Haiku is a free and open-source operating system compatible with the now discontinued BeOS. Its development began in 2001, and the operating system became self-hosting in 2008. The first alpha release was made in September 2009, and the most recent was November 2012.Haiku is supported by Haiku, Inc., a non-profit organization based in Rochester, New York, founded in 2003 by former project leader Michael Phipps.