2013 has been a year of mobile operating systems. The year commenced by welcoming one of the most anticipated mobile operating systems from Research In Motion, the parent company of the popular mobile brand BlackBerry. The company’s new mobile operating system branded as BlackBerry 10 was released in January and it is doing the rounds in global markets since then. Moving on, in February, the popular Mozilla Foundation announced the launch of a new open-source mobile operating system called Firefox OS. In the same month, another open-source software developer, Canonical announced the launch of Ubuntu Touch, an operating system for smartphones and tablets.
All-in-all, the first two months of 2013 have already welcomed three new mobile operating systems. While at the tail end of February, at the Mobile World Congress 2013, Samsung offered analysts a sneak preview of its upcoming mobile operating system Tizen. The only thing with Tizen is that it is still under development and yet to launched commercially. Of the three mobile operating systems launched, BlackBerry 10 comes as a proprietary operating system, while Ubuntu Touch and Firefox OS come as open-source Linux-based mobile operating systems. Now let’s take time comparing and contrasting the three new and distinct mobile operating systems.
BlackBerry 10
After spending a year in development, the BlackBerry 10 operating system came out in flying colors. The operating system came with a huge responsibility of lifting the ailing BlackBerry brand and retaining its prestigious business customers. And in fact, it did live up to the expectations, certainly even exceeded it.
Though with a few minor glitches, the BB 10 has already made a name for itself. With new features like Hub, Screen Share, Camera with Time Shift, BlackBerry Balance, and BlackBerry Remember, the BB 10 OS stands well above the remaining two new operating systems. In addition, it is proprietary to RIM and not an open source operating system, and that’s the only major difference that sets BB 10 apart from Ubuntu Touch and Firefox OS.
Ubuntu Touch
Probably, one of the interesting mobile operating systems to be launched this New Year. The operating system created more buzz at Mobile World Congress and is sure to be a feature rich rival to the established mobile operating systems. But the analysts who privileged to get a hands-on with Ubuntu Touch were really impressed by the way the operating system responded. In comparison to the BB 10, Ubuntu Touch would come as a cheap and open source alternative with features that give BB 10 a run for its money.
Ubuntu Touch for smartphones and tablets comes as a complete package with a crafty, elegant and user-friendly interface that makes the most of every inch of screen space. The operating system unique feature is that it puts contacts and content in front, thereby decreasing the time spent on switching back and front to the home screen. With intuitive design and plentiful availability of apps, Ubuntu Touch clearly has an edge over its closest rival Firefox OS, while rightfully lagging behind the likes of Blackberry 10.
Firefox OS
From the far-famed Mozilla development center, Firefox OS was developed as part of the Boot to Gecko project. The new operating system comes with a Linux kernel that boots on a Gecko-based engine. The primary feature of the operating system is that it lets users run apps developed using JavaScript, HTML and other popular open web APIs. Though under development, the operating system managed to attract a handful carriers who are willing to sponsor the project by offering Firefox OS based phones. The truth is Firefox OS is an entry-level modern HTML5 based operating system that comes as a refreshingly new alternative.
Verdict
While BB 10 leads the two other mobile operating systems by a country mile, Ubuntu Touch is the clear-cut winner when compared with Firefox OS.
