Operating system

In computing, an operating system (OS) is the system software responsible for the direct control and management of hardware and basic system operations. Additionally, it provides a foundation upon which to run application software such as word processing programs and web browsers.

Today's operating systems

As of 2005, the major operating systems in widespread use on general-purpose computers (including personal computers) have consolidated into two main families: the Unix-like family and the Microsoft Windows family. Mainframe computers and embedded systems use a variety of different operating systems, many with no direct connection to Windows or Unix.

Related Topics:
As of 2005 - Personal computer - Unix-like - Microsoft Windows - Mainframe - Embedded system

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Unix-like systems

The Unix-like family is a diverse group of operating systems, with several major sub-categories including System V, BSD, and Linux. The name "Unix" is a trademark of The Open Group which licenses it for use to any operating system that has been shown to conform to the definitions that they have cooperatively developed. The name is commonly used to refer to the large set of operating systems which resemble the original Unix.

Related Topics:
Unix-like - System V - BSD - Linux - The Open Group

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Unix systems run on a wide variety of machine architectures. They are used heavily as server systems in business, as well as workstations in academic and engineering environments. Free software Unix variants, such as Linux and BSD, are increasingly popular. They have made inroads on the desktop market as well, particularly with "user-friendly" Linux distributions such as Ubuntu Linux.

Related Topics:
Server - Workstation - Free software - Linux - BSD - Linux distribution - Ubuntu Linux

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Some proprietary Unix variants like HP's HP-UX and IBM's AIX are designed to run only on that vendor's proprietary hardware. Others, such as Solaris, can run on both proprietary hardware and on commodity x86 PCs. Apple's Mac OS X, a BSD variant derived from NeXTSTEP and FreeBSD, has replaced Apple's earlier (non-Unix) Mac OS in a small but dedicated market, in the process becoming the most popular proprietary Unix system.

Related Topics:
HP-UX - AIX - Solaris - X86 - Mac OS X - NeXTSTEP - FreeBSD

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Over the past several years, free Unix systems have supplanted proprietary ones in many markets. For instance, scientific modeling and computer animation were once the province of SGI's IRIX. Today, they are dominated by Linux-based clusters

Related Topics:
SGI - IRIX

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Microsoft Windows

The Microsoft Windows family of operating systems originated as a graphical layer on top of the older MS-DOS environment for the IBM PC. Modern versions are based on the newer Windows NT core that first took shape in OS/2. Windows runs on 32- and 64-bit Intel and AMD computers, although earlier versions also ran on the DEC Alpha, MIPS and PowerPC architectures (and there was work in progress to make it work also on the SPARC architecture).

Related Topics:
Microsoft Windows - MS-DOS - IBM PC - Windows NT - OS/2 - Intel - AMD - DEC Alpha - MIPS - PowerPC - SPARC

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Today, Windows is a popular desktop operating system, enjoying a near-monopoly of around 90% of the worldwide desktop market share. It is also widely used on low-end and mid-range servers, supporting applications such as web servers and database servers.

Related Topics:
Monopoly - Market share - Web server - Database servers

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