US software giant Microsoft will tie up with a Japanese non-profit group to develop next generation operating systems for everything from refrigerators to mobile phones. The tie-up would enable appliances, cars and other gadgets worldwide that operate on the group's free TRON operating system to eventually work like personal computers.
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Will this companies never learn? Microsoft cannot be trusted, first is all nice and sweet, then comes the stranglement and boom!. Another extension of M$ monoploy.
When the age comes of putting OSs on appliances, phones I can understand, but fridges that is stupid.
It's sad to see these days, but I guess it's true what they say we are all greedy bastards looking to get more of a cut than others. It's really just business IBM or Dell anyone else would want to make a similar deal just to screw em over in the end.
Take a look at this - http://slashdot.org/articles/03/07/16/1521208.shtml?tid=185&tid=190
Microsoft/U.S. goverment used trade rules (Super 301) to block it adoption by schools in Japan. And now TRON is actually co-operating with them ? Will they never learn ?
They are continuously improving their products. They cut their prices (Win 2k3, local administration, large customers...) and are innovating in several markets (console games, PDA, Tablet PC...)
What do you expect from Microsoft ?
Those people reacting this way on MS have a tunnelview; I don't think anyone in the world will be able to broaden their horizons.
Sounds like a sekt, doesn't it??
<< The group will make the source code for T-Kernel available in November, Mr Yamada said. >>
Does this mean that TRON is going to be open-source? This could mean good things for the Mono project if so...
Also, yeah... browsers in the fridge? I think not.
There MAY BE a need for Internet access in the kitchen, but it won't be on the door of my refrigerator, EVER.
The kitchen needs Internet access about as much as any other room in the house does if that's where you like to do your work and cook at the same time. Next to the stove or on the microwave, yes. But the fridge????
A networked microwave sounds pretty cool, but who needs it?
Microsoft has enough resources to develop real-time operating systems for small platform devices by itself. Isn't that what Windows CE is?
This sounds like another market-share grab by Microsoft at the expence of a smaller tech firm.
Vic
Contacting them.
http://www.na.assoc.tron.org/
TRON Association North American Liaison Office
Accelerated Technology,
Embedded Systems Division of Mentor Graphics
720 Oak Circle Drive East
Mobile AL 36609
Phone: (251) 661-5770
Fax: (251) 661-5788
Email: na_info@assoc.tron.org
Web Site: www.na.tron.assoc.org
TRON Association
5F Katsuta Bld.
1-3-39 Mita Minato-ku
Tokyo 108-0073 JAPAN
Phone: +81-3-3454-3191
Fax: +81-3-3454-3224
Web Site: www.assoc.tron.org
"but fridges that is stupid"
Actually, people probably said the same thing about phones 10-20 years ago. I can already think about many uses for a smart Fridge. When all grossary items have Radio tags, you would be able to quickly inventory what you have in the fridge, what is expired, what is going to expire, and with an integrated lighting system, where in the fridge they are located. Heck, it can even email you stuff you might want to purchase and which grocerry stores have them on sale.
"Heck, it can even email you stuff you might want to purchase and which grocerry stores have them on sale."
I don't think you're going to win any arguments by saying that receiving spam is a benefit 
..are innovating in several markets
This word you use, "innovate" I do not think it means what you think it means.
I read a few months back that TRON was going to be retooled with a Linux kernel as a core, but retaining legacy TRON support thru emulation and such. What if this is still the case, and MS is going to use a Wine-like emulation on top of an upcoming TRON/Linux kernel? Probably not though, MS is probably doing this to kill a TRON/Linux possibility, and more likely wants to add on a Pocket PC compatibility layer.
These are exciting times for OS's.
Microsoft will offer a WinCE kernel with a TRON compatibility layer on top of it. There will be a big announcement, with lots of smiling guys in suits talking about how their company is committed to use it in their embedded projects. Five years later, their companies are shipping products using an evolutionary descendant of "original" TRON.
If you are reading this in 2008, please let me know how I did 
"..are innovating in several markets
This word you use, "innovate" I do not think it means what you think it means."
I think he knows better than some people who think that Linux is innovative, that is an OS that plagiarize his *nix ancestor for the internal, and plagiarize Windows on the surface.
Linux did not bring any innovation. Windows bring a few.
Your point might have come out clearer if you compared company to company, or product to product, rather than company to product.
The tie-up would enable appliances, cars and other gadgets worldwide that operate on the group's free TRON operating system to eventually work like personal computers.
<P>
I guess they'll have to tie us up. I certainly don't want my appliances, vehicles, usw to work like a pc with MS's malware.
"I think he knows better than some people who think that Linux is innovative,"
I think it's sad that instead of countering any points of what is or is not innovative with either operating system, you just resort to yelling "because!". If you have any particular instances of Microsoft innovating, actually stating them will make a case for your argument. Starting out from a faulty premise as basis for your attack on another operating system not being innovative makes you seem like you have no idea what you're talking about with either. As with your point of "One program which runs on an OS is not innovative, therefore nothing in the operating system itself, and all other programs for it are also not innovative".
