Many constraints comes to the focus when someone wants to operate IoT devices. IoT OS can provide fixed solutions to those constraints. Hardware and software cannot function properly without an OS. Computer without an OS is just like a car without an engine- in simple words, it will not run. This is true for IoT devices and apps; IoT OS is necessary for them to work as needed. IoT OS allows devices and apps to connect with each other and other systems like cloud platforms and services. IoT OS also manages the processing power and other resources needed to collect, transmit and store data. There are some operating systems that you can use for IoT but they wouldn’t allow you to get the best setup and so IoT focused distros exist. Let us see the list of best operating systems that you can use for your IoT projects.

You can also know how to develop internet of things apps at- How to Develop Internet of Things Applications?

Top 10 IoT Operating System For IoT Devices In 2021-

1. Ubuntu Core-
It is a robust version of Linux’s popular distro, Ubuntu, and made specifically for large container deployments and IoT devices. Ubuntu core is built by Canonical to use similar kernel, system software and libraries as ubuntu however on a smaller scale and it is used to power robots, gateways, digital signs etc. Ubuntu core provides users a secure embedded Linux for IoT devices. All of its aspects are verified so as to maintain immutable packages and persistent digital signatures. This is minimal and enterprise-ready.

2. Riot-
It is a free open source IoT operating systems build for IoT devices. Riot was released under an unclonable GNU Lesser General Public License and has a huge development community. By using low power capacity Riot is built upon microkernel architecture with C, C++ language. It supports full multithreading and SSL/TSL libraries. A port of Riot makes it possible to run as Linux or macOS process. It provides content-centric networking and network protocols like TCP, UDP and CoAP. The processor of Riot is 8bit, 16 bit and 32 bit.

3. Contiki-
It is an open source operating system designed for connecting tiny low-power, low-cost micro-controllers to the internet and doubles as a toolbox to create complex wireless systems. This OS is developed to follow the best Internet standard for instance, it has complete support for IPv4 and IPv5. Contiki is written in C to provide rapid environment for development in a single download and has an active community that will make user feel at home. To run this operating system, it just need 10kb of RAM and 30 kb of ROM. It’s programming model uses Protothread memory-efficient programming. It is manageable by hardware platform, for instance, TI MSP430x, Atmel AVR, Atmel Atmega128rfa 1.

4. Android Things-
Android Things is an IoT Operating Systems invented by Google. Previously it was named as Brillo. It has an ability to run on low power and also supports bluetooth and WiFi technology. This OS aims to remove all hurdles and simplify IoT development. It uses just 32-64 Kb of RAM because it is a lightweight operating system. Google announces a provision of communication network protocol called weave. Android Things and Weave is connected so detecting each IoT device by android smartphone is possible. Developer kit helps to test, build and debug each IoT solution.

5. Windows IoT-
Windows 10 IoT is a family of Windows 10 operating systems for IoT sector. Apart from this, Windows IoT divided into two-part. First is- Windows 10 IoT core to support small embedded devices and the second one is Windows 10 IoT enterprise for industrial perspective. IoT enterprise OS runs on ARM processor. It makes use of IoT connectivity, cloud experience and IoT devices. Windows IoT core provides manageability like Windows 10 OS, though it acts like app. It does not support Cortana and FileOpenPicker that is available in Windows 10.

6. Zephyr-
Know more at- [https://solaceinfotech.com/blog/top-10-iot-operating-systems-for-iot-devices-in-2021/]