diff --git a/.gitignore b/.gitignore
index 238a071..c5a13eb 100644
--- a/.gitignore
+++ b/.gitignore
@@ -5,5 +5,6 @@
 **/*.fxf
 **/bg.inc
 **/bg.raw
+**/icons.inc
 **/fox32os.img
 **/fox32os.img.tmp
diff --git a/Makefile b/Makefile
index 3370967..c163847 100644
--- a/Makefile
+++ b/Makefile
@@ -35,6 +35,12 @@ base_image/bg.raw: applications/bg/bg.inc
 applications/bg/bg.inc: applications/bg/bg.png
 	$(GFX2INC) 640 480 $< $@
 
+base_image/launcher.fxf: applications/launcher/main.asm $(wildcard applications/launcher/*.asm) applications/launcher/icons.inc
+	$(FOX32ASM) $< $@
+
+applications/launcher/icons.inc: applications/launcher/icons.png
+	$(GFX2INC) 16 16 $< $@
+
 bootloader/bootloader.bin: bootloader/main.asm $(wildcard bootloader/*.asm)
 	$(FOX32ASM) $< $@
 
@@ -45,7 +51,8 @@ FILES = \
 	base_image/terminal.fxf \
 	base_image/foxpaint.fxf \
 	base_image/bg.fxf \
-	base_image/bg.raw
+	base_image/bg.raw \
+	base_image/launcher.fxf
 
 fox32os.img: $(BOOTLOADER) $(FILES)
 	$(RYFS) -s $(IMAGE_SIZE) -l fox32os -b $(BOOTLOADER) create fox32os.img.tmp
diff --git a/applications/launcher/icons.png b/applications/launcher/icons.png
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..6e83311
Binary files /dev/null and b/applications/launcher/icons.png differ
diff --git a/applications/launcher/launch.asm b/applications/launcher/launch.asm
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..b8da109
--- /dev/null
+++ b/applications/launcher/launch.asm
@@ -0,0 +1,64 @@
+; FXF launcher helper routines
+
+; launch an FXF binary from a file name
+; inputs:
+; r0: pointer to FXF binary name
+; outputs:
+; none
+launch_fxf:
+    push r0
+    push r1
+    push r2
+    push r3
+    push r4
+
+    ; open the file
+    mov r1, 0
+    mov r2, launch_fxf_struct
+    call open
+    cmp r0, 0
+    ifz jmp allocate_error
+
+    ; allocate memory for the binary
+    mov r0, launch_fxf_struct
+    call ryfs_get_size
+    call allocate_memory
+    cmp r0, 0
+    ifz jmp allocate_error
+    mov [launch_fxf_binary_ptr], r0
+
+    ; read the file into memory
+    mov r0, launch_fxf_struct
+    mov r1, [launch_fxf_binary_ptr]
+    call ryfs_read_whole_file
+
+    ; allocate a 64KiB stack
+    mov r0, 65536
+    call allocate_memory
+    cmp r0, 0
+    ifz jmp allocate_error
+    mov [launch_fxf_stack_ptr], r0
+
+    ; relocate the binary
+    mov r0, [launch_fxf_binary_ptr]
+    call parse_fxf_binary
+
+    ; create a new task
+    mov r1, r0
+    call get_unused_task_id
+    mov r2, [launch_fxf_stack_ptr]
+    add r2, 65516 ; point to the end of the stack (stack grows down!!)
+    mov r3, [launch_fxf_binary_ptr]
+    mov r4, [launch_fxf_stack_ptr]
+    call new_task
+allocate_error:
+    pop r4
+    pop r3
+    pop r2
+    pop r1
+    pop r0
+    ret
+
+launch_fxf_struct: data.fill 0, 8
+launch_fxf_binary_ptr: data.32 0
+launch_fxf_stack_ptr: data.32 0
diff --git a/applications/launcher/main.asm b/applications/launcher/main.asm
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..d083013
--- /dev/null
+++ b/applications/launcher/main.asm
@@ -0,0 +1,107 @@
+; simple application launcher
+
+    ; create the window
+    mov r0, window_struct
+    mov r1, window_title
+    mov r2, 88
+    mov r3, 0
+    mov r4, 0
+    mov r5, 464
+    mov r6, 0
+    mov r7, terminal_button_widget
+    call new_window
+
+    ; draw the buttons
+    mov r0, window_struct
+    call draw_widgets_to_window
+
+    ; set the tilemap
+    mov r0, icons
+    mov r1, 16
+    mov r2, 16
+    call set_tilemap
+
+    ; draw the icons
+    mov r0, window_struct
+    call get_window_overlay_number
+    mov r3, r0
+    mov r0, 0
+    mov r1, 72
+    mov r2, 0
+    call draw_tile_to_overlay
+
+event_loop:
+    mov r0, window_struct
+    call get_next_window_event
+
+    ; was the mouse clicked?
+    cmp r0, EVENT_TYPE_MOUSE_CLICK
+    ifz call mouse_click_event
+
+    ; did the user click a button?
+    cmp r0, EVENT_TYPE_BUTTON_CLICK
+    ifz call button_click_event
+
+    call yield_task
+    jmp event_loop
+
+mouse_click_event:
+    push r0
+
+    ; first, check if we are attempting to drag or close the window
+    cmp r1, 72
+    iflteq jmp drag_or_close_window
+
+    ; then, handle widget clicks
+    mov r0, window_struct
+    call handle_widget_click
+
+    pop r0
+    ret
+
+button_click_event:
+    ; r1 contains the ID of the clicked button
+
+    ; terminal
+    cmp r1, 0
+    ifz mov r0, terminal_button_fxf
+    ifz call launch_fxf
+
+    ret
+
+drag_or_close_window:
+    cmp r1, 8
+    iflteq jmp close_window
+    mov r0, window_struct
+    call start_dragging_window
+    pop r0
+    ret
+close_window:
+    mov r0, window_struct
+    call destroy_window
+    call end_current_task
+
+window_title: data.str "Launcher" data.8 0
+window_struct: data.fill 0, 36
+
+terminal_button_fxf: data.str "terminalfxf" data.8 0
+terminal_button_widget:
+    data.32 0                  ; next_ptr
+    data.32 0                  ; id
+    data.32 WIDGET_TYPE_BUTTON ; type
+    data.32 button_text        ; text_ptr
+    data.32 0xFFFFFFFF         ; foreground_color
+    data.32 0xFF000000         ; background_color
+    data.16 16                 ; width
+    data.16 0                  ; reserved
+    data.16 72                 ; x_pos
+    data.16 0                  ; y_pos
+button_text: data.str "  " data.8 0
+
+icons:
+    #include "icons.inc"
+
+    #include "launch.asm"
+
+    #include "../../../fox32rom/fox32rom.def"
+    #include "../../fox32os.def"
diff --git a/base_image/startup.cfg b/base_image/startup.cfg
index cb176b2..642e130 100644
--- a/base_image/startup.cfg
+++ b/base_image/startup.cfg
@@ -1 +1,3 @@
+bg      fxf
+launcherfxf
 terminalfxf