Absolutely would give something like this to a kid as a first computer.
What makes traditional OSs difficult on this platform, is the lack of memory protection. But I am a simple man, I am not writing an OS, all I wanted was a usable shell and an apps installer, so I made that work.
This looks like a great basis (or maybe even all that’s needed) for one.
Does it have a good setup flow for headless deployment (e.g. supply Wifi config while flashing, remote shell access/web UI for deploying apps)?
Esp32-s3 can do so much more, we are just scratching the surface. You might remember FabGL, that ran some nice demos in the realm of games and DOS emulation. Unfortunately, seems to be hard to update for modern versions of ESP-IDF. I am trying to build something more modular, with hope that some parts of it will survive longer.
I think someone also ran an old version of MacOS simulated on it, too, that is also an indication of the general capability.
The io DMA code is a little special on the Pico. Very capable little chip. =3