| Developer | Sun Microsystems |
|---|---|
| Written in | Java |
| OS family | Java |
| Working state | Discontinued |
| Source model | Closed source |
| Initial release | May 29, 1996 |
| Latest release | Final / August 23, 1999 |
| Available in | English |
| Platforms | ARM, PowerPC, SPARC, IA-32 (x86) |
| Kernel type | Microkernel |
| License | Proprietary |
JavaOS is a discontinued [1] operating system based on a Java virtual machine. It was originally developed by Sun Microsystems. [2] Unlike Windows, macOS, Unix, or Unix-like systems which are primarily written in the C programming language, JavaOS is primarily written in Java. It is now considered a legacy system. [3]
The Java programming language was introduced by Sun in May 1995. Jim Mitchell and Peter Madany at JavaSoft designed a new operating system, codenamed Kona, written completely in Java. In March 1996, Tom Saulpaugh joined the now seven-person Kona team to design an input/output (I/O) architecture, having come from Apple as Macintosh system software engineer since June 1985 and co-architect of Copland. [4] : XI–XIII
JavaOS was first evangelized in a Byte article. [5] In 1996, JavaSoft's official product announcement described the compact OS designed to run "in anything from net computers to pagers". [2] In early 1997, JavaSoft transferred JavaOS to SunSoft. In late 1997, Bob Rodriguez led the team to collaborate with IBM who then marketed the platform, accelerated development, and made significant key architectural contributions to the next release of JavaOS, eventually renamed JavaOS for Business. [4] : XI–XIII [6] IBM indicated its focus was more on network computer thin clients, specifically to replace traditional IBM 3270 "green screen" and Unix X terminals, and to implement single application clients. [7]
The Chorus distributed real-time operating system was used for its microkernel technology. [4] : XIII This began with Chorus Systèmes SA, a French company, licensing JavaOS from Sun and replacing the earlier JavaOS hardware abstraction layer with the Chorus microkernel, [8] thereby creating the Chorus/Jazz product, which was intended to allow Java applications to run in a distributed, real-time embedded system environment. [9] Then in September 1997, it was announced that Sun Microsystems was acquiring Chorus Systèmes SA. [10]
In 1999, Sun and IBM announced the discontinuation of the JavaOS product. [1] As early as 2003, Sun materials referred to JavaOS as a "legacy technology", recommending migration to Java ME, leaving the choice of specific OS and Java environment to the implementer.[ citation needed ]
JavaOS is based on a hardware architecture native microkernel, running on platforms including ARM, PowerPC, SPARC, StrongARM, and IA-32 (x86). The Java virtual machine runs on the microkernel. All device drivers are written in Java and executed by the virtual machine. A graphics and windowing system implementing the Abstract Window Toolkit (AWT) application programming interface (API) is also written in Java. [4] [ page needed ]
JavaOS was designed to run on embedded systems and has applications in devices such as set-top boxes, computer networking infrastructure, and automated teller machines (ATMs). It comes with the JavaStation.[ citation needed ]
JavaSoft granted licenses to more than 25 manufacturers, including Oracle, Acer, Xerox, Toshiba, and Nokia. IBM and Sun announced the cooperation for JavaOS for Business at the end of March 1998. [3]
In computer science, a microkernel is the near-minimum amount of software that can provide the mechanisms needed to implement an operating system (OS). These mechanisms include low-level address space management, thread management, and inter-process communication (IPC).
A monolithic kernel is an operating system architecture where the entire operating system is working in kernel space. The monolithic model differs from other operating system architectures in that it alone defines a high-level virtual interface over computer hardware. A set of primitives or system calls implement all operating system services such as process management, concurrency, and memory management. Device drivers can be added to the kernel as modules.
An operating system (OS) is system software that manages computer hardware and software resources, and provides common services for computer programs.
Sun Microsystems, Inc. was an American technology company that sold computers, computer components, software, and information technology services and created the Java programming language, the Solaris operating system, ZFS, the Network File System (NFS), and SPARC microprocessors. Sun contributed significantly to the evolution of several key computing technologies, among them Unix, RISC processors, thin client computing, and virtualized computing. Notable Sun acquisitions include Cray Business Systems Division, Storagetek, and Innotek GmbH, creators of VirtualBox. Sun was founded on February 24, 1982. At its height, the Sun headquarters were in Santa Clara, California, on the former west campus of the Agnews Developmental Center.
Network File System (NFS) is a distributed file system protocol originally developed by Sun Microsystems (Sun) in 1984, allowing a user on a client computer to access files over a computer network much like local storage is accessed. NFS, like many other protocols, builds on the Open Network Computing Remote Procedure Call system. NFS is an open IETF standard defined in a Request for Comments (RFC), allowing anyone to implement the protocol.
A computing platform, digital platform, or software platform is an environment in which software is executed. It may be the hardware or the operating system (OS), a web browser and associated application programming interfaces, or other underlying software, as long as the program code is executed using the services provided by the platform. Computing platforms have different abstraction levels, including a computer architecture, an OS, or runtime libraries. A computing platform is the stage on which computer programs can run.
