Mini-ITX

A mini-ITX based system can literally run any operating system. For those addicted to Windows, yes, you can run Windows. However, for much better reliability and stability, I recommend either good old DOS or Linux.

Linux in an embedded system? Are you crazy?

Nope, Dr. Tak is not crazy. I have worked on jobs where Linux was used as the OS of an embedded system. But doesn't Linux require lots of memory and disk space?

The answer is yes, and no. A stripped down version of Linux (with minimal stripping and no kernel hacking) can run with 8MB of RAM and 8MB of flash memory. Of course, how much memory is needed depends greatly on what features are needed as well as the nature of the embedded application. With memory prices at 128MB for US$25 and disk-on-chip at 32MB for US$20, there is no problem sizing up.

Don't forget, Linux comes with many features. If you can fit a small hard drive into the system, you can easily run a database server, a web server, the whole TCP/IP stack and whatever you want to run that's available to a desktop Linux system. Yes, that includes X windows and all kinds of applications that come with X windows.

For those who have hard real-time requirements, you can run QNX and most other real-time operating systems with a mini-ITX. If you don't want to pay lots of money, you can also run RTLinux, a real-time variant of Linux.

In other words, with a mini-ITX motherboard, there is no limit as to what operating system you can run.