For some time now, rumors (or more than rumors) have been circulating that tell us about a Huawei operating system other than Android. The first chapter of this soap opera was written by Donald Trump, president of the United States, when he vetoed the Asian giant and the company could not add Google services to its devices. At that time, Huawei began to evaluate alternatives and today they have revealed which one they have opted for: it is called HarmonyOS And, initially, it doesn't sound bad at all.
They have done it in the HDC2019, where they have said very interesting things. Where to start? I think the first thing to say is that, like Android, HarmonyOS will be Linux based. The CEO of Huawei Mobile has also told us that it will be open source, which will result in a better and faster development and any user with the necessary knowledge will be able to help correct any fault that is found. If all this seems little to you, there are still more interesting things.
HarmonyOS will be available on all types of smart devices
HarmonyOS will be on all kinds of smart devices like mobiles, tablets, cars, watches and even computers. It has been developed with the idea that it works on any type of device, regardless of the size and shape of its screen. The operating system will be compatible with HTML5 applications and they ensure that, being based on Linux in a similar way to how Android is, it will be able to run applications from Google's mobile operating system.
Huawei's proposal will be more secure than Google's. Android can grant superuser or root permissions to external services and this is something that will not happen in HarmonyOS. The operating system will be based on a microkernel structure, which means that each type of device will use its own kernel prepared to work on that particular type of device. This means that, for example, the core used by a smartwatch will be slightly different than the one used by a tablet.
A lightweight system that will work on resource-limited devices
According to the company, HarmonyOS is a lightweight operating system that can work on resource-limited devices, something important if we consider that they want it to work, for example, in devices as small as smart watches. And it is that, from what it seems and although they deny it, Huawei is preparing its own ecosystem that rivals Android or the Apple ecosystem. Officially, its intention is to continue using Android on mobile phones, but we will soon see devices with its new operating system.
The future is uncertain. On one side, the company says it is ready to migrate to HarmonyOS at any time. On the other, it is impossible not to think of a future in which HarmonyOS is a success and achieves a certain relevance. We also have to wait to see what the desktop version of the newly introduced operating system would look like. There are many questions whose answers will be discovered in the coming months.