This article presents a timeline of events in the history of computer operating systems from 1951 to the current day. For a narrative explaining the overall developments, see the History of operating systems.
The Network Computer was a diskless desktop computer device made by Oracle Corporation from about 1996 to 2000. The devices were designed and manufactured by an alliance, which included Sun Microsystems, IBM, and others. The devices were designed with minimum specifications, based on the Network Computer Reference Profile. The brand was also employed as a marketing term to try to popularize this design of computer within enterprise and among consumers.
Inferno is a distributed operating system started at Bell Labs and now developed and maintained by Vita Nuova Holdings as free software under the MIT License. Inferno was based on the experience gained with Plan 9 from Bell Labs, and the further research of Bell Labs into operating systems, languages, on-the-fly compilers, graphics, security, networking and portability. The name of the operating system, many of its associated programs, and that of the current company, were inspired by Dante Alighieri's Divine Comedy. In Italian, Inferno means "hell", of which there are nine circles in Dante's Divine Comedy.
Write once, run anywhere (WORA), or sometimes Write once, run everywhere (WORE), was a 1995 slogan created by Sun Microsystems to illustrate the cross-platform benefits of the Java language. Ideally, this meant that a Java program could be developed on any device, compiled into standard bytecode, and be expected to run on any device equipped with a Java virtual machine (JVM). The installation of a JVM or Java interpreter on chips, devices, or software packages became an industry standard practice.
Workplace OS is IBM's ultimate operating system prototype of the 1990s. It is the product of an exploratory research program in 1991 which yielded a design called the Grand Unifying Theory of Systems (GUTS), proposing to unify the world's systems as generalized personalities cohabitating concurrently upon a universally sophisticated platform of object-oriented frameworks upon one microkernel. Developed in collaboration with Taligent and its Pink operating system imported from Apple via the AIM alliance, the ambitious Workplace OS was intended to improve software portability and maintenance costs by aggressively recruiting all operating system vendors to convert their products into Workplace OS personalities. In 1995, IBM reported that "Nearly 20 corporations, universities, and research institutes worldwide have licensed the microkernel, laying the foundation for a completely open microkernel standard." At the core of IBM's new unified strategic direction for the entire company, the project was intended also as a bellwether toward PowerPC hardware platforms, to compete with the Wintel duopoly.
ChorusOS is a microkernel real-time operating system designed as a message passing computing model. ChorusOS began as the Chorus distributed real-time operating system research project at the French Institute for Research in Computer Science and Automation (INRIA) in 1979. During the 1980s, Chorus was one of two earliest microkernels and was developed commercially by startup company Chorus Systèmes SA. Over time, development effort shifted away from distribution aspects to real-time for embedded systems.
The IBM RT PC is a family of workstation computers from IBM introduced in 1986. These were the first commercial computers from IBM that were based on a reduced instruction set computer (RISC) architecture. The RT PC uses IBM's proprietary ROMP microprocessor, which commercialized technologies pioneered by IBM Research's 801 experimental minicomputer. The RT PC runs three operating systems: AIX, the Academic Operating System (AOS), and Pick.
The following is a timeline of virtualization development. In computing, virtualization is the use of a computer to simulate another computer. Through virtualization, a host simulates a guest by exposing virtual hardware devices, which may be done through software or by allowing access to a physical device connected to the machine.
A web desktop or webtop is a desktop environment embedded in a web browser or similar client application. A webtop integrates web applications, web services, client–server applications, application servers, and applications on the local client into a desktop environment using the desktop metaphor. Web desktops provide an environment similar to that of Windows, Mac, or a graphical user interface on Unix and Linux systems. It is a virtual desktop running in a web browser. In a webtop the applications, data, files, configuration, settings, and access privileges reside remotely over the network. Much of the computing takes place remotely. The browser is primarily used for display and input purposes.
The kernel is a computer program at the core of a computer's operating system and generally has complete control over everything in the system. The kernel is also responsible for preventing and mitigating conflicts between different processes. It is the portion of the operating system code that is always resident in memory and facilitates interactions between hardware and software components. A full kernel controls all hardware resources via device drivers, arbitrates conflicts between processes concerning such resources, and optimizes the utilization of common resources e.g. CPU & cache usage, file systems, and network sockets. On most systems, the kernel is one of the first programs loaded on startup. It handles the rest of startup as well as memory, peripherals, and input/output (I/O) requests from software, translating them into data-processing instructions for the central processing unit.
Chorus Systèmes SA was a French software company that existed from 1986 to 1997, that was created to commercialise research work done at the Institut national de recherche en informatique et en automatique (INRIA). Its primary product was the Chorus distributed microkernel operating system, created at a time when microkernel technology was thought to have great promise for the future of operating systems. As such Chorus was in the middle of many strategic partnerships regarding Unix and related systems. The firm was acquired by Sun Microsystems in 1997.
{{cite book}}: External link in |others=JavaOS uses a small memory footprint, yet its network-centric design lets it access large-scale services
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