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Would there be an actual market for a new operating system? Considering the large number of applications on current operating systems that generally support the needs of most people. Is there a place for a new operating system out there?

Would there be an actual market for a new operating system?
I say yes. I see new brand of Linux variants come up every few years - here new OS is ambiguous, a new brand of the same OS kernel would effective equal new OS for many consumer.

But would it be a profitable market? There is always possibilities, but IMO the chance is so remote.

And the question itself is oversimplified.
Sometimes you make an OS as part of your product (eg iPhone) or service (eg Google)
the OS itself does not generate any revenue but it serve as a component in a business.

Not a lot.
As a rule of thumb, there is a market for revolutionary or extraordinary things.
That OS would have to be better than existing solutions in the given market.

So, if you target desktop, give your OS to an accounting department for example, if they would be satisfied then there could be a market for it.
Same for other markets.

High-performance computing market would pay for a lean-and-mean Linux-compatible kernel.
Mobile market often have a blend of firmware and OS in the lower ranges.
There could be a market for a secure custom OS for POS and ATM.

If it makes something (that matters to money-carrying people) better, it can be sold.

bluemoon wrote:Would there be an actual market for a new operating system?
I say yes. I see new brand of Linux variants come up every few years - here new OS is ambiguous, a new brand of the same OS kernel would effective equal new OS for many consumer.

True, but considering that it may appear to be a new OS to the user is irrelevant. They are still running the same programs that they are familiar with. That's the reason it works.

Possibly

If aiming for the desktop market though, you'd need a lot of stock applications (EMail, Browser, IM, Media Player, DVD Burner, BitTorrent client, PDF reader, etc)
And probably some eye candy shell

If selling it though, you'd probably get your @$$ sued off by Microsoft upon (if ever) reaching 1% of the market share

No. And unless you're a really big company, make that "No, definitely".

There are two things a new OS could do: 1) Be compatible, 2) Be different.

If you go for 1), people will ask what sets you apart, and why they should be interested in your OS instead of "the real thing". There's little you could tell them unless you already have that better-than-X OS.

If you go for 2), you not only need to write an OS; you also need to write, or get someone to write, a browser, an office suite, graphics applications, media players, etc. etc. yadda yadda, all the stuff people would like to use an OS for, because you cannot tap into any existing application pool.

Yes, you could whip up some mixture of the two items above, which means you have twice the work, and all people will likely do is use the same apps they'd be using on, say, Linux, bringing you right back to the question of "why bother with your OS, then?".

As for writing all that stuff, you've got two ways to make all that happen: 1) Get people to do it, 2) Pay people to do it.

1) is basically what everyone here dreams to do, but which is so unlikely to happen that it has even made the FAQ under "Beginner Mistakes" (community OS). 99.999% of people competent and willing and with enough time to actually help in such development projects will go for Linux, Firefox, Gimp, MPlayer, you get the idea. In order to lure them away from the big projects, again you'd have to already have that better-than-X OS.

2) is a multi-billion dollar undertaking. You would have to pay highly skilled people for dozens, or rather hundreds, of man-years. And even if you'd have enough money for that, expect the big players (especially Microsoft) to sue you through seven patent hells (as virtually everything you could do in OS design is patented due to stupid patent laws, and because Microsoft has played this game for decades they either hold those patents themselves or can pressure those who do hold them to sue you. You either battle it out, hemorrhaging money for lawyers etc., or you agree with patent exchange agreements, which allows Microsoft to take whatever you invented, and add it to Windows faster than you can continue your own development. And if that doesn't kill you, they'll probably buy you outright. In which case you're rich and famous, but still don't have an OS of your own.

The only thing you can do is write whatever you can write on your own, as a hobby, and don't be frustrated if it gets you nowhere. Perhaps, just perhaps, you're brilliant enough to get somewhere where people do get interested in your OS. Or you could play the lottery...

Solar wrote:<<< SNIP >>>

All of this assumes you're writing a desktop OS. Things are more flexible in embedded-space.

@Solar:

Yeah, but the question was coming more from a theoretical standpoint. Not from the standpoint of a goal.

And I'm not just thinking of a desktop OS.

Even you are writing desktop OS, it's possible that you have your own kernel, and compatible with POSIX/X11/Gnome/KDE, then sneak in the Linux market and share a tiny market share - think about BeOS.
Furthermore, think about linux itself, it starts as little kernel and compatible with POSIX/X11 on most unix system, and share their market.

However, even that would require a lot of resource, yet possible.

Solar wrote: And even if you'd have enough money for that, expect the big players (especially Microsoft) to sue you through seven patent hells (as virtually everything you could do in OS design is patented due to stupid patent laws, and because Microsoft has played this game for decades they either hold those patents themselves or can pressure those who do hold them to sue you. You either battle it out, hemorrhaging money for lawyers etc., or you agree with patent exchange agreements, which allows Microsoft to take whatever you invented, and add it to Windows faster than you can continue your own development. And if that doesn't kill you, they'll probably buy you outright. In which case you're rich and famous, but still don't have an OS of your own.

Nothing new here....
http://news.cnet.com/8301-13505_3-10458849-16.html