FACULTY OF COMPUTER AND MATHEMATICAL SCIENCES

PRACTICAL APPROACH OF OPERTAING SYSTEM

CSS204
REPORT ASSIGNMENT

STUDENT NAME: SAIFUL NAIM BIN NORAZMAN

LECTURER’S NAME: ZARINA ZAINUL RASYID

TABLE OF CONTENT
Page
Table of Content 2
List of Figures 3
List of Tables 4

1.0 INTRODUCTION 5
1.1 Background 5
1.2 Term of Reference 5
1.3 Scope 5
1.4 Purpose 5
1.5 Methodology 6
2.0 CONTENT 7
2.1 Operating system and its background 7
2.2 Operating system software update 9
2.3 Third party software update 15
2.4 Hardware update 16
3.0 CONCLUSION 17
REFERENCES 18

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LIST OF FIGURES
Table Title Page
1 Windows update rates
2 MacOS update rates
3 Ubuntu version releases
4 Ubuntu update rates

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LIST OF TABLES
Table Title Page
1 Microsoft Windows versions releases
2 Mac OS version releases
3 FreeDOS version releases
4 BSD descendant version releases
5 Newest version of word processors available across
platforms
6 Minimum requirements for each operating system with
macOS excluded.
7 macOS 12 supported hardware

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1.0 INTRODUCTION
1.1 Background
In the last decade, it is estimated that the number of computers owns by private
households has increased to over 50% worldwide. There many explanations that
can be given for this rise of computer users. For example, the convenience it
brought upon us whether it is for searching for information online or automating
most of our works. However, it seems that the almighty technology also has its
own security issues particularly regarding the operating system.
I believe the security issues has plenty of negative effects on users, which makes
them vulnerable online. Vulnerabilities online are especially disadvantageous,
especially for the users, since they will be the victims to plenty of crimes.

1.2 Term of Reference

During the third week of the third semester of 2021/2022, on 25 October 2021,
Madam Zarina Zainul Rasyid, Lecturer of the subject Practical Approach of
Operating System, tasked us to investigate the common security issues and its
implications to operating systems. I hereby submit the report entitled “Common
Security Issues and its Implications to Operating Systems”.

1.3 Scope
The study conducted for this report focused on a few widely used operating
systems worldwide. The operating systems selected ranges from legacy operating
systems, today’s most used as daily drivers, and a rising operating system.

1.4 Purpose
The purpose of this report is to investigate the issues and properly addressing its
implications to each of the selected operating systems.

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1.5 Methodology
A research was conducted online by searching through official pages and third
party pages to collect the required information needed. The research was
conducted until the all the information needed is acquired.
● All information were cross-checked across multiple websites
● The data from the research were analysed. The results were converted into
charts and tables.

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2.0 CONTENT
The research was conducted by searching through the internet. All information
were thoroughly checked before it is taken in as data used in this report.

2.1 OPERATING SYSTEMS SELECTED AND ITS BACKGROUND

A total of 5 operating systems were chosen. These operating systems will be
addressed, one by one, for each security issues that was investigated.

2.1.1 Microsoft Windows

Microsoft Windows, commonly referred to as Windows, is a group of several
proprietary graphical operating system families, all of which are developed and
marketed by Microsoft. Microsoft introduced an operating environment named
Windows on November 20, 1985, as a graphical operating system shell for MS-
DOS in response to the growing interest in graphical user interfaces (GUIs).

2.1.2 Mac OS
macOS, previously Mac OS X and later OS X, is a proprietary graphical operating
system developed and marketed by Apple Inc. since 2001. It is the primary
operating system for Apple's Mac computers. It is the second most widely used
desktop OS, after Windows NT and ahead of Chrome OS.

2.1.3 Ubuntu
Ubuntu is a Linux distribution based on Debian and composed mostly of free and
open-source software. Ubuntu is officially released in three editions: Desktop,
Server, and Core for Internet of things devices and robots. All the editions can run
on the computer alone, or in a virtual machine. Ubuntu is a popular operating
system for cloud computing, with support for OpenStack. Ubuntu's default
desktop has been GNOME, since version 17.10.

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Ubuntu is developed by Canonical, and a community of other developers, under a
meritocratic governance model. Ubuntu is named after the Nguni philosophy of
ubuntu, which Canonical indicates means "humanity to others" with a
connotation of "I am what I am because of who we all are".

