Questions

No, a P2P (peer-to-peer) network does not necessarily require specialized network operating system software installed on every node. In a P2P network, nodes (or peers) can directly share resources and communicate with each other without centralized administration. While specialized software can indeed facilitate the P2P functionality (e.g., for file sharing or distributed computing), many P2P networks function using standard operating systems with appropriate applications or protocols.

For example:

• Popular P2P file-sharing networks, like BitTorrent, rely on clients that run on general-purpose operating systems like Windows, macOS, or Linux.
• Blockchain networks, which are a form of P2P networks, often use standard operating systems along with specialized software for managing the blockchain protocol.

Therefore, while specific applications or protocols are needed to leverage P2P capabilities, a specialized network operating system is not a requirement for each node in such a network.