Futaba Channel
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The Futaba Channel (Japanese: ふたば★ちゃんねる, Futaba★Channel) is a Japanese imageboard, from which a lot of early OS-tan characters originated, making it particularly well known in the OS-tan communities.
Futaba (ふたば) is a reading of the Kanjis 双葉 or 二葉, which literally mean a pair (of) (双) leaves (葉). or two (二) leaves, and can be translated as cotyledon. The two leaves are a notable element of their visual identity.
History
The site was founded on August 30, 2001 as an image-based counterpart to the text-only 2ch.net, also during a time that site was in danger of shutting down due to server overloading[1]. Fuatab Channel eventually added imageboards based on the GazouBBS software.
OS-tans are thought to have emerged on the Futaba Channel as a way to personify the many operating systems that were popular at the time. Windows Me-tan was one of the first examples of an OS-tan, designed in response to the widespread criticism of Windows Me as unstable and prone to crashes. This was compared to the stereotype of a fickle, troublesome girl in Futaba Channel discussions, and Me-tan was developed to reflect this stereotype.