COS (China Operating System)

Chinese operating system (China Operate System, referred to as: COS) is a by the Institute of Software, Chinese Academy of Sciences and Shanghai Alliance Tong Network Communications Technology Co., Ltd. jointly designed and developed operating system, on January 15, 2014 release in Beijing's Diaoyutai State Guesthouse, It claims that the system already has 100,000 applications. The system uses the Linux kernel to provide a user-level hardware abstraction layer, data layer and media layer, and supports multiple runtime environments. According to reports, the operating system has "China's completely independent intellectual property rights", the Chinese Academy of Sciences is intended to break the monopoly of the US series of manufacturers. According to the instructions in the official website, the system claims to be an open source operating system, supporting Java and HTML5 based applications.

Eighteen companies indicated that they are optimistic about the prospects of COS.

In China they continue with the purpose of creating a mobile operating system for the country, and although it is not the government directly responsible for creating it, it does have its blessing. Its name is COS. COS is based on Linux, and is being developed by the Development Institute of the Chinese Academy of Sciences (ISCAS), in collaboration with a company based in Shanghai called Liantong Network Communications Technology.

An operating system that was also listed as a “nuclear high-base” project, which is the COS (China Operating System) operating system under the banner of “China”. In 2014, it was jointly released by Shanghai Lianhe and the Chinese Academy of Sciences Software. Also claimed to have independent intellectual property rights. It can be applied to personal computers, smart handheld terminals, set-top boxes, smart home appliances and other fields.

But this is one of the most controversial operating systems. Some people say that COS is the technology of Shanghai to smuggle HTC, and then sold to the Chinese Academy of Sciences to defraud the state funds. Yuan Meng, a professor at Peking University, said that HTC deliberately provided technology to Shanghai Alliance, with the aim of improving HTC's sales in the mainland. In short, no matter which statement, COS can not get rid of the relationship with HTC.

In addition, the COS system still uses the Linux kernel, claiming that full independent research and development has caused a lot of controversy. The COS using the Linux kernel is still a closed source system, which may violate the GPL. Some people even suspect that COS has copied the Android system, but because it is not open source, there is no way to verify it.

When the COS system was just released, it announced that it has supported more than 100,000 applications, including WeChat, QQ, Alipay, etc., and has also cooperated with Huawei, ZTE, Coolpad and other mobile phones. But soon COS disappeared, as if it had never happened.

There is no information about possible partners, but it is rumored that HTC could be involved in this adventure, although from the Taiwanese company they have already reported that they will not make statements about it.

The intention is to present a proposal that breaks the monopoly of platforms created abroad, logically speaking about Android and the versions that are born from it. We also understand that they will want to ensure user safety, in addition to offering a better location. Despite being based on Linux, it cannot be considered open source, since the technology they have created above it is completely independent and proprietary, precisely for security reasons.

Do not close the doors to mobile phones, and COS also has space between tablets, portable devices, and even computers and set-top boxes. COS supports JAVA and HTML5 applications.

According to Liantong Network, both China Mobile and China Telecom have been testing COS for the past three months, and there are currently four phones marketed in China that have their COS version, but have not wanted to reveal the names.

China Operating System, or COS, is actually based on Android.This new Chinese operating system is intended for use on both smartphones and personal computersMany accuse it of being a simple custom copy.

In an event held at the Chinese Academy of Sciences, Shanghai Liantong NCT has unveiled the China Operating System (COS), the new Chinese operating system that the Asian government intends to install in most of the country's smartphones and personal computers.

During the presentation, according to the Quartz website, the head of the Software Division of the Chinese Academy of Sciences said that the intention is to "break the foreign monopoly in the software infrastructure."

Currently, most personal computers in China use Windows, while Android is installed in 90% of smartphones, with iOS reaching just under 10%, according to IDC.

COS intends to be installed on mobile phones, tablets, computers, and set-top boxes.

To justify the launch of this new operating system, the aforementioned member of the Chinese Academy of Sciences called iOS "closed ecosystem", while criticizing the well-known fragmentation of Android. He also complained that "Windows and Android are unsafe. Open source operating systems pose many risks, and foreign systems have acclimatization problems in China, issues that COS solves."

The official statement speaks of "an operating system developed entirely in China, including the code". He describes it as "a strategic product for national security."

According to Ars Technica, COS is based on Linux, works with Java applications, supports games and websites with HTML 5 and is compatible with more than 100,000 Android apps.

However, according to the first expert analysis, COS is far from being an operating system created from scratch.

Everything indicates that it is a customized version of Android where the parts of the code that facilitate spying or the collection of information, whether from apps, websites, or foreign spy agencies, have been removed.

In Chinese forums like Sina Weibo, ironically, some users call it Copy Other System, as it seems to clone different facets of other systems. For example, the app store, instead of Google Play, is called COS Play.

Other Chinese users argue that they will start using COS when Communist Party members leave their iPhone.

According to the experts of Ars Technica, it actually looks like a simple personalized layer of HTC Sense, as it clones many of its functions and icons, as can be seen in this comparison.

The truth is that after the revelations of the NSA spying, and the expiration of Windows XP, still widely used in China, the government of the Asian giant has accelerated the creation of its own operating system.

The intention is that it serves both mobile devices and desktop computers, with which you can establish the same iron control that you already exercise on the Internet or in the press, while closing the doors to espionage and information extraction.

Controversy

Tencent News questioned China’s claim of completely independent intellectual property rights. COS is a Unix-like operating system, and if it uses the Linux kernel or Android application layer to sell charges, it may be suspected of infringement.