Operating systems

Quick links Operating System ABCs Operating System types Operating System overviews Troubleshooting Operating System Q&A Operating System definitions Apple news Linux and Unix news Microsoft news Operating system ABCs 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 would be useless. Operating system types As computers have progressed and developed so have the operating systems. Below is a basic list of the different operating systems and a few examples of operating systems that fall into each of the categories. Many computer operating systems will fall into more than one of the below categories. 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. Below are some examples of GUI Operating Systems. 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 for a complete definition. Below are some examples of multi-user operating systems. Linux Unix Windows 2000 Multiprocessing - An operating system capable of supporting and utilizing more than one computer processor. Below are some examples of multiprocessing operating systems.

Linux Unix Windows 2000 Multitasking - An operating system that is capable of allowing multiple software processes to run at the same time. Below are some examples of multitasking operating systems. Unix Windows 2000 Multithreading - Operating systems that allow different parts of a software program to run concurrently. Operating systems that would fall into this category are: Linux Unix Windows 2000 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 the operating system page. Linux and Variants MacOSMS-DOS IBM OS/2 Warp Unix and Variants Windows CE Windows 3.x Windows 95 Windows 98 Windows 98 SE Windows ME Windows NT Windows 2000 Windows XP Windows Vista Windows 7 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 AIX and AIXL Date first released Unix and Linux history. Platform Various Developer IBM

AmigaOS BSD Caldera Linux Corel Linux Debian Linux DUnix DYNIX/ptx HP-UX IRIX Kondara Linux Linux MAC OS 8 MAC OS 9 MAC OS 10 MAC OS X

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Commodore BSD SCO Corel GNU Digital IBM Hewlett Packard SGI Kondara Linus Torvalds Apple Apple Apple Apple Mandrake MINIX Microsoft Microsoft Microsoft Microsoft Microsoft Microsoft Apple OSF QNX Red Hat SCO

Mandrake Linux Unix and Linux history. MINIX MS-DOS 1.x MS-DOS 2.x MS-DOS 3.x MS-DOS 4.x MS-DOS 5.x MS-DOS 6.x NEXTSTEP OSF/1 QNX Red Hat Linux SCO

Slackware Linux Unix and Linux history. Sun Solaris SuSE Linux System 1 System 2 System 3 System 4 System 6 System 7 System V Tru64 Unix Turbolinux Ultrix Unisys Unix UnixWare VectorLinux Windows 2000 Windows 2003 Windows 3.X Windows 7 Windows 95 Windows 98 Windows CE Windows ME Windows NT Windows Vista Windows XP Unix and Linux history. Unix and Linux history. Apple operating system history. Apple operating system history. Apple operating system history. Apple operating system history. Apple operating system history. Apple operating system history. Unix and Linux history. Unix and Linux history. Unix and Linux history. Unix and Linux history. Unix and Linux history. Unix and Linux history. Unix and Linux history. Unix and Linux history. Microsoft Windows history. Microsoft Windows history. Microsoft Windows history. Microsoft Windows history. Microsoft Windows history. Microsoft Windows history. Microsoft Windows history. Microsoft Windows history. Microsoft Windows history. Microsoft Windows history. Microsoft Windows history.

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Common operating system questions and answers Reference CH000575 CH000619 CH000643 Q&A Forum Questions Linux vs. Windows Command line vs. GUI. How do I determine what operating system I'm using? See the Q&A section for a complete listing of more specific OS questions. If your question is not listed here try our computer help forum.