What Is The Most Popular OS in the World?

Roland Piquepaille writes "If your answer is Windows, you're plain wrong. It's ITRON, a Japanese real-time OS kernel that can be customized for any small-scale embedded systems. According to LinuxInsider.com, it is used by more than 3 billion microprocessors found in mobile phones, digital cameras, CD players and many other electronic devices including even satellites. The article looks at the competition in this market, notably RTLinux, the real-time version of Linux, and T-Linux, an environment for running middleware. This last effort could lead to the eTRON chip, an encryption device that offers secure data transfer across wireless networks and the Internet. One thing is sure for this market: the future is definitively open-source. This overview contains more details and external references."

Comments

Featured on SlashDot before

[Mwongozi]

Here and here.

Is it an OS?

[pe1chl]

According to the ITRON page linked, it is an operating system specification, not an operating system.

That would make it a competitor of Posix, instead of Linux.

Re:RTLinux limitations

[yodaiken@fsmlabs.com]

RTLinux switches tasks in microseconds - and not many microseconds.

"Popular"

[Anonymous Coward]

popular ( P ) Pronunciation Key (ppy-lr)
adj.

1. Widely liked or appreciated: a popular resort.
2. Liked by acquaintances; sought after for company: "Beware of over-great pleasure in being popular or even beloved" (Margaret Fuller).
3. Of, representing, or carried on by the people at large: the popular vote.
4. Fit for, adapted to, or reflecting the taste of the people at large: popular entertainment; popular science.
5. Accepted by or prevalent among the people in general: a popular misunderstanding of the issue.
6. Suited to or within the means of ordinary people: popular prices.
7. Originating among the people: popular legend.

I don't think any of these definitions of 'popular' fit ITRON at all.
Nice try. Grow up and come back later.

It isn't even an OS (singular)

[The Monster]

Page 20 of the iITRON4.0 specification says:

The TRON Specifications define the interface of a computer, not the hardware or software it is founded on. It also defines the interface of the OS, but not the OS itself. . . .

In this sense, *TRON is best described as a family of operating systems, more like Unix, which also has a published specification to which implementations must conform in order to earn the name.

That having been said, it's also not really fair to call (GNU/)Linux 'an OS' - it's really a toolkit for building OSes. There is a huge variety of systems that are called Linux but can't run each other's programs without porting effort.

And the same can be said for Windows - 9x, NT, Me, 2K, XP, CE (and server variants, including 2003) have annoying incompatibilities between them that preclude considering them the same OS.

Re:Cute.

[tambo]

Actually the OS interacts with the programs; the programs interact then with people. People never interact with the OS.

From a CS perspective, you're correct - the OS is designed to manage resources and send program requests down to the microkernel/ISA level.

But from the contemporary perspective, the OS is a much richer bundle. Technically, using the Start Menu, manipulating files and folders on your desktop, and navigating folders in Explorer = interactions with a "program"; so are printer daemons/print queues, network interfaces, and the Control Panel. Even cutting-and-pasting is technically interacting with the clipboard "program". But these programs are so tightly bound to the OS that it's difficult to imagine a workable modern OS without them. Ask any user on the street, even sophisticated ones, what "program" they're using in these cases, and they'll all say "Windows" (or OS/X, or whatever OS they're running.)

If by "popular" you mean prolific, as does the author, then sure, ITRON and other embedded OS's are clear winners. But if by "popular" you mean user-recognizable - even software to which users may have developed an affinity - then I think Windows is still the OS of choice worldwide.

(Note: I'm clearly not a Microsoft shill - a search on my username will reveal posts/responses uniformly bashing Microsoft for a dozen justified reasons.)

- David Stein

What is the most popular post on Slashdot?

[hankaholic]

Timothy writes "If your answer is Unique Stories, you're plain wrong. It's DUPES, a Canadian method of post generation that can be customized for any large-scale media systems. According to a popular geek news site, it is used by more than 300 story submissions each year. The article looks at the competition in this market, notably Michael, known for not even reading submissions before posting to the homepage. This last effort could lead to the eDUPE method, an encryption method that offers secure post submission across wireless networks and the Internet. One thing is sure for this market: the future is definitively open-source. This overview contains more details and external references.