diff --git a/base/src/main/kotlin/de/staropensource/engine/base/Engine.kt b/base/src/main/kotlin/de/staropensource/engine/base/Engine.kt
index bca4e69af..b8241b5c3 100644
--- a/base/src/main/kotlin/de/staropensource/engine/base/Engine.kt
+++ b/base/src/main/kotlin/de/staropensource/engine/base/Engine.kt
@@ -20,6 +20,7 @@
 
 package de.staropensource.engine.base
 
+import de.staropensource.engine.base.utility.Environment
 import de.staropensource.engine.logging.Logger
 
 /**
@@ -118,6 +119,7 @@ class Engine private constructor() {
             logger.info("Initializing")
 
             // Run initialization code
+            Environment.detect()
 
             state = State.INITIALIZED
         }
@@ -139,6 +141,7 @@ class Engine private constructor() {
             logger.info("Shutting down")
 
             // Run shutdown code
+            Environment.unset()
 
             state = State.SHUT_DOWN
         }
diff --git a/base/src/main/kotlin/de/staropensource/engine/base/utility/Environment.kt b/base/src/main/kotlin/de/staropensource/engine/base/utility/Environment.kt
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..cef68447a
--- /dev/null
+++ b/base/src/main/kotlin/de/staropensource/engine/base/utility/Environment.kt
@@ -0,0 +1,158 @@
+/*
+ * STAROPENSOURCE ENGINE SOURCE FILE
+ * Copyright (c) 2024 The StarOpenSource Engine Authors
+ * Licensed under the GNU Affero General Public License v3
+ * with an exception allowing classpath linking.
+ *
+ * This program is free software: you can redistribute it and/or modify
+ * it under the terms of the GNU Affero General Public License as
+ * published by the Free Software Foundation, either version 3 of the
+ * License, or (at your option) any later version.
+ *
+ * This program is distributed in the hope that it will be useful,
+ * but WITHOUT ANY WARRANTY; without even the implied warranty of
+ * MERCHANTABILITY or FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE.  See the
+ * GNU Affero General Public License for more details.
+ *
+ * You should have received a copy of the GNU Affero General Public License
+ * along with this program.  If not, see <https://www.gnu.org/licenses/>.
+ */
+
+package de.staropensource.engine.base.utility
+
+import de.staropensource.engine.base.Engine.Companion.logger
+import de.staropensource.engine.base.utility.Environment.OperatingSystem.FREEBSD
+import de.staropensource.engine.base.utility.Environment.OperatingSystem.LINUX
+import de.staropensource.engine.base.utility.Environment.OperatingSystem.NETBSD
+import de.staropensource.engine.base.utility.Environment.OperatingSystem.OPENBSD
+import de.staropensource.engine.base.utility.Environment.OperatingSystem.WINDOWS
+import oshi.PlatformEnum
+import oshi.SystemInfo
+
+/**
+ * Provides information about the
+ * environment the application runs in.
+ *
+ * @since v1-alpha10
+ */
+class Environment private constructor() {
+    /**
+     * Companion class of [Environment].
+     *
+     * @since v1-alpha10
+     */
+    companion object {
+        /**
+         * The operating system family
+         * this program is running under.
+         *
+         * @since v1-alpha10
+         */
+        var operatingSystem: OperatingSystem = OperatingSystem.UNKNOWN
+            internal set
+
+        /**
+         * Unsets the environment.
+         *
+         * @since v1-alpha10
+         */
+        @JvmStatic
+        internal fun unset() {
+            operatingSystem = OperatingSystem.UNKNOWN
+        }
+
+        /**
+         * Detects and updates the environment.
+         *
+         * @since v1-alpha10
+         */
+        @JvmStatic
+        internal fun detect() {
+            val si: SystemInfo = SystemInfo()
+            val os: oshi.software.os.OperatingSystem = si.operatingSystem
+
+            logger.diag("Running environment detection")
+
+            when (SystemInfo.getCurrentPlatform()) {