2.1.4 FreeDOS
FreeDOS (formerly Free-DOS and PD-DOS) is a free operating system for IBM PC
compatible computers. It intends to provide a complete MS-DOS-compatible
environment for running legacy software and supporting embedded systems. It is
designed to run well under virtualization or x86 emulation.

2.1.5 BSD
The Berkeley Software Distribution or Berkeley Standard Distribution (BSD) is a
discontinued operating system based on Research Unix, developed and
distributed by the Computer Systems Research Group (CSRG) at the University of
California, Berkeley. The term "BSD" commonly refers to its descendants,
including FreeBSD, OpenBSD, NetBSD, and DragonFly BSD.

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2.2 OPERATING SYSTEM SOFTWARE UPDATE
In this section, we analysed the operating system software update for each
operating system. From these observations, we were able to obtain beneficial
results which helped us to study the update schedule, period between updates,
support lifecycle, and its implications.
2.2.1 Windows versions and its status
Windows Version Support status
MS-DOS No longer supported
Windows 1.0-2.0 No longer supported
Windows 3.0-3.1 No longer supported
Windows 95 No longer supported
Windows NT 3.1-4.0 No longer supported
Windows 98 No longer supported
Windows ME No longer supported
Windows 2000 No longer supported
Windows XP No longer supported
Windows Vista No longer supported
Windows 7 No longer supported
Windows 8.1 Supported until 10th of January 2023
Windows 10 Supported until 14th of October 2025
Windows 11 Latest version
Table 1: Microsoft Windows versions releases

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 Windows Updates Rates (Days) over latest 5 updates
40

35

30

25

20

15

10

Windows 10 Windows 11 Windows 8

Figure 1: Windows update rates

Table 1 shows that only Windows 8.1, Windows 10, and Windows 11 are still
supported by Microsoft. While figure 1 shows that among those that is still
supported, each received regular updates but with different rates of which the
newer version of Windows gets more frequent updates of 7 days average
compared to older version of Windows at roughly month between updates.

2.2.2 Win versions and its status

Version Support Status

Mac OS X 10.7 and older No longer supported
OS X 10.11 and older No longer supported
macOS 10.12 No longer supported
macOS 10.13 No longer supported
macOS 10.14 No longer supported
macOS 10.15 Older version, still maintained
macOS 11 Older version, still maintained
macOS 12 Latest version
Table 2: Mac OS version releases

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 macOS Updates Rates (Days) over latest 5 updates
70

60

50

40

30

20

10

macOS 11 macOS 12

Figure 2: MacOS update rates

Table 2 shows that only macOS 10.15, macOS 11, and macOS 12 are still
supported by Apple. While figure 2 shows that among those that is still
supported, macOS 11 receive irregular updates while not enough data available
for macOS 12 since it is just released.

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2.2.3 Ubuntu versions and its status

Figure 3: Ubuntu version releases

Ubuntu is released every six months, with long-term support (LTS) releases every
two years. Currently supported versions are 14.04 LTS, 16.04 LTS, 18.04 LTS, 20.04
LTS, 21.04, 21.10, and 22.04 LTS.

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 Ubuntu update rates (month)
35

30

25

20

15

10

0
release x.1 release x.2 release x.3 release x.4 release x.5 release x.6 release x.7

14.04 LTS 16.04 LTS 18.04 LTS 20.04 LTS

Figure 4: Ubuntu update rates

Figure 4 shows the frequency of which ubuntu releasing updates. For newly
released version of Ubuntu, it will take 3 months for version x.1 to be released,
and an average of 6 months for the following updates, followed with an irregular
pattern for the latest update.

2.2.4 FreeDOS versions and its status

FreeDOS Version Support Status
ALPHA No longer supported
BETA No longer supported
1.0 No longer supported
1.1 No longer supported
1.2 Latest version
1.3 Under development
Table 3: FreeDOS version releases
Table 3 shows version releases of FreeDOS and every fixes and stability
Improvement will be release in the next version update.

