, applications
L7
POSIX Userland
Standard toolchain, /etc, package manager
L6
MIX Service Manager
Init, supervision, resource control
L5
Networking & Storage
Modern stack, line-rate on commodity NICs
L4
MIXOS Kernel 1.1.0
Tail-latency-aware scheduler, audit, LSM
L3
Verified Boot Loader
Measured boot, TPM-anchored
L2
Hardware Root of Trust
TPM 2.0 / vendor silicon key
L1

No surprises between hardware and your workload.

MIXOS is a single, coherent stack — kernel, init, package manager, and standard libraries all built and tested together by one team. No competing daemons, no conflicting service managers, no surprise dependencies pulled in from a community pinned six months behind upstream.

The result: deterministic builds, predictable upgrades, and a kernel that boots in seconds on the silicon we test against.

  • · Reproducible kernel and userland builds
  • · First-class support for Telos, Synapse-X, and Quant Dynamics silicon
  • · OCI-compatible container runtime in the base system
  • · Out-of-band management API for fleet tooling

Deployment

Wherever your workload runs, MIXOS runs the same.

On-Premise

MIXOS Server

Bare-metal or virtualized, on any Synapse-X Helix part. Boots in under four seconds and stays out of your way.

  • · hsx-q64 (Helix / Helix-Q)
  • · Standard ISO + netinstall
  • · Min 2 GB RAM
Managed Cloud

MIXOS Cloud Images

Official images on every major cloud and a few minor ones. cloud-init, OCI runtime, and the package mirrors you'd expect.

  • · AMI / qcow2 / OVA
  • · Per-second billing partners
  • · Regional mirrors worldwide
Edge

MIXOS Embedded

A trimmed image for industrial, retail, and field-deployed hardware. Same userland, smaller footprint, longer signing keys.

  • · ~180 MB image
  • · Read-only root supported
  • · Atomic A/B updates
Desktop

MIXOS Desktop

For developers, analysts, and anyone who'd rather their laptop stay out of the way. Ships with a sensible desktop and the productivity stack most people install anyway.

  • · GNOME or KDE session
  • · Flatpak + .mxp packages
  • · Available in 14 languages

Trusted Across the Atlantic Bloc

Operators in defense, finance, healthcare, and infrastructure standardize on MIXOS.

CHIMERA DEFENSE
NEXAVAULT GLOBAL
CONN PHARMACEUTICALS
HARWICK & ASSOCIATES
MERIDIAN NETWORKS
AURUM DYNAMICS
TELOS SYSTEMS
SOLOM

Customer Statement

“We standardized on MIXOS three years ago because it was the fastest thing we benchmarked and the support contract was honest. Everything since — the kernel cadence, the ten-year LTS window, the fact that our junior admins are productive on day one — has been a bonus. We run forty thousand machines on it and I sleep fine.”
EM
E. Marston
Director of Platform Engineering · A Tier-1 Atlantic Bloc Financial Services Provider

Technical Specifications

Build details

Release
MIXOS 1.0.4 LTS (codename Meridian)
Kernel
MIXOS Kernel 1.1.0, Linux-compatible ABI
Architectures
hsx-q64 (Synapse-X Helix, Helix-Q); Q-Stack coprocessor support in preview
Init system
mixd (parallel service supervisor)
Default shell
POSIX-compliant, bash command set
Network stack
In-tree, RFC-compliant, IPv4 + IPv6 dual-stack
Filesystem
MIXFS (journaled, copy-on-write), ext4, xfs, btrfs
Package format
Signed .mxp packages, served from regional mirror network
Support window
5 years open source, +5 years with MIXOS Pro ESM

Minimum Requirements

What you'll need

Processor
Synapse-X Helix or Helix-Q (hsx-q64). Quant Dynamics Q-Stack supported via preview adapter.
Memory
2 GB minimum, 4 GB recommended
Storage
20 GB on any supported block device
Trusted module
TPM 2.0 optional (required for verified boot and remote attestation)
Network
Optional. Offline installation supported.
Account
A local user account. Federated identity available for managed deployments.

MIXOS Open Source is free for any use under the MPL-3.0. MIXOS Pro adds extended security maintenance, livepatching, and the regional compliance bundles required on each side of the Atlantic.

Try the OS your fleet should have been on years ago.

Download MIXOS Open Source free, or talk to us about a Pro pilot. A platform engineer will get back to your team within two business days to scope a deployment that fits your hardware and your calendar.

Or skip the form and grab the ISO from mirrors.mixos.org. No account required.