+                PlatformEnum.LINUX, PlatformEnum.GNU, PlatformEnum.KFREEBSD -> operatingSystem = LINUX
+                PlatformEnum.FREEBSD -> operatingSystem = FREEBSD
+                PlatformEnum.NETBSD -> operatingSystem = NETBSD
+                PlatformEnum.OPENBSD -> operatingSystem = OPENBSD
+                //PlatformEnum.ANDROID -> Environment.operatingSystem = Environment.OperatingSystem.ANDROID  // android is not yet supported by the engine, have to figure that one out sometime
+                PlatformEnum.WINDOWS, PlatformEnum.WINDOWSCE -> operatingSystem = WINDOWS
+                else -> logger.crash("Unsupported operating system '" + os.family + "'")
+            }
+        }
+    }
+
+    // -----> Data types
+    /**
+     * Represents all operating systems
+     * detected and supported by the engine.
+     *
+     * @since v1-alpha10
+     */
+    enum class OperatingSystem {
+        /**
+         * The operating system could not be determined.
+         *
+         * Ideally, this value should be impossible to get
+         * as the engine crashes during the bootstrapping
+         * phase if the operating system is not supported
+         * by the engine.
+         *
+         * @since v1-alpha10
+         */
+        UNKNOWN,
+
+        /**
+         * Identifies that the application is running
+         * under the [Linux](https://kernel.org) kernel.
+         *
+         * @since v1-alpha10
+         */
+        LINUX,
+
+        /**
+         * Identifies that the application is running
+         * under the [FreeBSD](https://freebsd.org) kernel.
+         *
+         * @since v1-alpha10
+         */
+        FREEBSD,
+
+        /**
+         * Identifies that the application is running
+         * under the [NetBSD](https://netbsd.org) kernel.
+         *
+         * @since v1-alpha10
+         */
+        NETBSD,
+
+        /**
+         * Identifies that the application is running
+         * under the [OpenBSD](https://openbsd.org) kernel.
+         *
+         * @since v1-alpha10
+         */
+        OPENBSD,
+
+        /**
+         * Identifies that the application is running
+         * under [Android](https://android.com), and
+         * by extension the [Linux kernel](https://kernel.org).
+         *
+         * @since v1-alpha10
+         */
+        ANDROID,
+
+        /**
+         * Identifies that the application is running
+         * under [Windows](https://windows.com), and
+         * by extension the [Windows NT kernel](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ntoskrnl.exe).
+         *
+         * @since v1-alpha10
+         */
+        WINDOWS,
+    }
+}
diff --git a/build.gradle.kts b/build.gradle.kts
index 87bf62e55..5259ab334 100644
--- a/build.gradle.kts
+++ b/build.gradle.kts
@@ -77,6 +77,9 @@ allprojects {
         kotlin(property("dependencyKotlinStdJavaIdentifier") as String)
         implementation("${property("dependencyKotlinReflectIdentifier") as String}:${property("dependencyKotlinReflectVersion") as String}")
         implementation("${property("dependencyKotlinDateTimeIdentifier") as String}:${property("dependencyKotlinDateTimeVersion") as String}")
+
+        // OSHI
+        implementation("${property("dependencyOshiIdentifier") as String}:${property("dependencyOshiVersion") as String}")
     }
 
     // Java
diff --git a/gradle.properties b/gradle.properties
index a463f92ab..2a3d85123 100644
--- a/gradle.properties
+++ b/gradle.properties
@@ -40,5 +40,7 @@ dependencyKotlinReflectIdentifier=org.jetbrains.kotlin:kotlin-reflect
 dependencyKotlinReflectVersion=2.1.0
 dependencyKotlinDateTimeIdentifier=org.jetbrains.kotlinx:kotlinx-datetime
 dependencyKotlinDateTimeVersion=0.6.1
+dependencyOshiIdentifier=com.github.oshi:oshi-core-java11
+dependencyOshiVersion=6.6.5
 dependencyJansiIdentifier=org.fusesource:jansi
 dependencyJansiVersion=2.4.1