He he. Well at least the entire plan comes with an MCP.
Hey Martha, the fridge has a virus again.....
I believe that Tron is BSD-like...I looked it up when /. posted it a while back. So there are free versions [the original in the 80's] but most versions in actual use are not-free. I have a feeling this will be a repeat of Kerberos! That was BSD, and MS used the usual "Embrace, Extend, Extinguish" [Reg TM MS corp. patent pending] to twist it just enough that you still have to choose MS for best results, or have to get in and tweak the MS to be "compatible".
They looked like such nice little guys too....oh well...make a deal with the devil and that's what happens. It's not like everyone doesn't know by now...gotta learn the hard way!
Ohhh, good. ctrl+alt+delete just to open my fridge :/
And YES, I understand that it can be usefull to have my fridge on the Net, Maybe just to notify me if a fuse or something else is broken. But I CAN'T beleive my eyes when I see ppl REALLY belive in MS doing this.
Furthermore. I have seen a bluescreen on my local...hmm what is it called internationally.... ATM Box? Where you are getting money from your own account by the help of a credit card. I mean, BLUESCREEN. Ohh, how nice to have my money in that place......
I like the idea of embedded toilet browsers. Too bad microsoft "dumped" that venture.
so trno will be swept under the carpet to be replaced with a windows ce version. joy. 
i think i will avoid any microwaevs with 'windows inside' stickers on it.
Is it an OS?
A kernel?
What benefit does this give MS?
What benefit does this give the creators of TRON?
I don't understand anything from that article.
new meaning to the phrase "Windows Froze on me"
When all grossary items have Radio tags, you would be able to quickly inventory what you have in the fridge, what is expired, what is going to expire, and with an integrated lighting system, where in the fridge they are located. Heck, it can even email you stuff you might want to purchase and which grocerry stores have them on sale.
People are already getting more and more lazy everyday... and you want to make their life even easier?
That is a completely retarded idea to me. It would probably turn people in drolling zombie slaves. Then again, I guess I'm just too conservative for computerising my whole life (even if I'm only 20).
AFAIK, it is just a whitepaper describing the outlines and structure of a conceptual OS. There are several implementations of it, depending of the intended use, from things like DVDs to full desktop OSs.
As others have touched on, Microsoft really doesn't know how to behave in a cooperative situation. I believe they will get frustrated by attempting to cooperate with the TRON people and will eventually take all their ideas and aggressively market some wonderful "TRON-compatible" embedded OS (maybe a TRON based WinCE)... the original developers of TRON will be shut out, and the product will come under the Microsoft umbrella.
History has shown us this type of behaviour over and over again.
TRON's strength lies in it's standalone stablility. I hardly think that anyone would want a TRON comapatibility layer on CE other than Microsoft themselves. TRON is more widely used than MS-Windows, so they see an untapped market to abuse. This won't in any way help their case with the US DOJ. Let 'em drown in it
TRON stands for "The Realtime Operating System Nucleus" and uITRON stands for micro-industrial. Both are specs similar to POSIX, POSIX 1003.1b (realtime) and POSIX 1003.1c (threads).
All the embedded OS in Japan is written according to uITRON specs. All the embedded OS in the US (QNX, LynxOS and VxWorks) are written according to POSIX specs.
POSIX is an IEEE spec. TRON is not.
The (formerly) RedHat eCos embedded OS has good uITRON compatibility, but have very limited POSIX compatibility --- which makes it useless in North America.
"that is an OS that plagiarize his *nix ancestor for the internal, and plagiarize Windows on the surface."
Let's see. The first versions of windows were based on DOS witch was copied from Unix with an interface copied from MacOS. Then there's Exchange from IMAP, then the IE browser from Netscape the Active directory from LDAP all the while copying softwares from all over the place and integrating them for free in their OS in order to kill the original developpers as a corporate strategie to keep the market cornered while pretending that it was just an attempt to make their software "better"...
"You really want to call THAT innovation?!!
Thom, you do not see any problems with having a single company holding a monopoly over the OS and Office suites markets, and using that monopoly to gain unfair advantages over competitors?
As our society becomes more and more integrated with technology, no company should have that kind of power.
sam wrote:
> All the embedded OS in Japan is written according to uITRON specs. All the embedded OS in the US (QNX, LynxOS and VxWorks) are written according to POSIX specs.
Can someone please point me to an introduction for profanes about what is POSIX, how it influences OS designs or how OSs relate to/depend on it and, ultimately, how other standards differ from POSIX?
POSIX doesn't influence OS design at all. It only defined in terms of API interfaces, not actually how those interfaces are implemented.
A POSIX compliant OS can be a monolithic kernel (various UNIX) or it can be a microkernel (QNX).
Well, this isn't April 1. So, either Sakamura had one round too many of sake with his friends or some yakuzas sold him too much crack.
Do these guys want to turn most appliances into Windows malware carriers ?
Why not internet on the door of my toilet ... oh wait!