Operating Systems
Operating systems are software systems that make using computers more convenient for users,
application developers and system administrators. They provide services that allow each
application to execute safely, efficiently and concurrently (i.e., in parallel) with other applications. The
software that contains the core components of the operating system is the kernel.
Popular desktop operating systems include Linux, Windows and Mac OS X. Popular mobile
operating systems used in smartphones and tablets include Google’s Android, Apple’s iOS
(for its iPhone, iPad and iPod Touch devices), Windows Phone 8 and BlackBerry OS.
Windows—A Proprietary Operating System
In the mid-1980s, Microsoft developed the Windows operating system, consisting of a
graphical user interface built on top of DOS—an enormously popular personal-computer
operating system that users interacted with by typing commands. Windows borrowed
many concepts (such as icons, menus and windows) popularized by early Apple Macintosh
operating systems and originally developed by Xerox PARC. Windows 8 is Microsoft’s latest operating
system—its features include PC and tablet support, a tiles-based user interface, security enhancements,
touch-screen and multi-touch support, and more. Windows
is a proprietary operating system—it’s controlled by Microsoft exclusively. It’s by far the
world’s most widely used operating system.
Linux—An Open-Source Operating System
The Linux operating system—which is popular in servers, personal computers and embedded systems—is
perhaps the greatest success of the open-source movement. The opensource software development style
departs from the proprietary development style (used,
for example, with Microsoft’s Windows and Apple’s Mac OS X). With open-source development,
individuals and companies—often worldwide—contribute their efforts in developing, maintaining and
evolving software. Anyone can use and customize it for their
own purposes, typically at no charge. The Java Development Kit and many related Java
technologies are now open source.
Some organizations in the open-source community are the Eclipse Foundation (the
Eclipse Integrated Development Environment helps Java programmers conveniently develop
software), the Mozilla Foundation (creators of the Firefox web browser), the Apache Software
Foundation (creators of the Apache web server that delivers web pages over the Internet in
response to web-browser requests) and GitHub and SourceForge (which provide the tools
for managing open-source projects).
Rapid improvements to computing and communications, decreasing costs and opensource software have
made it easier and more economical to create software-based businesses now than just a few decades ago.
Facebook, which was launched from a college
dorm room, was built with open-source software.
A variety of issues—such as Microsoft’s market power, the relatively small number of
user-friendly Linux applications and the diversity of Linux distributions (Red Hat Linux,
Ubuntu Linux and many others)—have prevented widespread Linux use on desktop computers. But
Linux has become extremely popular on servers and in embedded systems,
such as Google’s Android-based smartphones.
Android
Android—the fastest-growing mobile and smartphone operating system—is based on the
Linux kernel and uses Java. Experienced Java programmers can quickly dive into Android
development. One benefit of developing Android apps is the openness of the platform.
The operating system is open source and free.
The Android operating system was developed by Android, Inc., which was acquired
by Google in 2005. In 2007, the Open Handset Alliance™—which now has 87 company
members worldwide.
was formed to develop, maintain and evolve Android, driving innovation in mobile technology and
improving the user experience while reducing costs. As of April 2013, more
than 1.5 million Android devices (smartphones, tablets, etc.) were being activated daily.10
By October 2013, a Strategy Analytics report showed that Android had 81.3% of the
global smartphone market share, compared to 13.4% for Apple, 4.1% for Microsoft and
1% for Blackberry.11 Android devices now include smartphones, tablets, e-readers, robots,
jet engines, NASA satellites, game consoles, refrigerators, televisions, cameras, health-care
