JavaOS

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JavaOS
Company/
developer
Sun Microsystems
Supported platforms ARM, PowerPC, SPARC, x86
Working state Discontinued

JavaOS is an operating system with a Java virtual machine as a fundamental component. It is developed by Sun Microsystems. Unlike Windows, Mac OS, Unix or Unix-like systems which are primarily written in the C programming language, JavaOS is primarily written in Java.

As of 2006, Sun considers JavaOS a legacy system.

Contents

[edit] Design

The system is based on a hardware architecture native microkernel. The Java virtual machine runs on top of the microkernel.

Platforms that the kernel runs on include:

All device drivers are written in Java and executed by the virtual machine.

A graphics and windowing system, implementing the AWT API is also written in Java.

[edit] Applications

JavaOS was designed to run on embedded systems and has applications in devices such as set top boxes, networking infrastructure and ATMs. It's also the operating system that comes with the JavaStation.

[edit] Future

Sun now officially considers JavaOS a legacy system and recommends migration to Java ME.[1] This by itself however is not a full replacement, as Java ME is an API specification, which runs on top of an operating system, and is not an operating system in itself.

[edit] See also

[edit] References

  1. ^ entry on JavaOS. CDC FAQ. Retrieved on October 11, 2006.

[edit] External links