Which RTOS is Ahead?
Allen, thank you for your critique of Windows CE. I agree with all of
the points that you are making about Windows CE's *current* limitations. Here are a few data points that I would like to add to this dicussion of which embedded Real Time OS (RTOS) is winning the war.
A survey of what the marketplace is actually asking and paying for in
terms of RTOS programmers with a specific RTOS background thru the help wanted (software engineer) ad's of Deja News shows the following trend:
RTOS Q3/1995 <--> Q3/1996
VxWorks 23% <--> 27%
pSOS 30% <--> 32%
QNX 13% <--> 3%
VRTX 20% <--> 12%
OS/9 13% <--> 9%
Windows NT 2% <--> 17%
Total Ad's 922 <--> 1768
From this survey it looks like pSOS is ahead of VxWorks (32% to 27%)
or 566 ads to 477 ads. (Sorry my nice chart doesn't paste into this
input box very well).
However, note the percentage change in WindowsNT; from almost
nothing 1 year ago it has passed QNX, VRTX, and OS/9.
The question ISI and WindRiver might might want to ask themselves
is: are they fighting over who is sitting in first class and who is
sitting in business class on TWA Flight 800. OS/9, QNX and VRTX look
like they have settled comfortably into coach.
One could argue that these companies (ISI, WindRiver and
MicroWare) have survivied in a Microsoft vacuum. That is they've
never had to compete with Microsoft on Motorola 68000 CPU's and in
other embedded processor markets in which they've had a chance
to grow. I bet if you ask them which CPU market they like
the least the answer would be x86. The x86 market looks like
it is extremely competive with many small niche companies and
the Microsoft alternatives (DOS, Windows NT/95). Could this be the future for the rest of the embedded market?
From this week's Info Week Magazine (Front Page story about Windows CE):
"Version 2 of the Pocket Internet Explorer will include support
for ActiveX as well as Java applets, according to Keith Amodt, OEM
product manager in Microsoft's consumer appliance group."
also From James D. Floyd, hand-held product manager at Microsoft:
"There will be more devices [running WIndows CE] than just
handhelds", Microsoft's Floyd said.
Floyd listed products such as smart phones, smart pages, digital
video disc media, and electronic controls for automobiles.
When Microsoft first released Windows v1.0, back in the '80's
who would have guessed that it would today be pushing Novell
and Unix onto the rocks. Microsoft's creeping functionality
and massive marketing campaign might come to bear on the embedded
market. One day in the future we might be comparing this first
version of Windows CE to the the lastest version of CE the way
you today compare Windows v1.0 to Windows NT. They basically
share the same name, but little else.
I seemed to remember reading an article in the Wall Street
Journal or some other business publication where the founder's of
MicroWare said Bill Gates & Microsoft had once tried to buy
them out sometime in the '80's. Remember, this is before anyone
was really talking about embedded systems etc. I don't believe
Bill Gates is interested in buying out any of these RTOS companies
any longer. Federal anti-trust considerations perhaps being a deterent. From all of this Windows CE press it looks like he's determined to attack the embedded market with his own solutions.
How many companies have thrived in a Microsoft software environment?
(Digital Research, Lotus, Borland, Ashton-Tate, Wordperfect,
SCO, IBM[OS/2], Novell............)
Location, Location, Location. That's the mantra of the
real estate market. In the software business some would say
it's - Standards, Standards, Standards. Who set's the software
standards?
Cheers,
Dave |
