| A computer operating system is a piece of software that manages all of the other software resources, and the hardware resources of the computer itself. The operating system program will handle the allocation of memory, system requests, the management of files on the computer, networking between other computers, and the actual running of other software programs. There are many different types of pc operating systems that can be broken down into two categories, a desktop operating system which runs on a typical computer or client, and the server operating systems which are more robust in their abilities and run on powerful server computers. Most operating systems come in either a desktop version, or a server version.
Window operating systems are among the most popular of the pc operating systems. Introduced in 1985 as an add on to the MS DOS command line operating system, Windows took the command line system of MS DOS and gave it a graphical user interface, or GUI. Since the original Windows, the software has grown to Windows 3.1, Windows 98, Windows ME & Windows 2000 (ME was meant for home use and 2000 for networked computers), Windows XP, and now Windows Vista. There have been offshoots as well like the XP Home, Professional, and Media Center editions and Vista which currently offers six different versions ranging in price and features. For server technologies, Microsoft offer operating systems called Server 2003. Server 2000 is the older version and is readily being phased out. Like the desktop products, Server 2003 has varied editions, Standard, Enterprise, Web, and the Datacenter. All but the Datacenter are available for purchase as the Datacenter comes packaged on certain hardware appliances and servers. In development is the Longhorn Server (Windows Server 2008) which has an expected release in the second half of 2007.
Growing in popularity among computer enthusiasts are the Linux operating systems. Linux is based on the Unix operating system and was first released in 1991. The name Linux comes from its developer Linus Torvalds calling this operating system Linus’ Unix, or Linux. Linux is an example of the free software movement as many editions (flavors or distros) or the operating system can be downloaded and installed for free. As part of the open source code project, Linux source code can also be modified and rewritten by skillful developers. This is why there are so many different distributions of the Linux operating system. Although there are many distros, some of the most popular are Red Hat, Debian, SuSe, Slackware, and Ubuntu. Most hard core Linux users work the operating system from a command line interface however there are two graphical user interfaces that can be used to make the operating system friendlier to new users. Like Windows, Linux has many server versions available and are usually the choice operating system for web servers around the world due to the operating system’s stability.
The Apple operating system is also based on the old Unix operating system. Apple computers now run an operating system called Mac OSX. The original Mac operating system was actually the first to break away from the command line and offer graphical user interface highlighted in the 1984 Super Bowl commercial. Like Linux, the Mac OSX is considered an extremely stable operating system. Although it is not widely known, there is a Server OSX that can run on Apple servers as well.
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