Round-up on Wizards of OS and more on history

Frankly speaking, the seminars on operating system were awesome. Dr. Soo really knows how to make a seminar attractive and contented. After setting us free to broke down four operating systems, everyone begin to have their own ideal idea of what a perfect os should be like. I still like os x the best, because the graphics and design are fascinating. However, the rest of our group turned to windows 7, due to its fast speed and more user friendly construction. As for Ubuntu, everyone likes those special effects, but when it comes to real use, most of us feel it uneasy. At last, the Solaris have nothing outstanding for us to figure out what was amazing about it. The general ranking on first impression of using these four operating systems in my group is: windows7 > OS x > Ubuntu > Solaris.

Actually, the rank shouldn’t be like this, because according to many experts, windows are cheap, less functional and less reliable. In Paul Murphy’s point of view, if people compare windows with Linux, os x or Solaris from Cost, functionality and reliability, no one would choose windows anymore. He believes that the main reason to cause windows’ monopoly is because of people’s acceptance and compatibility. This is really an important issue for all users. It’s not easy at all to find a certain install package when I’m using Ubuntu.

According to Wikipedia, An operating system (OS) is an interface between hardware and user which is responsible for the management and coordination of activities and the sharing of the resources of the computer that acts as a host for computing applications run on the machine. According to Dr. Soo, it’s a program that acts as an intermediary between a computer user and the computer hardware. And the reason why we are using it is because of the following reasons.
~We need to hide low level details,
~We need a simple and clean interface to work.
~We need something to manage hardware resources
~We need something to arbitrate conflict request.
~We need to prevent errors and improper use.
~We need a secured environment to work.
So, a successful os should handle things above very well and own an amazing appearance. Then how did windows win in this competition.

Operating systems can be separated into os for mainframes and os for micro computer. The os for mainframes mainly includes:
~Burroughs MCP – B5000, 1961 to Unisys Clearpath/MCP, present.
~IBM OS/360 – IBM System/360, 1966 to IBM z/OS, present.
~IBM CP-67 – IBM System/360, 1967 to IBM z/VM, present.
~UNIVAC EXEC 8 – UNIVAC 1108, 1967, to OS 2200 Unisys Clearpath Dorado, present.
The os for microcomputers have various kinds. In the early years MS-DOS is considered the best and most popular os. But after apple introduce an innovative Graphical User Interface (GUI) to the Mac OS. Every os turn to use GUI and become similar. Here is a great link to see all os since 1980. (Unfortunately it’s in Chinese!) http://coolshell.cn/?p=105. There is also a clear and precise compression between different os on:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Comparison_of_operating_systems











apple-lisa operating system










Windows 1.0













windows 3.0
After reading many articles, I believe that the most important reason for windows to success is that they have a clear aim and goal. They update very frequently and use latest technology. Having a good sense of marketing is also very important. You can read more on:
http://tech.sina.com.cn/it/2005-04-07/1119574771.shtml
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Comparison_of_Windows_versions
http://toastytech.com/guis/index.html
http://www.guidebookgallery.org/screenshots