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Operating systems

An operating system or OS is a software

program that enables the computer hardware to communicate and
operate with the computer software. Without a computer operating

system, a computer and software programs would be useless. The

picture to the right is an example of Microsoft Windows XP, a popular
operating system and what the box may look like if you were to
purchase it from a local retail store.
Operating System types
Operating System listing
Troubleshooting
Operating System Q&A
Operating System definitions
Apple news
Linux and Unix news
Microsoft news

Operating System types

As computers have progressed and developed, so have the operating
systems. Below is a basic list of the types of operating systems and a few
examples of operating systems that fall into each of the types. Many
computer operating systems will fall into more than one of the below types.
GUI - Short for Graphical User Interface, a GUI Operating System contains
graphics and icons and is commonly navigated by using a computer mouse.
See the GUI definition for a complete definition. Examples of GUI Operating
Systems are:
System 7.x
Windows 98
Windows CE
Multi-user - A multi-user operating system allows for multiple users to use
the same computer at the same time and different times. See the multi-user
definition for a complete definition. Examples of operating systems that
would fall into this category are:

Linux
Unix
Windows 2000
Multiprocessing - An operating system capable of supporting and utilizing
more than one computer processor. Examples of operating systems that
would fall into this category are:
Linux
Unix
Windows XP
Multitasking - An operating system that is capable of allowing multiple
software processes to run at the same time. Examples of operating systems
that would fall into this category are:
Linux
Unix
Windows 7
Multithreading - Operating systems that allow different parts of a software
program to run concurrently. Examples of operating systems that would fall
into this category are:
Linux
Unix
Windows XP

Troubleshooting
Common questions and answers to operating systems in general can be
found on the below operating system question and answers. All other
questions relating to an operating system in particular can be found through
its corresponding operating system page.

Linux and Variants

Windows 98 SE

Mac OS

Windows ME

MS-DOS

Windows NT

IBM OS/2 Warp

Windows 2000

Unix and Variants

Windows XP

Windows CE

Windows Vista

Windows 3.x

Windows 7

Windows 95

Windows 8

Windows 98

Windows 8.1

Operating System listing

Below is a listing of many of the different operating systems available today,
the dates they were released, the platforms they have been developed for,
and who developed them.
Operating
system

Date first released

Platform

Developer

AIX and AIXL

Unix and Linux history.

Various

IBM

AmigaOS

Currently no AmigaOS

Amiga

Commodore

history.

Android

November 5, 2007

Mobile

Google

BSD

Unix and Linux history.

Various

BSD

Caldera Linux

Unix and Linux history.

Various

SCO

Corel Linux

Unix and Linux history.

Various

Corel

Debian Linux

Unix and Linux history.

Various

GNU

DUnix

Unix and Linux history.

Various

Digital

DYNIX/ptx

Unix and Linux history.

Various

IBM

HP-UX

Unix and Linux history.

Various

Hewlett
Packard

iOS

2010

Mobile

Apple

IRIX

Unix and Linux history.

Various

SGI

Kondara Linux

Unix and Linux history.

Various

Kondara

Linux

Unix and Linux history.

Various

Linus Torvalds

MAC OS 8

Apple operating system

Apple

Apple

history.

Macintosh

Apple operating system

Apple

history.

Macintosh

Apple operating system

Apple

history.

Macintosh

MAC OS 9

MAC OS 10

Apple

Apple

MAC OS X

Apple operating system

Apple

Apple

history.

Macintosh

Mandrake Linux

Unix and Linux history.

Various

Mandrake

MINIX

Unix and Linux history.

Various

MINIX

MS-DOS 1.x

MS-DOS history.

IBM

Microsoft

MS-DOS 2.x

MS-DOS history.

IBM

Microsoft

MS-DOS 3.x

MS-DOS history.

IBM

Microsoft

MS-DOS 4.x

MS-DOS history.

IBM

Microsoft

MS-DOS 5.x

MS-DOS history.

IBM

Microsoft

MS-DOS 6.x

MS-DOS history.

IBM

Microsoft

NEXTSTEP

Apple operating system

Various

Apple

history.

OS/2

1987

IBM

IBM

OSF/1

Unix and Linux history.

Various

OSF

QNX

Unix and Linux history.

Various

QNX

Red Hat Linux

Unix and Linux history.

Various

Red Hat

SCO

Unix and Linux history.

Various

SCO

Slackware Linux

Unix and Linux history.

Various

Slackware

Sun Solaris

Unix and Linux history.

Various

Sun

SuSE Linux

Unix and Linux history.

Various

SuSE

Symbian

1997

Mobile

Nokia

System 1

Apple operating system

Apple

Apple

history.

Macintosh

Apple operating system

Apple

history.

Macintosh

Apple operating system

Apple

history.

Macintosh

Apple operating system

Apple

history.

Macintosh

Apple operating system

Apple

history.

Macintosh

System 2

System 3

System 4

System 6

Apple

Apple

Apple

Apple

System 7

Apple operating system

Apple

Apple

history.

Macintosh

System V

Unix and Linux history.

Various

System V

Tru64 Unix

Unix and Linux history.

Various

Digital

Turbolinux

Unix and Linux history.

Various

Turbolinux

Ultrix

Unix and Linux history.

Various

Ultrix

Unisys

Unix and Linux history.

Various

Unisys

Unix

Unix and Linux history.

Various

Bell labs

UnixWare

Unix and Linux history.

Various

UnixWare

VectorLinux

Unix and Linux history.

Various

VectorLinux

Windows 2000

Microsoft Windows

IBM

Microsoft

IBM

Microsoft

IBM

Microsoft

history.

Windows 2003

Microsoft Windows
history.

Windows 3.X

Microsoft Windows
history.

Windows 8

Microsoft Windows

IBM

Microsoft

IBM

Microsoft

IBM

Microsoft

IBM

Microsoft

PDA

Microsoft

IBM

Microsoft

IBM

Microsoft

IBM

Microsoft

IBM

Microsoft

Various

Microsoft

history.

Windows 7

Microsoft Windows
history.

Windows 95

Microsoft Windows
history.

Windows 98

Microsoft Windows
history.

Windows CE

Microsoft Windows
history.

Windows ME

Microsoft Windows
history.

Windows NT

Microsoft Windows
history.

Windows Vista

Microsoft Windows
history.

Windows XP

Microsoft Windows
history.

Xenix

Unix and Linux history.

Common operating system Q&A

Reference

Questions

CH000181

Missing operating system.

CH000575

Linux vs. Windows

CH000619

Command line vs. GUI.

CH000643

How do I determine what operating system I'm

using?

Q&A

See the Q&A section for a complete listing of more

specific OS questions.

Forum

If your question is not listed here try our computer

help forum.

Additional information

See our operating system definition for further information and related
links on this term.

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