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2.2.5 BSD versions and its status
BSD descendants Version and support status
No longer Older version, still Latest version
supported supported
FreeBSD 12.1 and older 12.2 13.0
OpenBSD 6.8 and older 6.9 7.0
DragonflyBSD 5.8 and older N/A 6.0
NetBSD 7.0 and older 8.0 9.0
Table 4: BSD descendants version releases
Table 4 shows version releases of every BSD descendants operating systems and it
follows he same approach as FreeBSD where every fixes and stability
Improvement will be release in the next version update.

2.2.6 Issues and implications

With outdated operating systems, cyber-crime becomes a possibility.
Unsupported operating systems will no longer receive security updates. This
means that it is much easier for harmful viruses, spyware, and other malicious
software to gain access to your computer. Windows, macOS, and Ubuntu have
been updating frequently as to combat the possibility of its users of getting harm
by pouring out updates regularly with macOS being in between a week to 2
months for an update to be released, Windows with variations between Windows
version, ranging from a week for Windows 11, an average of a fortnight for
Windows 10, and a month for Windows 8.1, ending with Ubuntu which releases
updates with an average of months for LTS releases. By updating to the latest
versions available, users will mostly be protected as known security issues has
been addressed in the latest update.

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2.3 THIRD PARTY SOFTWARE UPDATES
This section illustrates the security issues particularly regarding third party
software updates. We focused on the current update releases, and future
possible updates.

2.3.1 Word Processor

Operating System Word processor
Windows Microsoft Word 2019 / LibreOffice
Mac OS Microsoft Word 2016 / LibreOffice
Ubuntu LibreOffice
FreeBSD Microsoft Word 5.5
BSD LibreOffice
Table 5: Newest version of word processors available across platforms
Table 5 shows every word processors available across all operating systems.
Windows is the most up-to-date being the only one supporting the latest
Microsoft Words while macOS are lagging behind only supporting Microsoft
Words 2016. This is really good in order to keep up with the most recent security
patch while also getting up-to-date with the most recent features. Microsoft
Office as a non-open-source application, are not available on open-source
operating system, such as Ubuntu and BSD, as such, these operating system are
left behind if anything happens to the mainly used word processor. While on the
other hand, since FreeBSD are used to run legacy application, it means that this
operating system would not be getting any updates or patch on security thus
making it the most vulnerable out of all the operating system above.

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2.4 HARDWARE UPDATES
This section focuses on the hardware requirements to run the operating systems
and any security issues, and incompatibilities.

Operating System CPU (version OR RAM STORAGE

specs)
Windows 11 1 Ghz / 2 Cores 4GB 64GB
Ubuntu 20.04 LTS 2 Ghz / 2 Cores $GB 25GB
FreeDOS 8086 or 8088 512kB 40MB
BSD i486 96MB 1.5GB
Table 6: Minimum requirements for each operating system with macOS excluded.
Apple products which support
macOS 12
MacBook (Early 2016 and later)
MacBook Air (Early 2015 and later)
MacBook Pro (Early 2015 and later)
iMac (Late 2015 and later)
iMac Pro (2017 and later)
Mac mini (Late 2014 and later)
Mac Pro (Late 2013 and later)
Table 7: macOS 12 supported hardware
Table 6 shows the requirements by each and every operating system excluding
macOS. FreeDOS has the least requirements as the legacy operating system, by
only requiring 8086 or 8088 CPU, 512 kB and 40MB of storage to run, followed by
BSD with a little bit higher base requiring a 486 CPU, 96MB of RAM, and 1,5 GB of
storage. Windows 11 and Ubuntu are on par with each other, while macOS
requirement is divided by products is due to macOS are only release on Apple
products (refer Table 7) which have fixed hardware specifications. Owning an
older hardware will restricts user from updating to newer operating system which
will leads to them being vulnerable to attacks on older operating system which no
longer being supported. Upgrading hardware every so often is needed in order to
be up-to-date with security patch and updates the operating systems of choice.

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3.0 CONCLUSION

To conclude the findings, we found that majority of the security issues are
originating from being out-of-date of the latest version of technology. Be it
operating software update, third party software update, or hardware updates.
Users needs to keep up with the flow of technology in order to protect
themselves form being vulnerable and be the victims of viruses, malware, and
hackings.
Although old technologies are vulnerable in its own ways. It is still useful for
those who requires them to use the application that has been discontinued ever
since. For those who does runs older versions of operating systems, be sure to
have an active antivirus, and to stay up-to-date with recent news regarding online
security so that preventive measures can be taken.
As such, we can draw that operating systems has its own security issues
and implications, but also can be overcome in plenty of ways.

