New idea: the future of mobile OS is Linux!

Who will be the future of mobile OS? I want to declare that my current views are different from those of the past. I bet the future mobile OS will definitely be Linux, not Symbian, Windows or other

Who will be the future of mobile OS? I want to declare that my current views are different from those of the past. I bet the future mobile operating system will definitely be Linux, not Symbian, Windows or other operating systems. I used to be a strong supporter of the Symbian system. I abandoned the Symbian system because he could not release his potential. So I seriously changed my support for the mobile operating system.

First of all, I have to say that my initial thoughts on Symbian have almost completely passed. The operating system received strong support from Nokia and other mobile phone manufacturers. in the past few years, Symbian has gained an overwhelming competitive advantage in terms of sales volume, he sold around 3000 million mobile phones. Although far below my expectation, it is much better than other mobile operating systems. Over the past few years, we can review the development history of the entire mobile industry and try to predict the development trends in the next few years. My intuition tells me that Linux will be the biggest winner. Although I stay in Silicon Valley where PC-centric is widely used, I am unwilling to compromise with the so-called "Silicon Valley thinking" in the future of mobile operating systems, I only see this trend based on some clues.

According to the latest information about the Nokia 770 series, this series of devices to be released will contain a large number of application functions, including VoIP software, streaming media, chat software, and Doom games. Surprisingly, the 770 series hardware configuration is basically the same as that of my 6680 Nokia mobile phone. However, the R & D speed of the 770 series is obviously faster. In addition, although this device has not yet been released, there are at least six blogs and their blog sites dedicated to this device, this shows the power of an open environment and the appeal of Linux to its fans.

This is also the main problem of the Symbian system: the environment support for developers. From the very beginning, the Symbian system platform was almost incomprehensible, not to mention development on it. A senior C ++ developer still needs to spend a lot of time understanding the odd ways of working in the Symbian operating system, and developers at other levels can only be discouraged. It also requires a Windows-based graphical development kit and a paid IDE development environment to manage code. Then, once developers encounter problems, they do not know where to look for the answer, so they are lucky to go to Symbian.com, Nokia, and carrier websites.

This Is probably because no one tells Symbian the truth: "User Interface Is the OS "). Think about it. if the difference between the UIQ in the 60 series and the UIQ in the 90 series is similar to the difference between the UIQ in the FreeBSD series and the OSX in the Linux and MacOS series, this puts a lot of pressure on developers. In the end, even if a Symbian application is developed, the device's path to the market is not smooth. I don't know how many Symbian applications The operator can download from The Air (Over The Air: OTA. I may be wrong about this, but even if there is, this number is very low. All of these factors add up to the conclusion that Symbian-based applications are costly and highly risky for a company, and most people are reluctant to take the risk.

Even if Linux does not solve all these problems, it solves many of them. First, he is free, and he has a development environment familiar to programmers. Secondly, although the released versions are different (taking mongoinux of Montavista and Debian of 770 as an example), their core programming methods are very similar, now, Debian programmers will not be confused after turning to Linux, and the development community will not be stuck in the quagmire of a small number of manufacturers' sites. they can get help in many parts of the Linux world. Finally, developing on Linux is more interesting than developing on Symbian. I have heard of the painful experiences of many developers who develop mobile phones in Symbian, which is enough to explain the problem.

What happens to Microsoft and Mobile Windows platforms? I know that with the help of companies like Palm, Windows is moving faster and faster in the enterprise market, and Palm will soon launch Mobile Windows-based Treo. In my opinion, there are no better companies than Microsoft in developer-oriented companies. The free-to-subscribe MSDN can introduce every product to you and include many documents. However, Microsoft still has an old problem that has plagued him for many years in the mobile field, that is, he lacks support from manufacturers and operators. I can see that Linux has exceeded Windows in the mobile device market. But in general, dealing with Microsoft is like dealing with the devil, and the recent Sendo is an example (note: Sendo has stolen the company's technology and staff with Microsoft, to bring Microsoft to the U.S. Local Court ). Speaking of the mobile market, orders from operators and manufacturers are critical. I don't think Microsoft has many opportunities in this field. At the same time, this is why Symbian can go so far.

But now I can see that the future window of Symbian is slowly closed, and it is completely closed. They have been improving their platform for more than two years, but the platform problem persists. what I can say is that all people I come into contact with (including on the Internet) are very disappointed with him, it is believed that Symbian, as a platform, has reached its peak, and everyone is expected to have a replacement. In contrast to Linux, he is free and has no strategic tax like Microsoft, and he is receiving support from more and more development communities. Mobile Linux is on the rise (since PalmSource purchased China MobileSoft), Motorola and Yahoo are fighting side by side to provide services on the coming Linux Mobile phone, even Nokia seems to be working on this, coupled with the surprising growth momentum of Linux.

Let's look back and discuss the following issues: opening up the market. To put it simply, it doesn't mean that Linux can overcome these difficulties like magic, but Linux is a good or better platform to run Java. Java is the ruler in the mobile application field. Carriers need more attractive applications to improve their ARPUs data, so they will find a platform that provides more innovation and buy mobile phones with those platforms from manufacturers. The market is no longer in need of naive applications, and it will take a few years. when conditions are met, the market will need a platform that can be easily developed, and Linux is such a platform. Until they can talk about all the potential of Linux and create a Linux phone, which will be a smart phone with a multitasking operating system, he can even let manufacturers and operators develop customized applications on their own, but now the true core advantage of Linux is still to be developed.

Back from the market, let's look at the manufacturer's attitude. I have started to see manufacturers talking more about free wireless Access (Unlicense Mobile Access: UMA). through free wireless Access, manufacturers can see local WIFI and new technologies like WiMAX, wibro builds an ever-growing wireless network.

Although it seems to me that it takes more than a decade for these devices to reach the number of users required by cellular mobile phones, they have recently begun to have an impact on traditional wireless cellular networks. Two years ago, I didn't need a Wi-Fi phone, but now I can clearly see the impact of WIFI. Two years later, I think the most expensive smart phone (equivalent to my current Nokia6680) will be able to access WiFi and there will be an open platform. This platform may be Windows or Linux, but not Symbian. There is no other way on the mobile development platform to be as competitive as the two mobile operating systems for developers.

The future development of Linux may encounter some obstacles. You can never predict what will happen in the future, just as Apple can push an amazing iPhone, making the market completely change overnight. However, what is happening in the industry is about to continue. Now, I use the Symbian mobile phone and use it as a platform to recommend it to people looking for the best smartphone, but after 12 months, I can expect a Linux-based phone to enter my world. In the next few years, he will become the standard.