Operating Systems

Introduction

Linux OS was first created by a student from the University of Helsinki in Finland. The creator's name was Linus Torvalds and he had an interest which turned into a passion for Minix, a small Unix application which was later developed into a system that surpassed the Minix standards. He started working on the minix in 1991 and worked heavily until 1994 when the first version of Linux kernal 1.0 was released. This Linux kernal sets the foundation to which the OS of Linux is formed. Hundreds of organizations and companies today have hired individuals and used them to release versions of operating systems using Linux kernal.
Linux's functioning, features and adaptation have made Linux and Windows OS's are excellent alternatives to other OS's. IBM and other giant companies around the world support Linux and its ongoing work after a decade from its initial release. The OS is incorporated into microchips using a process called "embedding" and is increasing the performance of of appliances and devices.

History of Linux

Through the 1990's some computer savy technicians and hobby insistent people with an interest in computers developed desktop management systems. These systems including GNOME and KDE that run on applications on Linux are available to anyone regardless of the persons motive to use the system. Linus Torvalds was interested in learning the capabilities and features of an 80386 processor for task switching. The application originally named Freax was first used with the Minix operating system.

Both the Freax and Minix designs seemed to be sacrificing performance for academic research and studying. Many of the computing specialists now are making assumptions that have changed since the 90's. Portability is now a common goal for these specialists of the computer industry and this is certainly not a academic requirement for software. Various ports to IA-32, PowerPC, MIPS, Alpha, and ARM along with supporting products being made and sold to wholesalers and retailers, commercial enterprises gave Linus a Alpha based system when tasks on Linus's priority list moved up to a notably busy point.

History of Windows

Presidents of Microsoft were Bill Gates and Paul Allen they shared the title until 1977, when Bill Gates became president and Paul Allen vice president. In 1978 the disk drives of the Tandy and Apple machines were 5.25-inch. First COMDEX computer show in Las Vegas introduces a 16-bit microprocessor, and from Intel manufacturers they introduce a 8086 chip. Al Gore comes up with the phrase "information highway." The same year Apple co-founder Steve Wozniak developed the first programming language called Integer Basic, this language was quickly replaced by the Microsoft Applesoft Basic.

Also in 1978, there was a machine that had an integrated, self contained design and was priced at less than $800, known as the Commodore PET which was a Personal Electronic Transactor. On 4/11/78 Microsoft announces its third language product, Microsoft COBOL-80. On the 1st of November in 1978 after their third language introduction, they opened their first international sales office in Japan. Microsoft delegates ASCII Microsoft, locatwed in Tokyo, asits exclusive sales agent for the Far East. And finally on New Years Eve of 1978 Microsoft announced that their year end sales was over $1 million dollars. The following year in April of 1979 Microsoft 8080 BASIC is the first microprocessor to win the ICP Million Dollar Award. The big computers were dominated by software for the mainframe computer, the recognition for the pc computer indicated growth and acceptance in the industry.

Both Allen and Gates return home to Bellevue, Washington and announce plans to open offices in their home town, thus becoming the first microcomputer software company in the Northwest.

Technical Details of both Linux and Windows OS's

An OS takes care of all input and output coming to a computer. It manages users, processes, memory management, printing, telecommunications, networking, and etc. The OS sends data to a disk, the printer, the screen and other peripherals connected to the computer. A computer can't work without an OS. The OS tells the machine how to process instructions coming from input devices and software running on the computer. Therefore every computer is built different, commands for in or output will have to be treated differently. In most cases an operating system is not a gigantic nest of programs but instead a small system of programs that operate by the core or kernal. The pc computer system is so compact these small supporting programs it is easier to rewrite parts r packages of the system than to redesign an entire program.

When first created OS's were designed to help applications interact with the computer hardware. This is the same today, the importance of the OS has risen to the point where the operating system defines the computer. The OS gives off a layer of abstraction between the user and the machine when they communicate. Users don't see the hardware directly, but view it through the OS. This abstraction can be used to hide certain hardware details from the application and the user.

Applied software is that which is not generic but specifically for one single task machine. The software will not run on any other machine. Applications like this are SABRE, the reservation system of airlines, and defense systems. Computer Aided Software Engineering (CASE) Creating software is an expensive and time consuming process. These programs will support and in some cases replace the engineer in creating computer programs. Cad cam systems is the computer aided design &computer aided manufacturing. The electronic drawing board in a computer program the features are multiplying. Like premanufactured elements, strength calculations, emulations of how a construction will hold in earthquakes.

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