HomeOS

{{Short description|Operative system}}

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| developer = Microsoft Research

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| working_state = Unknown ({{As of|2013|10|lc=y}})

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| website = {{URL|https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/research/project/homeos-enabling-smarter-homes-for-everyone/}}

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HomeOS was the working title of a home automation operating system being developed at Microsoft Research in the early 2010s.{{cite web |url=http://research.microsoft.com/apps/pubs/default.aspx?id=157701 |title=An Operating System for the Home |last1=Dixon |first1=Colin |last2=Mahajan |first2=Ratul |last3=Agarwal |first3=Sharad |last4=Brush |first4=A.J. |first5=Bongshin |last5=Lee |author5-link=Bongshin Lee|last6=Saroiu |first6=Stefan |last7=Bahl |first7=Victor |date=April 2012 |work=Microsoft Research – Publications |publisher=Microsoft |access-date=26 April 2012}}{{cite web |url=http://www.zdnet.com/blog/microsoft/microsoft-experiments-with-homeos-and-home-app-store-ideas/7352 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100913073030/http://www.zdnet.com/blog/microsoft/microsoft-experiments-with-homeos-and-home-app-store-ideas/7352 |url-status=dead |archive-date=September 13, 2010 |title=Microsoft experiments with 'HomeOS' and home app store ideas |last=Foley |first=Mary Jo |date=10 September 2010 |website=ZDNet |publisher=CBS Interactive |access-date=26 April 2012}} Microsoft Research announced the project in 2010 and abandoned it in 2012.

HomeOS communicated with Lab of Things, a cloud-based Internet of Things infrastructure also developed by Microsoft.{{Cite web |url=https://labofthings.codeplex.com/documentation |title=Lab of Things Wiki |publisher=Microsoft |website=CodePlex |access-date=14 January 2015 |archive-date=2 February 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150202040443/http://labofthings.codeplex.com/documentation |url-status=dead }}{{cite web |url=https://gigaom.com/2013/07/15/microsoft-pushes-homeos-further-with-lab-of-things-but-wheres-the-mobile-angle/ |title=Microsoft pushes HomeOS further with Lab of Things, but where's the mobile angle? |last=Higginbotham |first=Stacey |date=15 July 2013 |website=Gigaom |access-date=14 January 2015 |archive-date=10 March 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150310081518/https://gigaom.com/2013/07/15/microsoft-pushes-homeos-further-with-lab-of-things-but-wheres-the-mobile-angle/ |url-status=dead }}{{cite web |url=https://www.zdnet.com/article/microsoft-adds-a-lab-of-things-to-its-homeos/ |title=Microsoft adds a Lab of Things to its HomeOS |last=Foley |first=Mary Jo |date=15 July 2013 |website=ZDNet |publisher=CBS Interactive |access-date=14 January 2015}}

Microsoft's slogan for their HomeOS project was "Enabling smarter homes for everyone."{{cite web|url=https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/research/project/homeos-enabling-smarter-homes-for-everyone/|title=HomeOS homepage|website=Microsoft }}

Microsoft's HomeOS development team has written three sample applications that make use of multiple devices, including a "sticky media" app that plays music in parts of the house that are lit up, but not other rooms; a two-factor authentication app that uses audio from smartphones and images from a front-door camera to turn on lights when a user is identified; and a home browser for viewing and controlling a user's access to all devices in a home.{{cite web|url=https://www.zdnet.com/article/microsofts-homestore-home-automation-with-an-iphone-inspired-twist/|work=zd.net|title="Microsoft's HomeStore: Home automation, with an iPhone-inspired twist"|date=7 October 2010}}

Some staff who worked on the project cited Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer's focus on enterprise applications, productivity software, and cloud computing as the reason for the stalled development.{{cite web|url=http://www.businessinsider.com/microsoft-home-automation-software-homeos-2015-12|title=Microsoft had a plan to automate your home before Apple and Google — but never did it|work=businessinsider.com|date=4 December 2015}}