With a more secure platform, BharOS (short for Bharat OS), developed by an Indian startup with mentorship from IIT-Madras, is ready to compete with Google Android and Apple iOS.
The OS, introduced by education and communications ministers Dharmendra Pradhan and Ashwini Vaishnaw, aims to make it possible for private businesses and organisations to put up specialised operating systems in accordance with their requirements. The move comes at a time when Google faces legal challenges in India over abuse of dominance and unfair practices in relation to its Android operating system.
JandK Operations (JandKops), a 30- member team that was incubated at the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT), Madras, created BharOS. It is an Indian 'Operating System' created at IITMadras, has been tested. Vaishnaw tweeted, "A major step forward in PM Narendra Modi's Aatmanirbhar Bharat mission.
BharOS does not come with any default apps and gives users access to only trusted apps from private store services. Users are not forced to use apps that they may not be familiar with or that they may not trust. “This is a Linux-based OS,” professor V Kamakoti, director of IIT-Madras said.