That's an inflight entertainment system -- nothing to do with flight instruments.
Normally flight instruments have to make an MTBF requirement that off-the-shelf general operating systems casn't make. They use embedded systems.
Avidyne, whose system is in light general aviation planes including the Eclipse and Adam very light jets, uses a Windows NT kernel only and builds the rest of its system. In the Eclipse it is your only interface to many systems, circuit breakers, pressurization, antiskid.
The NT Kernel is stable enough for Part 23 aircraft certification (GA) but not good enough for Part 25 (Airline).
The systems used in airliners are made by SAGEM or Rockwell Collins or other similar prime contractors, and every component is very expensive. This Airbus failure sounds more like an electrical system miswired (maybe by one of the low-cost offshore repair stations airlines are using, some of which are just dreadful), than any failure in the "computer bits."
The incident with Air Transat (low-budget, ill-maintained Canadian charter outfit) gliding into the Azores was caused in part by the pilot not thinking through why he was going through fuel. He was pumping it overboard... not realising that, he pumped the fuel from the side with no problems across to the leaking one. He displayed incredible skill AFTER that, but you're supposed to exercise your superior judgment so you don't need to show off your superior skills. (This guy was a two time loser on the judgment score, he had lost his licence once for drug smuggling). But he saved the ship and the souls on board, so all's well that ends well.
The other Canadian glider came because of Canuck political correctness, the English/French language barrier, and dumb government regulations about metric measures that required everybody involved to do weight and volume conversions inter-measurement-systems with a pencil. Institute dumb procedures, get dumb results (an immutable law that extends far beyond the tiny population of Canada that clings to our northern border).
Finally, flashlights. Wags say that pilots use flashlights as a handy container for the flat batteries in their flight bags. I've dispensed with the nine pound Mag-lite and instead carry a couple of head lights -- a few bucks at Wal-Mart, and they have white and night-vision-friendly red LEDs. They run on AAAs and last a long time. I change them at the start of the snow season, and carry fresh spares. I check the light before every afternoon or night flight. And yeah, there's a handheld GPS in there, although it's older than dirt.
d.o.l.
Criminal Number 18F