JavaOS is an operating system with a Java virtual machine as a fundamental component. It is developed by Sun Microsystems. As Unix or Unix-like systems are primarily written in the C programming language, JavaOS is primarily written in the Java programming language.

Microkernel

The system is based on a hardware architecture native microkernel.

Platforms that the kernel runs on include

• ARM
• PowerPC
• RISC
• SPARC
• StrongARM
• x86

Virtual machine

The Java virtual machine runs on the microkernel.

Drivers

All device drivers are written in Java and executed by the virtual machine.

Windowing system

A graphics and windowing system, implementing the AWT API is also written in Java.

Applications

JavaOS was designed to run on embedded systems and has applications in devices such as set top boxes, networking infastructure and ATMs.

External links

• Inside the IBM JavaOS Project
• JavaOS Architecture presentation from Sun
• JNode - An active project on creating an operating system, written almost entirely in Java, that runs Java programs natively.