Operating System
Apple shortened Macintosh to "OS-X" in 2012
(OS-X is the tenth major version of Apple's Macintosh operating system) and then to "macOS" in 2016, using the same nomenclature as iOS, watchOS, and tvOS. Mac OS 8 and Mac OS 9 were Arabic numerals.
Linux is an operating system, like Windows and iOS.
Android, a popular platform, uses Linux. Linux is the operating system of choice for desktops, servers, and embedded systems around the world. It's also reliable, secure, and worry-free.
Apple Macintosh (macOS)
Apple Inc. designs, develops, and markets the Macintosh (now called Mac since 1988). Steve Jobs, Steve Wozniak, and Ronald Wayne founded Apple in 1976 to sell PCs. Steve Jobs introduced the original Macintosh on January 24, 1984. It was the company's first mass-market personal computer with a built-in screen and mouse.
Windows 10 includes the Start menu, new icons, and biometric security features.
Edge replaces Internet Explorer in Windows 10. Cortana, a Siri-like virtual assistant, and new notification systems are also new.
Computer Operating System
Every computer, tablet, and smartphone has an operating system. Windows, Macintosh, and UNIX are popular desktop and server operating systems (which have been developed by a whole history of individuals, corporations and collaborators). Special-purpose operating systems are available for mainframes, robotics, manufacturing, real-time control systems, and more.
Linus created Linux.
He collaborated with MIT programmers to create Linux apps. In 1991, a working Linux OS with some applications was launched, marking the beginning of one of the most popular open-source OS options today.
Ken Thompson was a Bell Labs participant.
He liked MULTICS' potential, but thought it was too complex. He created UNIX's first version, UNICS, in 1969. Uniplexed Information and Computing System (UNICS). The operating system has changed, but the name UNIX stuck. Ken Thompson and Dennis Ritchie rewrote the UNIX kernel in C in 1973.
Torvalds conceived Linux as a computer science student at the University of Helsinki in Finland.
He worked on UNIX OS and thought it needed improvements. When his suggestions were rejected by UNIX's designers, he thought of launching a user-modifiable OS.
Jef Raskin, an Apple employee, envisioned a low-cost, easy-to-use computer in the late 1970s.
Legal issues prevented him from naming the computer after his favorite apple, the McIntosh.
Linux is a family of open-source operating systems that anyone can modify and distribute.
Linus Torvalds created Linux in 1991. Kernel is an operating system's core code. Unlike proprietary software like Windows, this can be modified by anyone (Microsoft).
Linux is free and offers many distributions (or versions).
Linux has a "flavor" for everyone, from beginners to experts. "Distros" are these versions. Nearly every Linux distribution can be downloaded, burned, and installed for free (on as many machines as you like).
Linux
Linux is in smartphones, cars, supercomputers, home appliances, desktops, and servers. Linux has a global user base since the mid-1990s. Linux is in phones, cars, wearables, and TVs. It runs most of the Internet and the top 500 supercomputers.
Microsoft Windows
Microsoft Windows was the first graphical user interface for IBM-compatible PCs when it was released in 1985. Paul Allen and Bill Gates founded Microsoft in 1975. Microsoft's Windows OS is the most popular. Windows' ability to run multiple programs or processes simultaneously in "windows" on the screen made it a popular operating system.
Before Windows, Microsoft users used MS-DOS.
Microsoft needed a single word to describe its new GUI operating system because it usually names its products. Microsoft chose "Windows" because it lets multiple tasks and programs run simultaneously. Because "Windows" can't be trademarked, it's called "Microsoft Windows." Windows 1.0 debuted in 1985.
Microsoft's latest OS is Windows 10.
Microsoft released Windows 10 on July 29, 2015. Built on Windows NT, it follows Windows 8. Microsoft skipped "Windows 9" because "Windows 10" is a new direction for the company. Windows 10 aims to unify Windows across desktops, tablets, and smartphones.
All computers come with preinstalled operating systems.
Most people use their computer's operating system, but you can upgrade or change it. Each operating system's user interface looks and feels different, so switching may be confusing. Modern operating systems are easy to use and share many basic principles.
Linux is an open operating system
No one company is responsible for its development or support. Linux companies share R&D costs with partners and rivals.
Oracle discontinued OpenSolaris after acquiring Sun Microsystems in January 2010.
Oracle stopped updating the Solaris kernel source code in August 2010, turning Solaris 11 into a closed-source proprietary OS.
Oracle Solaris
Sun Microsystems created Solaris, a Unix enterprise OS. It's scalable and can handle a large workload across databases, systems, and applications. Since Oracle's 2010 acquisition of Sun Microsystems, Oracle has owned Oracle Solaris. Solaris is secure. It can automatically fix computer problems. This helps programmers.
Solaris was originally proprietary software.
Sun Microsystems released Solaris's codebase in June 2005 and founded OpenSolaris. Sun Microsystems wanted OpenSolaris to attract developers and users.
Berkeley Software Distribution (BSD)
The Berkeley Software Distribution (BSD) is a discontinued operating system based on Research Unix developed by the CSRG at UC Berkeley. "BSD" refers to FreeBSD, OpenBSD, NetBSD, etc. BSD was originally called Berkeley Unix because it was based on Bell Labs' Unix.
As a multiuser OS, it lets programmers share the computer's resources.
The operating system coordinates the use of the computer's resources, allowing one person to run a spell check program while another creates a document, edits a document while another creates graphics, and formats a document — all at the same time, with each user oblivious to the others' activities.
Popular Linux distributions include:
Ubuntu Linux Mint Debian Fedora Red Hat OpenSUSE Mageia/Mandriva Slackware Puppy Linux Steam OS Gnome Antergos SOlus Elementary OS OpenSuse
UNIX
Unix is a family of multitasking, multiuser computer operating systems derived from AT&T Unix, developed in the 1970s at Bell Laboratories. Internet servers, workstations, and mainframes use UNIX.
The operating system controls all keyboard commands and data, and each user thinks he or she is the only one working on the computer.
Unix was originally designed for programmers developing software for it and other systems, not non-programmers. As the OS spread in academic circles, users added and shared their own tools. UNIX inspired Linux, FreeBSD, and Apple's Mac OS-X.
Windows runs on more than 80% of PCs, with the rest using Linux and Mac.
Windows has a GUI, virtual memory management, multitasking, and peripheral device support. Microsoft offers Windows for PCs, servers, and mobile devices.
Programmers could use the Linux Kernel to create custom operating systems.
With time, user-friendly OSs took over. Linux is the backbone of Debian, Knoppix, Ubuntu, and Fedora. Thousands of Linux-based OSes offer a variety of functions to users.
Except for the first OS-X beta,
all Mac OS versions from 2001 to 2012 were named after big cats, from Cheetah to Mountain Lion.
Even after Apple switched public code-names to California places in 2013,
it used wine names internally until 2014. Apple changed internal code-names from wines to apple varieties in 2015.
Before the Macintosh developer team,
others had tried to design a computer with a mouse and graphical user interface, including Apple's $10,000 business computer Lisa. Lisa was a flop. The Lisa's graphical user interface drained its power, making it too expensive and slow. Lisa lacked the programs needed to sell well in business.
MULTICS, or Multiplexed Operating and Computing System,
was the predecessor to UNIX. General Electric, MIT, and Bell Laboratories began MULTICS in the 1960s. Bell Labs left in 1969.