Do most embedded projects still need an RTOS? It’s a good question, given the speed of today’s high-performance processors and the availability of realtime patches for Linux[], Windows, and other general-purpose operating systems (GPOSs).

Together, the speed of today’s high-performance processors and realtime patches for general-purpose OSs appear to have reopened the question of whether embedded systems still need an RTOS. The answer hasn’t changed: the guarantees only a true RTOS can offer on relatively low-end processors mean that these OSs are here to stay in embedded environments.