VxWorks is a Real-Time Operating System (RTOS) used for embedded systems since 1987. The operating system supports both Symmetric Multiprocessing (SMP) and Asymmetric Multiprocessing (AMP) plus mixed modes. In addition, the supported platforms include x86, x86-64, ARM, PowerPC, MIPS, ColdFire, XScale, SH-4, and others. The operating system uses the monolithic kernel design. VxWorks is a certified POSIX system. However, VxWorks is not a Unix system. Rather, it is an alternative to Unix and Unix-like systems.
VxWorks supports many standard computer ports and network protocols such as Bluetooth, USB, IPv6, FireWire, etc. Some supported filesystems include High Reliability File System (HRFS), FAT-based file system (DOSFS), Network File System (NFS), and True Flash-Filesystem (TFFS or TrueFFS). DOSFS is comparable to FAT16 and FAT32 on Microsoft’s Windows or VFAT on Linux. Like many modern filesystems, VxWorks uses a Graphical User Interface (GUI).
VxWorks can run on many host systems including Linux (Ubuntu, SUSE, RedHat, and others), Windows, and Solaris.