Bruce Horn wrote in message ...
I've been wondering...

What underlying OS do the various glass panels (Avidyne, Garmin, etc.)
use? It might actually make me think twice about buying a particular
system if I knew that (for example) it was Windows underneath.

I would think that the glass panel folks would be using one of the
real-time OS's that are designed for industrial applications, but I
don't know for a fact.

If I recall correctly, the MX-20 MFD runs on a version of Win NT. The
Garmin 430/530 uses a proprietary OS.

I believe a lot of the displays use versions of embedded real time
operating systems (RTOS) that are versions of Linux. These aren't
your standard Red Hat versions, but are purchased from companies that
line test the OS and provide support. The OS can be documented to
comply with RTCA DO-178B requirements. One of the vendors is TimeSys,
and I think their OS is called Integrity. The cost of the support
consists of annual seat licenses for the developer. The benefit is
that the software is free. No licensing fee on a per-unit basis.

Another popular OS is VxWorks. It is supposed to be a good OS, but
there are licensing fees associated.