What an Operating System Is - Essay Example

Operating Systems: A Short History Inspires a Long Future ID or Number] January 4, 2006 Operating Systems: A Short History Inspires a Long Future Few people exist today that do not know, at least on a fundamental level, what an operating system is. Computers have become so widespread that many consider them to be a necessity rather than a luxury. Students often clamour to buy a computer prior to leaving for college, teachers use computer as part of their teaching curriculum at earlier ages, working adults find a need to work on the computer at home when they are not in an office at work--the list of uses for a computer seems endless. With the advent of games and new technologies, younger generations are able to learn on computers at even earlier ages while older generations can do simple tasks, like balancing a check book, more conveniently and accurately then ever. All this is due to the operating system on every computer. But what is an operating system, what does it do, and where did they come from These issues will be covered by this paper. The truth is, without an operating system installed all computers would be useless for anything short of being rather large paperweights (Businessline, 2005). The operating system is software installed on the computer that provides the user with a window to work. By accessing the operating system, a user can launch a program and begin working right away (Businessline, 2005). For example, this paper was written using Microsoft Office 2003, a popular software for word processing, on a computer with Microsoft Windows XP installed. Microsoft Windows XP is an example of a "single user multi-tasking" operating system (OS); this operating system allows a single user to open, run, and use several programs simultaneously (Businessline, 2005). However, operating systems were not always as efficient as they are today (Darnay, 2005). Computers have evolved dramatically within just the past ten years. All operating systems serve the same basic purpose: to control the programs' execution and provide the user with input and output control, data management, resource allocation, and scheduling (Computimes Malaysia, 1999). Every time a person turns on his or her personal computer, the operating system is automatically loaded and performs several diagnostics tests on both internal and external devices that are attached to ensure those devices are all functioning normally (Computimes Malaysia, 1999). Many of the most commonly encountered operating systems include the following: UNIX, Microsoft DOS, Microsoft Windows, IBM Operating System/2, and Linux. UNIX was created by Ken Thompson and Dennis Ritchie (Computime Malaysia, 1999) to be used as an operating system for PDP-7 machines. Developed in 1969, UNIX was aimed to developing a multi-user, multi-task system that would interact with ASCII terminals, used by PDP-7 machines, and would require little memory. Thompson and Ritchie were able to create UNIX by based on each of their experience developing the Multics operating system (similar to GENIE from Berkeley and CTSS from MIT). AT&T Bell Laboratories developed the first version of UNIX writing in an assembly language (Computimes Malaysia, 1999). Though the first five versions of UNIX served as art of an internal research effort at Bell Laboratories, the sixth version of this operating system, Unix Timesharing Sixth Edition V, was widely distributed. Microsoft DOS, abbreviated MS-DOS, became popular when IBM chose to use MS-DOS for their newly introduced system, the IBM Personal Computer. Primarily a single-user operating system, MS-DOS was created using the Control Program for Microprocessord (CP/M) as its basis (Computimes Malaysia, 1999). MS-DOS was made suitable for use across networks and multi-users when version 3.1 was developed to ensure that business software was able to run in the then new 16-bit IBM Personal Computer environment. With the release of MS-DOS version 3.1 and the advent of 16-bit personal computers, the industry dedicated to software development for PC application was born (Computimes Malaysia, 1999). Microsoft developed the well-known operating system, Microsoft Windows, in November 1985. During the two years that followed, several updates were released to provide drivers for additional printers and video devices as well as to support the international market. In 1987, Microsoft Windows version 2.0 was released, with the most significant change being the introduction of overlapping windows rather than the previous tiled windows (Computimes Malaysia, 1999). Windows version 3.0 became the first operating system that was commonly used on many machines--either in the office or in the home. Microsoft Windows NT, released in 1993, was the first version of Microsoft's popular operating systems that supported the 32-bit programming models used by the Intel 80386, 80486, and the Intel Pentium microprocessors (Computimes Malaysia, 1999). Continuing with self-improvement, august 1995 marked the date of release for Microsoft Windows 95. This operating system served to spur personal computers to become mainstream. Microsoft Windows 95 was the first version that did not require that the user install DOS first; and Windows 95 came complete with long file name support and dial-up networking (Computimes Malaysia, 1999). Integrating Internet Explorer 4, Microsoft Windows 98 supported new devices, such as the universal serial bus (USB). Windows has become increasingly specialized with the release of Microsoft Windows 2000, Microsoft Window ME, and Windows XP Home and Windows XP Office editions following. In 1987, IBM and Microsoft collaborated to develop the OS/2 operating system. The OS/2 was the first personal computer operating system to provide multi-tasking with hardware support (Computimes Malaysia, 1999). This multi-tasking was done in text, and though other programs could be running in the background, only one program could be showing on the screen at a time. Following the multi-tasking interface is a graphical user interface (GUI) with IBM's 1998 release of the OS/2 1.10 standard edition. The OS/2 1.20 Extended Edition, released in 1989, came with a database manager providing IBM mainframe and mid-range customers with multiple emulation systems (Pancucci, 2005). An object-oriented GUI was born with the release of the 32-bit operating system OS/2 2.0 (Computimes Malaysia, 1999). Shortly after, OS/2 2.11 was released with full symmetric multi-processing (SMP) support. This new desktop was the first able to support multiple central processing units (CPUs) (Computimes Malaysia, 1999). The first personal computer with built-in Internet support, the OS/2 Warp 3.0, was released in 1994; full network support for all major protocols came later with OS/2 Warp Connect. A friendlier GUI came with the release of OS/2 Warp 4.0 in 1996. Despite the fact that some hailed the