Operating Systems

By Claudia Lynch, Benchmarks Editor (lynch@unt.edu)

We thought it would be fun to spend part of the summer talking about operating systems. You know, the software that actually makes it possible for your computer to do the sorts of things you expect of it. The Encyclopedia of Computer Science ( 1976, First Edition, pg. 1003) defines an operating system as follows:

Basically, an operating system is the software (programs and data) that initiates the interaction of the electronic and electro-mechanical components of a computer so that they constitute a useful system for carrying out calculations [or other tasks].

So ... without an operating system of some sort, you wouldn't be able to use your computer!

Operating environments are not operating systems, per se. They make requests of the underlying operating system software rather than issue commands directly to system hardware. Graphical User Interfaces (GUIs) like Windows95 and Linux are operating environments. The terms operating system and operating environment are frequently interchanged these days, however.

It would be impossible to talk about all computer operating systems/environments, there are thousands. So, we picked a few that we thought would be of interest to the campus community. They are OS/2 Warp, Windows95 (Preview Edition), MacOS System 7.5.1 , Linux, and Solaris.

Operating systems is a topic that can generate a lot of controversy. People have their preferences, and OS loyalty can get ugly, but with a little understanding, we should all be able to get along.

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