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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."

12 of 215 comments (clear)

  1. Featured on SlashDot before by Mwongozi · · Score: 4, Informative

    Here and here.

  2. Cute. by echucker · · Score: 4, Insightful

    Change the rules to suit the propaganda. When people are talking about OS', 99.44% of the time they're referring to PCs. Is it so hard to admit that Windows has huge marketshare simply because it's what has been put in front of the end user?

    1. Re:Cute. by DrEldarion · · Score: 4, Insightful

      ... and then you have to take into account the fact that they use the words "most popular" when practically nobody has even heard of it. Most used, sure, but isn't a requriement for popularity having people actually know about it?

      -- Dr. Eldarion --

    2. Re:Cute. by tambo · · Score: 3, Informative

      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

      --
      Computer over. Virus = very yes.
  3. 'most popular'? by m0rphin3 · · Score: 3, Insightful

    Is something 'most popular' when people don't even know it exists? Or if there even is a choice?

    It's like saying water is the 'most popular soft-drink' in the world..

    --
    for great justice
  4. Most used DOES NOT equate to most popular here by segmond · · Score: 4, Insightful

    ...because the users are ignorant of the underlying OS, thus tron is not the most popular OS but the most widely deployed OS. With that said, this is a duplicate article from the past, and I am sick of slashdot insulting our intelligence with stupid sensational headlines.

    --
    ------ Curiosity killed the cat. {satisfaction brought it back | it didn't die ignorant | lack of it is killing mankind
  5. 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...

    1. Re:RTLinux limitations by yodaiken@fsmlabs.com · · Score: 3, Informative

      RTLinux switches tasks in microseconds - and not many microseconds.

  6. Re:The future. by Timesprout · · Score: 3, Insightful

    Why will it be linux? From the article it appears ITRON has several considerable advantages over its competitors (I'm not sure how they can really be called competitors when ITRON is so dominant). It was designed for this purpose from the ground up and its opensource. With 3 Billion installs there cant be a whole lot wrong with it. Linux is not the be all and end all of operating systems.

    --
    Do not try to read the dupe, thats impossible. Instead, only try to realize the truth
    What truth?
    There is no dupe
  7. Re:What Is The Most Popular OS in the World? by kfg · · Score: 4, Insightful

    Until, of course, nearly every electronic device that you own that uses computer logic (CD player, car, TV, possibly even your internet connection) stops working.

    You've probably never heard of every amino acid you need either while picking up that two litre bottle of Mountain Dew.

    You'd still regret their absence.

    KFG

  8. Re:The future. by Lord_Slepnir · · Score: 5, Funny
    Linux is not the be all and end all of operating systems

    Blasphemy! Say 5 Hail Linus' and kiss the holy penguin!

  9. Is it an OS? by pe1chl · · Score: 5, Informative

    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.