OS/2 technologies, this operating system failed to make a significant impact on the masses of personal computers. The Microsoft Windows platform was increasing in popularity, ultimately convincing Microsoft to abandon it relationship with the OS/2 systems. Linus Torvalds developed the Linux operating system. While at the University of Helsinki in Finland, Torvalds decided to take it upon himself to write an operating system because he could not afford to buy any of the available operating systems on the market (Computimes Malaysia, 1999). Minix, a small UNIX system, caught Torvalds's interests; Torvalds began to develop a system that would exceed the standards set by Minix. Version 0.02, the first Linux source code, was released in 1991 under public license. Since that time, Linux has grown to be a popular operating system--often believed to be among the top rivals of Microsoft Windows (Computimes Malaysia, 1999). Development continued through the release of Linux Kernel version 1.0 and later the 2.2 version released in 1999. This 32-bit UNIX operating system is based on an open source development process: the source code has been posted over the Internet and has been developed by the Internet community (Computimes Malaysia, 1999).the general public license and source code are both available freely to every one, however, this does not mean that Linux nor its distribution is free. Developers and companies price their Linux products as they see fit, so long as the source code remains available to the public. The functionality and availability of the Linux system has helped to make this operating system very popular worldwide; a large number of software developers and programmers have adopted the Linux source codes to meet their individual needs (Computimes Malaysia, 1999). The development and implementation of operating system continues to grow. A new open source product, UltraSPARC T1 processor has been announced by Sun Microsystems (PR Newswire, 2005). Sun Microsystems has built a long history of creating communities and sharing source code; more than 3.4 million registered licenses of the Solaris operating system with 10,000 registered community members of OpenSolaris (PR Newswire, 2005). Coming in early 2006, Sun Microsystems has announced that they will be releasing a new 64-bit, 32-thread rich SPARC/Solaris community in efforts to spur innovation for threaded systems (PR Newswire, 2005). While most people cannot remember where they were when Microsoft Windows 1.0 was released, many remember the release of Microsoft Windows XP--either because it coincided with the battle between Xbox and GameCube, or because it followed close behind the events in New York of 9-11. However, the release of Microsoft Windows Vista is expected to be memorable in 2006. Apple has had many ups and down with the industry as a formal rival of Microsoft, and is continuing development of single-user operating systems such as digital music players (the iPod) (Gonsalves, 2005). In fact, thousands of people lined up to buy Apple's latest operating system, Tiger (version 10.4 of the Mac OS X operating system). This operating system, released in April of 2005, comes with many firsts: Spotlight, for example, is a unique desktop search letting the user perform a Google-like search for information and files stored on their computers, producing results almost immediately as the user types what he or she is searching for (Fischer, 2005). Future versions of operating systems can expect even more functionality and core services (Businessline, 2005): for example, Microsoft Windows is likely to introduce a future version of their operating system that includes a digital rights management system. Higher security will most likely become a standard part of core services in the near future (Businessline, 2005). Operating Systems are also moving into smaller and more specialised devices, and some of these have a shorter list of core services. In recent years, there has been heightening interest in operating systems with the adoption and pace of development in Open Source Software, especially the different flavours of Linux. (Businessline, 2005). Contrary to the innovative endeavours of Intel and Apple, Microsoft appears to be slowing down as far as new enterprises are concerned. While some believe that Microsoft might be able to hold up on its own based on its core business, Linux is rapidly closing the gap with its fully customizable, freely available source code (anonymous, 2004). Many companies and government systems, such as those emerging in India and China, have already expressed their intentions of using Linux with their systems rather than Microsoft Windows and Office products (anonymous, 2004). Whether these decisions are based on political reason or not, Microsoft risks losing out on potential growth with their seeming lack of innovation and refusal to venture into new territories. Technology surrounding computer systems, operating systems, personal computers, and software has changed dramatically within the past ten years; however, human nature has not changed. Humans continue to expect faster, better, and smaller products at a lower cost with each new edition of operating system (Darnay, 2005). "Evolutions in technology and operating systems, though, are conspiring to make benchmarking as we know it today" (Case, 2005). Staying on top of the consumer demands will require innovation, strategic planning, and more effective processes to keep the machines at reasonable processes. With such a short history behind the operating systems of today, many advances have already been made; these changes make the long future currently open to the personal computer industry. Bibliography Businessline (2005) Command HQ. Businessline Chennai [Internet], 10 January, p. 1. Available from: http://proquest.umi.com [Accessed 2 January 2006]. Computime Malaysia. (1999) Story of Systems. Computimes Malaysia New York [Internet], 8 December, p. 1. Available from: http://proquest.umi.com [Accessed 2 January 2006]. PR Newswire. (2005) Sun Microsystems Launches OpenSPARC Project - Ignites New Open Source Community for Breakthrough UltraSPARC T1 Processor. PR Newswire New York [Internet], 6 December, p. 1. Available from http://proquest.umi.com [Accessed 3 January 2006]. Gonsalves, C. (2005) Remembering Windows; some recollections are clearer than others. eWeek New York [Internet], 14 November, 22(45), p. 40. Available from: http://proquest.umi.com [Accessed 2 January 2006]. McCarthy, K. (2005) Technology: The song remains the same. The Guardian London UK [Internet], 3 November, p. 1. Available from: http://proquest.umi.com [Accessed 4 January 2006]. Fischer, L. (2005) Make the most of Tiger's stripes-favourite features in Apples' new OS. Gannett News Service [Internet], 5 May, p. 1. Available from: http://proquest.umi.com [Accessed 4 January 2006]. 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