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What Is The Most Popular OS in the World?

Posted by timothy on from the depends-how-you're-counting dept.

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."

3 of 215 comments (clear)

  1. RTLinux limitations by gatzke · · Score: 3, Interesting

    Did anyone read the part about RTLinux limitations:

    "RTLinux switches tasks in milliseconds, while ITRON switches tasks in microseconds," he said. "RTLinux' footprint is measured in megabytes; ITRON is measured in kilobytes."

    Funny to see someone call a Linux version bloated and slow...

  2. Popular != total number deployed... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Interesting

    Popular is something that's widely favoured, based on choice. While you could argue ITRON is popular amongst developers and vendors as an embedded OS, it certainly isn't the OS of choice for consumers who aren't all going out in droves demanding ITRON-powered phones.

    So, ITRON, the OS with the biggest market share (based on device numbers not revenue) in the world.

  3. Re:Cute. by AsparagusChallenge · · Score: 2, Interesting

    When people interact with a computer, they're interacting with the OS

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

    Which lead us to: the OS with W is not really "popular" (in the sense of "Accepted by or prevalent among the people in general"), but user level applications built upon it are; with your "they just wanna nuke their burrito" you're completely right just in the same sense. ITRON can then be the "most popular" for the people that matters: the ones that implement application for the OS.