Operating system issues in future end-user systems

Traditional monolithic operating systems have conceptually remained almost unchanged since the UNIX, that is, since the late 70s. Several experimental operating systems from the research community have been based on alternative paradigms. Today we are facing the dawn of mobile or wireless Internet. This new operational environment calls for new solutions. We discuss four significant research issues for future end-user systems: self-awareness, detection and notifications, system integrity, and power management. A paradigm shift in operating system design, as demonstrated in x-kernel, microkernels, exokernels, and TinyOS, can help us to lay the software foundation for reconfigurable end-user systems