Operating System's History and Functions
Another day for another blog. It's been a long time since I didn't post a new blog, so for my today’s post, I will tackle an overview of what an Operating System is all about and I will also upload my presentation file on this blog.
Operating System is a software or set of programs the mediate access between physical devices and applications programs. Some of its characteristics are multi-tasking, multi-processing, multi-user, protected mode, support for graphics, and built-in support for networks.
So let’s take a look of an overview of its history development:
a. Unix- 1960’s, developed by AT&T, designed to be portable, multitasking, multi-user in a time-sharing configuration.b. MS-DOS- 1980’s, developed by Microsoft, specialized in programming languages and software development.c. SUN OS- 1982, version of the UNIX OS, developed by SUN Microsystems, specialized in workstations and server system.d. Mac OS- 1984, developed by Apple Computer for their Apple Macintosh Computer, widely credited for their popularizing the GUI.e. Windows 1.0- 1985, was the first attempt of Microsoft to implement a multi-tasking graphical user interface based on the operating system environment on the PC platform.f. OS/2- next released from Windows 1.0, created by Microsoft and IBM, to be used on IBM’s Personal System/2 computers. It will be discontinued to use at the end of this year 2006. It is intended as a protected-mode, doesn’t share similarities on Windows, but are alike in UNIX and XENIX. g. Windows 3.0- 1990, third major released of Microsoft Windows, specialized on GUI interface.h. Windows NT 3.1- 1993, first released of Windows NT, capable of business server. After Windows NT 3.1 came Windows NT Advanced Server.i. Windows 1995- 1995, a consumer-oriented graphical user interface-based operating system. Codename: Chicago. It was widely improved from its GUI features whose format and structure is still used today by Windows XP.j. Windows 1998- 1998, a graphical operating system and an update of Windows 95, among its features are AGP support, functional USB drivers, and support for multiple monitors and WebTV.k. Windows 2000- 2000, comes with four versions like Professional, Server, Advanced Server, and Datacenter Server. It was functional in Microsoft Management Console (MMC), and Standard System Management Applications.l. Windows XP-2001, successor of Windows 2000, developed by Microsoft for use on general-purpose computer systems, including home and business desktops, notebook computers, and media centers. It was known for improved efficiency and stability, presents significantly redesigned GUI, and a change for more user-friendly than previous versions Windows by Microsoft company. Unfortunately, Windows XP was criticized from its security vulnerabilities, tight integration of applications such as Internet Explorer and Windows Media Player, and some aspects of its user interface.m. Windows Vista- June 2006 for Beta testing, codename: Longhorn, it will be scheduled for released on November 2006 for business edition and January of 2007 for consumer editions. This was the longest time span for release on Windows since Windows XP with approximately 5 years. According to Microsoft, Windows Vista has hundreds of new features including updated GUI, and visual style, improved searching, new multimedia creation tools, and completely redesigned networking audio, print and display sub-systems.
Pretty cool on a summary with that one! Next time, I will try more on Vista because that was my final project on my second semester on Operating System.
So on deeper knowledge, Operating System composed of different functions namely:
1.) Processor Management
2.) Memory Management
3.) Housekeeping
4.) User Interface
5.) Storage Management
6.) Device Management
7.) Job Sequencing
8.) Job Control
9.) Job Sequencing
10) Error Handling
11.) I/O Handling
12.) Interrupt Handling
13.) Scheduling
14.) Resource Control
15.) Protection
Wow, so much for that. If you will have OS major subject in the future, all of them are likely to be discussed or maybe on your second OS. At first, functions of an Operating System may not likely to be noticed at first but they all exist in an Operating System.
