Operating systems seem to have received more attention these days than they have ever before, and while there are numerous available discussion points, in relation to new versions of these operating systems, one of the biggest trends that has been fascinating to watch is how people are switching operating systems like crazy.

When it comes to file systems, Linux® is the Swiss Army knife of operating systems. Linux supports a large number of file systems, from journaling to clustering to cryptographic. Linux is a wonderful platform for using standard and more exotic file systems and also for developing file systems.

LINUX FILE SYSTEMS are an essential operating system resource. Modern file systems and disk drive technology are robust and reliable — so, most administrators put little effort into planning or worrying about them once the operating system is configured. This makes me both smile and cringe.

OpenSynergy is readying a Linux-based "car operating system" and an Intel Atom-based evaluation board for automobile infotainment systems. The COQOS platform aims to let Linux-based infotainment applications and AUTOSAR-compliant telematics modules share the same system-on-chip processor, which is virtualized by a "micro operating system" (μOS) layer.

Linux continues to innovate in the area of file systems. It supports the largest variety of file systems of any operating system. It also provides cutting-edge file system technology. Two new file systems that are making their way into Linux include the NiLFS(2) log-structured file system and the exofs object-based storage system.

Apple's OS X, which has been an official certified Unix system for some time now, is often installed onto Internet-exposed or intranet-only Web servers for serving up dynamic content. I've worked with such configurations for a couple of years, and with GNU/Linux alternatives for even longer. There are at least three reasons why GNU/Linux systems do the job better.

Anti-virus software has become a critical aspect of computing at all levels. Although to this point it seems the only operating system that is really targeted by viruses is Microsoft Windows, the time will come when UNIX-based operating systems will be equally as marked.

What about "Linux under the hood"? By that I mean, what about the virtues of embedded Linux systems? What about Linux running "in everything from cell phones to car ABS systems and water-filtration plants..."? That's what Yaghmour, et al proposes to teach you in this book.

A vendor of high-end test and measurement equipment for the semiconductor fabrication market has switched to Linux. Keithley Instruments said its S600 Series Parametric Test Systems are more stable and have a longer service life, now that their embedded control computer runs Linux instead of Solaris.