 |
Rate This Article
Current Rating = 4.14
Click here to jump to a random Weeno article.
|
|
 |
|
|
Category: Computers & Technology
It is a nerd's dream come true!
But can it help you, the average person?
Internet on a floppy, considered a flight of fancy by some, is now a reality.
QNX Software Systems Ltd, a Canada based company, has created a POSIX microkernal real-time operating system.
What does that mean in English, you ask? It means that QNX has managed to fit a OS and all the software needed to get on the net on one 1.44 floppy!
This may not seem like much, until you compare what you need to get on the Internet otherwise.
If you are using Windows 98 (The industry standard) with Internet Explorer 5, you would
need:
486 DX/66
16 Megabytes of RAM
45 Megabytes of harddisk space to install, 27 after installation, for minimal install.
That is to RUN it. Now to run it well you need:
Pentium 100
32 megabytes of ram
111 Megabytes harddisk space for install, 80 Megabytes after installation, for maximum installation.
This is quite a bit of space and power, taking into the picture that Win98 itself needs more than that to run at an acceptable speed. Now with the QNX system you need:
386 or better
Color VGA
8 Megabytes of RAM
Modem
And a harddisk is NOT needed
As you can see, it is QUITE a difference. The QNX system may be paving the way to Internet appliances.
The Potential
If you don't know, an "Internet appliance" is a computer that is feigning to be something else.
For example, in the future you may go home, turn on the television, choose the program you want to watch from a listing of thousands, all indexed and searchable. Then you notice a new actor, so you say, "Who is the new actor?" The "Net-television" will recognize your voice, then look in its uplink to the net, going to the shows, page. Minimizing the show to a 5x5 inch box in the upper left corner, it displayed anything on the shows page that matches your search criteria. With another command, "Bring the show back up," the net-television will restore the show to its full size.
Now this may seem rather far fetched, but the technologies for it are already in existence. They only need to be refined and combined.
The small requirements of the QNX system allow you to get "more bang for your buck" so to speak. With that, you can choose only the parts of the system you NEED to use, and make it into a fast specialized system.
So in the TV system you would include the code for: speech recognition, Internet browser, TV signal decoder, and any miscellaneous parts. You would not even realize that it IS a computer, to you it would be the new TV.
Why?
Now you may be asking, "Why do we need something like the QNX system? Couldn't we use the computer systems like we have now?"
The reason we need a smaller, faster system than, say Windows 98, is it would not be cost effective. The requirements of raw power to run this system would make it slow and expensive. The QNX system is based on something called a "microkernal" while Windows 98 is based on something called a "macrokernal" I shall tell you the difference.
A "macrokernal" is a system that tries to do everything. They are very large, but very able.
They include everything you need to do anything, providing you know how to use them. Windows 98 is a good example of a "macrokernal" operating system. The disadvantage is that they are large and slow. Also if one part crashes, most likely the whole thing will.
A "microkernal" is a system is a bare bones system.
They provide ONLY enough to get the job done. They are small compact and specialized. The advantage is they are quite fast, and if one part crashes, the problem is isolated, and the system will go on. The disadvantage is that they provide no function other than what they were "compiled" to perform. The QNX Internet demo disk will ONLY surf the Internet.
I myself have used this product, it was simple to install. You place the floppy in the drive, turn on your computer, and enjoy the Internet.
The interface was simple, and the graphics surprisingly good. Now we can have use for all those older computers laying in storage in our school systems.
The Future
Now with this in mind, what do you think you can integrate into some household appliances. Does anything come to mind? How about an oven that stores recipes, and sets the proper temperature and baking time automatically? A car that gives directions? A refrigerator that can print out a shopping list? The possibilities are endless.
All the systems will have a computer with a specialized microkernal core. Already the technologies are emerging. Already their are cars that can display your exact position with a map. Police are using terminals that allow them an entire searchable index of wanted persons and other information in their cars. All we need to do is place the technologies together.
The idea is eliminate all systems not being used.
This creates space, and streamlines the system, increasing speed. With a microkernal, one can have only needed components. Anything extra can be loaded and unloaded on the fly, using "modules."
Modules are components that provide functionality to the system, while having the ability to load and unload on the fly. For example, you are doing some word processing and you decide that you want to load a piece of clip art from CD-ROM. You place the CD-ROM into the drive then you access the drive. But behind the scene the system loads the CD-ROM module, then when you are done accessing the drive, it unloads it. This way, you only have the parts of the system that you are using loaded.
With all of this in mind, you can see a great versatility available to the microkernal systems. I have four words to say about the QNX system, "Great taste, less filling!" Thank-you.
Other Articles in this Category
How to Treat Your Rechargable Batteries (For Longer Life)
by Arnold Kim
How to Quickly Get Through to Tech Support
by charles ma
How to Store Things on a Flash Card for a WinCE Palm-size PC
by Blake W Patterson
Introduction to Handheld Computers in Medicine
by Arnold
Intro to Voice Recognition Software
by Leslie Wood
More Than You Wanted to Know About Cordless Phones
by Gary Rimar
Other Sites
Storkin.com - Baby and
Pregnancy Tips and Discussion
iPhone Games at TouchArcade.com
iPhone Apps at AppShopper.com
Health Articles
Menopause
Symptoms
HIV/AIDS
Symptoms
West Nile
Symptoms
Diabetes
Symptoms
Pregnancy
Symptoms
Read other Articles -
click here.
|
|
|
