Haiku turns 25: How and why the successor to the legendary BeOS continues to evolve in 2026

In August 2026, the Haiku operating system celebrated its 25th anniversary, marking the milestone with the release of R1/beta6. Despite being in development for a quarter of a century and still in beta, Haiku is a fully functional OS with its own kernel and graphical environment. The system remains highly efficient, capable of running on legacy hardware like Pentium II, while developers are actively experimenting with support for modern architectures, including ARM64 and Apple M1. The article explores the project's history, key development stages, and the current prospects for using this unique OS today. Haiku remains a significant example of open-source enthusiasm, continuing to evolve the legacy of the legendary BeOS for new generations of users and developers.