Kiosk operating systems - Exploring the options

When you are planning a kiosk project it is not likely that the first thing that comes to mind is what operating system will you use to run the kiosks, unless you are the CTO or IT admin in charge of assisting with the project. And the first thing you should consider is what the application should accomplish, what value it brings to the consumer and your business. But at some point when you know what it is going to do, you will start to discuss how it is going to do these things, and that is when the technology choices begin.

The choice of operating system may not matter at all to you, but it is good to be informed of the choices available and the pros / cons of each choice. This choice will become critical when you have issues such as integration with existing systems, ease of management by your internal team (if managed internally), security and cost. If you have a third party company managing the kiosks for you as part of an annual maintenance agreement, and it doesn't integrate directly with existing systems, again this may not matter to you and you should go with what that vendor is most familiar with and capable of managing efficiently.

As in the world of home and business desktop computers, there are a few main contenders in the kiosk marketplace: Microsoft Windows, Linux and yes... sometimes but rarely Apple. Each with varying flavors, customized versions or overlaying shell applications.

Microsoft Windows
Just as in the rest of the world, my guess would be that most public kiosks run on a flavor of Windows. However, most kiosk deployers would never use only basic Windows security methods to lock down the system or provide application maintenance and monitoring. Most kiosks running Windows use it as the base operating system (OS), and apply another OS over top of it (Shell) to create an environment tailored to the special kiosk needs. Also, it should be stated that often, kiosks run on Windows Embedded which is a scaled back version of XP that is much cheaper to license and doesn't include a lot of consumer oriented overhead. This version of XP is pretty stable and can be tailored to different industries. Windows and most of their Shell operating systems have a remote desktop feature that enables IT admins to work with the kiosks much like they would any other windows based server or desktop computer. Leveraging the same IT staff for system management of your kiosks can make a lot of sense.

There is also Windows CE for kiosks, which I've never liked. It can be as small of a footprint as Linux, but it is also so restrictive for most software developers that it often is only a good idea for basic kiosk content. This traditionally mobile phone platform seems too lightweight for most flashy or interactive applications.

Examples include:
SiteKiosk
Netkey
Kioware
Netstop Pro

Linux: While Linux based kiosks may be a bit more stable and less likely to be hacked. That is always based on the assumption that your IT administrator is talented. That is why so many Windows systems get hacked or are poorly implemented: So many systems are managed by inexperienced IT staff. Linux by nature takes a greater understanding to implement and manage by "true believer geeks" which means that they often have been meticulous in looking at all of the patches, and best security practices. Not always but often this is the case. Often with a Linux based kiosk OS, they are pretty easy to implement and doesn't actually require a lot of geek knowledge. Some is helpful, but not required. Only when you start doing a lot of custom work or integration with third party components, hardware, etc., would it be necessary. If you are a "true believer geek" you could potentially use an open source Linux operating system straight up... but in my opinion you'd be reinventing the wheel and would spend much time building what is already built, and frankly would make as much sense as using Windows by itself. Linux also has an "embedded" version and frankly often has a smaller footprint than Windows.

Examples include:
Wirespring
(The good folks over at Wirespring have an excellent blog entry on this very topic I suggest you check out at: http://www.wirespring.com/dynamic_digital_signage_and_interactive_kiosks_journal/articles/FireCast_and_the_open_source_argument_for_kiosks_and_digital_signs-157.html They are certainly more "geek" than I am, my perspectives are from a more manager or director perspective. )

Apple:
I've seen a few Mac based kiosks such as one at the NYC WTC memorial, but not many others. Now that Mac is a Unix based computer OS, I could see this being a decent platform for kiosks as long as you program for this type of environment. Perhaps we'll see more Mac Kiosks in the future.

Examples:
WKiosk by App4Mac

Kiosks / Digital signage: Yes, sometimes the same operating system can be used for digital signage or kiosks... but frankly digital signage content is often "scheduled" content. Meaning it is remotely managed to play some content at different times of day, day of week, holidays, etc. In this case, a Kiosk OS usually doesn't have this feature built in, as most kiosks do not require scheduling. Watch for an upcoming article on digital signage operating systems.

Final thoughts: Does it really matter in your kiosk? Content is still king and can be OS agnostic such as Flash, video, HTML, etc.) It matters most when it comes to who will manage the systems going forwards and what expertise they bring to the team. It may also matter if the people writing the software need it to work with some Windows based tools like IE, ActiveX, .NET, or other Windows specific technology. Otherwise, you probably could deploy content to either platform, but you want to make this "architecture" decision BEFORE you begin building the software.

Do you know of other kiosk operating systems? Comment below and tell us about it.