Operating Systems for

Dummies
What is an
Operating System?
An operating system is a powerful, and
usually large, central software program
that controls and manages the hardware
and other software on a computer. All
computers and computer-like devices
require operating systems, including your
laptop, tablet, desktop, smartphone,
smartwatch and router. They are made of
4 main components: The kernel, device
drivers, user interface, system utilities
Examples of Operating Systems: Windows

Microsoft Windows is a major operating system used in most personal

computers and is known for featuring the first graphical user interface
for IBM-compatible PCs. The windows OS soon dominated the PC
market  due to this with approximately 90% of PCs running some form of
Windows (mainly all except the Apple Macs). The first version was
released in 1985 and was simply a GUI offered as an extension of
Microsoft’s existing disk operating system. Based in part in licensed
concepts that Apple had used in its Macintosh System Software,
Windows for the first time allowed DOS users to visually navigate a
virtual desktop displaying contents of electronic folders and files with the
click of a mouse button rather than typing out commands. Later versions
introduced greater functionality including Windows file manager,
Program Manager and Print Manager programs plus an even more
friendly and dynamic interface. Furthermore, Microsoft developed
special Windows packages including networkable Windows and
Windows 95 offered built-in internet support including the World Wide
Web. Since then Windows has kept on improving with windows 8 giving
it a start screen with applications displayed on a grid and the ability to
synchronize settings and even more recently windows 10 offered Cortana
and the Web browser Microsoft Edge. They also announced Windows 10
would be the last version of Windows meaning they’d receive regular
updates instead of large-scale revisions. Windows is proprietary software
costs around £30. Overall the ability to use the quick search bar and the
ability to run multiple applications at once from the navigation bar is why
Windows is such a success.
 Created in the early 90s by Finnish software engineer Linus
Torvalds and the Free Software Foundation, Linux has
grown ever since because it is open source, and many
users enjoy the idea to develop and modify it to what they
like. Although not as user-friendly as Windows and Mac OS
operating systems, it is an efficient and reliable system that
rarely crashes despite being free for anyone. Combined
Linux with an open-source Web server called Apache, Linux
accounts for more than a third of all servers used on the
internet. Because it is open source Linux is popular for
systems as diverse as telephones and supercomputers
(although it isn’t allowed on Mac). With the addition of
desktop environments, office suites, web browsers and
even games helped to increases Linux’s popularity and
make it more suitable for home and office desktops.
 Mac OS
Developed by the American computer company Apple Inc. and released
1984 to run the company’s Macintosh line of personal computers some, the
Mac OS was based graphically with rather than typing out commands and
directory paths at text prompts, users could move a mouse pointer to
visually navigate the finder- a series virtual folders and files represented by
icons. Most computer models eventually adopted the GUI model. In the
1980s Apple made an agreement allowing Microsoft to use certain aspects
of the Mac interface in the early versions of Windows however except for a
period in the 1990s, Mac OS has never been licensed for use with
computers made by anyone other than Apple. Later Mac OS released
features such as Internet file sharing, network browsing and multiple user
accounts. Then in 2001 the company rolled out Mac OS X a major redesign
on the old version offering technical advances such as memory protection
and pre-emptive multitasking along with a more versatile Finder. It also had
a more elegant-looking interface called Aqua and a convenient ‘Dock’ bar
for launching frequently used applications. Updates to OS X added features
such as automated backups and a ‘Dashboard’ manager for small, handy
applications called widgets. From 2007 Apple unveiled several mobile phone
devices that could access the internet including the iPhone smartphone and
iPad. They soon emphasised the ability of OS X to connect between these
devices. In 2011 iCloud was introduced that allowed users to share data
among all their devices for both OS X and iOS. They added more features
allowing connectivity in other ways including the ability to receive phone
calls and the means of quickly sharing data. Apple being a privatised
company means that Mac OS is proprietary source and now costs after
costing $129 around $19-$29. Despite this price it can only really be found
on apple devices which are expensive themselves. While this can seem to be
a negative it allows the Mac OS to be designed specifically for the hardware
it runs on.