Some popular Operating Systems

Here is the list of some of the popular operating systems during there times, with brief information about the operating systems.

UNIX

UNIX was developed at AT&T Bell Laboratories in the early 1970s. It was one of the first operating systems to support multiprocessing and multitasking. Therefore, it is considered to be ideal for high-powered mini-computers equipped with several CPUs. It defaults to the command-line user interface, but recently a number of GUIs have also been developed for it.

UNIX has been most successful in client-server computing, where programs are broken into two parts-client, which handles the interaction with the user and the server, that runs on a high-powered, centralized minicomputer that everyone on the network can access. UNIX is very popular in huge corporations.UNIX was designed to be portable, multitasking in a time-sharing configuration.

MS-DOS

Microsoft’s Disk Operating System was originally developed for IBM PC in 1981, but now it is being used by Intel-based PCs that use a command-line user interface. DOS commands are used for managing files and directories.

Mac OS

The original Macintosh operating system was released in 1984 by Apple incorporation. It was responsible for the release of a graphical user interface (GUI). Mac OS is considered to be the easiest for beginning computer users.

Windows 95 and 98

A GUI OS developed by Microsoft for Intel microprocessors, Windows 95 supports multiprocessing and multitasking. It allows the transfer of information between applications easily. Windows 98 offers better stability, improved Internet connectivity, updated drivers for new peripherals, including DVD-ROM disks and devices.

WINDOWS (Embedded Compact) CE

Windows CE operating system was mainly designed for the palmtops or Personal Digital Assistants (PDAs). It runs the simplified versions of Windows 95 and Windows 98 programs, such as Microsoft’s own Office applications. This enables users to create documents on palmtops and later on transfer them to the desktop computers for processing and printing. Windows CE includes scheduling calendar, address book, e-mail, web browsing, etc. It also includes handwriting recognition and voice recording.

WINDOWS NT

Windows NT (New Technology) was developed by Microsoft in 1983. Windows NT was specially designed for the client/server systems. Hence, it is divided into two components – Windows NT Workstation and Windows NT Server. Windows NT Workstation is faster than Windows 95 and Windows 98 and is meant for desktop systems. Windows NT Server supports high-security level, directory services, and the webserver.

WINDOWS XP

This is the most popular Windows OS on personal computers. It provides a lot of improved facilities to the users. It has better graphic displays and plug-n-play features. It takes less booting time than its predecessors.

WINDOWS VISTA

Next in the series of Windows OS comes Windows Vista. It has been designed for personal computers laptops, tablet PCs, and media center PCs. It was brought to the users in the year 2007. Vista has better security facilities to guard against malware such as viruses. It provides better integration with Internet applications and user-mobility. It gives a very pleasant visual experience to the user.

WINDOWS 7

Microsoft released its latest OS in 2009 called Windows 7. This OS offers many powerful user-friendly features. Its desktop contains many wonderful properties. You can search for your programs and files very quickly. Maximizing and minimizing opened windows has been made extremely simple. This OS is a great improvement over all other versions of Windows.

LINUX

Linux was created in 1991 by a Finnish university student named Linus Torvalds. It is the fastest-growing growing operating system for Intel-based personal computers. It includes all the features of UNIX such as multitasking, virtual memory, Internet support, multiprocessing and GUI, Linux is distributed using the Open Software Foundation’s General Public License (GPL), which states that Linux could be obtained and used for free!

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