Summary

We have discussed what an operating system is and how it acts as the interface between the hardware and software of a computer or a handheld device.

We mentioned the general characteristics and evolution of the operating systems running on Personal Computers and examined in detail today's most popular mobile OS (Android, iOS, Windows Phone, Java ME, and BlackBerry).

We also provided the basic references to approach the development and distribution of apps and games for mobile platforms and gave a general description of the best tools to develop for each of them.

In the next chapter, we will discuss the working pipeline of a typical indie mobile team and provide a description of the main roles. We will also describe the tasks each role is accountable for, the most popular tools to accomplish these tasks, and provide information on the academic background expected for each role.