Poll finds for Android, Chrome OS, MeeGo
Microsoft might be "all in" on tablets, but it's Linux that will dominate this new category of device, according to latest research.
ABI Research reckons Linux-powered non-smartphone mobile devices will comprise 62 per cent of operating systems by 2015.
Google's Android and Chrome OS will lead the way, followed by the joint Intel and Nokia MeeGo effort and the now-Hewlett-Packard-owned Palm webOS.
Driving Linux on mobile will be the fact each Linux distro uses the Linux kernel with a unified based of upstream components that developers, ISVs, and hardware providers can tap.
ABI senior analyst Victoria Fodale said in a statement. "The number of Linux-oriented initiatives recently seen in the mobile industry indicates that Linux will be a key technology in the next generation of netbooks, media tablets, and other mobile devices."
If ABI's right, it will translate into an interesting inversion of the current state of play in computing, which favors Windows on the PC and server.
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