According to reports on the forthcoming BlackPad, RIM may debut an OS based on technology from QNX Software Systems BlackBerry parent RIM bought QNX Software Systems, a maker of embedded real-time operating systems, this past April. Back then, the purchase was relatively low-key, and it seemed that integration between BlackBerrys and high-end automobile computers would be the most interesting upshot.But with a report from Bloomberg that RIM’s rumored BlackPad tablet will run a version of the QNX operating system rather than BlackBerry OS, the acquisition looks to have been the first step in a strategic change in direction for the company.Why would RIM shoulder the burden of supporting two separate operating systems, when the company already has a mobile OS? An intriguing bit of speculation comes from one of Bloomberg’s unnamed sources, who says it “may have been simpler and faster to use QNX because the BlackBerry 6 OS includes legacy software code from older BlackBerry phones.” That legacy cruft may be a big part of what’s holding back the operating system for RIM’s smartphones; instead of being a separate product, the QNX-based BlackPad OS may turn out to be the first iteration of an operating system that will find itself on future BlackBerrys as well.QNX is a Unix-like OS with a Posix programming interface available to programmers; this may make it more attractive to developers than BlackBerry OS, whose apps are primarily built with the Java ME platform that is losing favor. QNX also has a great reputation for stability and security — after all, it serves as the OS for systems running cardiac monitors, tanks, and nuclear power plants.The story of an established company buying a new operating system to remake itself is familiar — Apple did it in the late ’90s, buying NeXT and jettisoning the traditional Mac OS for an entirely new operating system based on NeXTStep. That bet turned out to be a spectacular success, with the Mac OS X operating system that resulted also now powering, through a subset, the iPhones and iPads that BlackBerry is trying to beat. But the transition tried the patience of even Apple’s fanatically loyal customers. Without the aspects of the BlackBerry that its users have come to love, a new QNX-based operating system may not have time to find its footing in the brutal and fast-moving mobile market. This story, “RIM BlackPad: No BlackBerry OS included?,” was originally published at InfoWorld.com. Get the first word on important tech news with the InfoWorld Tech Watch blog.