BTRON

Infobox OS
name = Business TRON



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supported_platforms = Intel 80286
ui = Graphical user interface
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released = 1984
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marketing_target = Personal computers, Workstations, PDAs
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working_state = Historic
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Business TRON (BTRON), is a computer operating system with a graphical user interface (GUI) built upon Central TRON (CTRON), itself a subproject of The Real-time Operating system Nucleus (TRON). TRON was launched in Japan in 1984 as an initiative to create a single, universal operating system with an open architecture.

At one point, BTRON had a chance of becoming a popular desktop operating system in Japan. In 1989 the Japanese company Matsushita released an Intel-based PC with the BTRON operating system. Though it only had an Intel 80286 processor with 2 MB of RAM, the system could render color video in a separate window. The Japanese government planned to introduce the Matsushita PC in its schools, but the United States government objected, claiming that the plan constituted market intervention and threatening Japan with sanctions (partly at the request of Microsoft). (It should be noted, however, that although the Macintosh computer was very popular in American schools during the same time frame, that did not make it the dominant desktop computing platform in America.)

BTRON was unable to gain a position in the desktop OS market, however other TRON operating systems continue to be extensively used in small devices such as mobile phones, digital cameras, and CD players. The PC operating system market is dominated by Microsoft's Windows operating system.

External sources

* Linux Insider, [http://www.linuxinsider.com/story/31855.html "The Most Popular Operating System in the World"] , October 15, 2003. Retrieved July 13, 2006.
* [http://tronweb.super-nova.co.jp/homepage.html TRON Web]
* [http://tronweb.super-nova.co.jp/btron.html BTRON Introduction]