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REFERENCES
1. macOS, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MacOS (5 November 2021)
2. Microsoft Windows, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Microsoft_Windows (5
November 2021)
3. Ubuntu, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ubuntu (5 November 2021)
4. FreeDOS, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/FreeDOS (5 November 2021)
5. Berkeley Software Distribution,
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Berkeley_Software_Distribution#:~:text=The
%20Berkeley%20Software%20Distribution%20or%20Berkeley%20Standard
%20Distribution,Group%20%28CSRG%29%20at%20the%20University%20of
%20California%2C%20Berkeley. (5 November 2021)
6. Windows 10 version history,
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Windows_10_version_history (5 November 2021)
7. macOS version history, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MacOS_version_history
(5 November 2021)
8. Ubuntu version history, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ubuntu_version_history
(5 November 2021)
9. NetBSD, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/NetBSD (5 November 2021)
10. FreeBSD version history,
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/FreeBSD_version_history (5 November 2021)
11. OpenBSD, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/OpenBSD#Releases (5 November
2021)
12. DragonflyBSD, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/DragonFly_BSD (5 November
2021)
13. FreeDOS, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/FreeDOS (5 November 2021)
14. A full history of macOS (OS X) release dates and rates,
https://robservatory.com/a-full-history-of-macos-os-x-release-dates-and-rates/ (5
November 2021)

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15. Windows 8.1 update history, https://support.microsoft.com/en-
us/topic/windows-8-1-and-windows-server-2012-r2-update-history-47d81dd2-
6804-b6ae-4112-20089467c7a6 (5 November 2021)
16. Windows 11 update history, https://support.microsoft.com/en-
us/topic/windows-11-update-history-a19cd327-b57f-44b9-84e0-26ced7109ba9 9
(5 November 2021)
17. Windows 10 update history, https://support.microsoft.com/en-
us/topic/windows-10-update-history-1b6aac92-bf01-42b5-b158-f80c6d93eb11 (5
November 2021)
18. Releases, https://wiki.ubuntu.com/Releases (5 November 2021)
19. ARCHIVED: For Mac OS X, what are the system requirements for Microsoft
Office?, https://kb.iu.edu/d/aola (5 November 2021)
20. Microsoft Office Version and Windows Version Compatibility Chart,
https://www.keynotesupport.com/windows/microsoft-windows-office-
compatibility-chart.shtml (5 November 2021)
21. Office software on FreeDOS,
https://darrengoossens.wordpress.com/2021/02/27/office-software-on-freedos/
(5 November 2021)
22. Open source Word processors for FreeBSD,
https://opensourcesoftwaredirectory.com/Office/Word-processors/FreeBSD (5
November 2021)
23. What are the best open-source word processors for Linux?,
https://www.slant.co/topics/9457/~open-source-word-processors-for-linux (5
November 2021)
24. Windows 11 System Requirements, https://support.microsoft.com/en-
us/windows/windows-11-system-requirements-86c11283-ea52-4782-9efd-
7674389a7ba3 (5 November 2021)
25. Chapter 2. Installing FreeBSD,
https://docs.freebsd.org/en/books/handbook/bsdinstall/#:~:text=A%20FreeBSD

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%20installation%20requires%20a%20minimum%20of%2096,hard%20drive
%20space%20is%20a%20good%20starting%20point. (5 November 2021)
26. Ubuntu 20.04 System Requirements, https://linuxconfig.org/ubuntu-20-04-
system-requirements (5 November 2021)
27. macOS Monterey (macOS 12) Q&A, https://everymac.com/mac-
answers/macos-12-monterey-faq/macos-monterey-macos-12-compatbility-list-
system-requirements.html (5 November 2021)
28. FreeDOS, https://dos.fandom.com/wiki/FreeDOS (5 November 2021)
29. Hardware compatibility,
http://wiki.freedos.org/wiki/index.php/Hardware_compatibility (5 November
2021)
30. What are the system requirements for FreeDOS,
https://www.answers.com/Q/What_are_the_system_requirements_for_FreeDOS
(5 November 2021)

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