Types of operating systems........

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 and software programs would be useless. In 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 visit a local retail store to purchase it.

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 its corrisponding operating system page.

Linux and Variants Mac OS MS-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 Windows 8

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 history.	Amiga	Commodore
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 history.	Apple Macintosh	Apple
MAC OS 9	Apple operating system history.	Apple Macintosh	Apple
MAC OS 10	Apple operating system history.	Apple Macintosh	Apple
MAC OS X	Apple operating system history.	Apple Macintosh	Apple
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 history.	Various	Apple
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
System 1	Apple operating system history.	Apple Macintosh	Apple
System 2	Apple operating system history.	Apple Macintosh	Apple
System 3	Apple operating system history.	Apple Macintosh	Apple
System 4	Apple operating system history.	Apple Macintosh	Apple
System 6	Apple operating system history.	Apple Macintosh	Apple
System 7	Apple operating system history.	Apple Macintosh	Apple
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 history.	IBM	Microsoft
Windows 2003	Microsoft Windows history.	IBM	Microsoft
Windows 3.X	Microsoft Windows history.	IBM	Microsoft
Windows 8	Microsoft Windows history.	IBM	Microsoft
Windows 7	Microsoft Windows history.	IBM	Microsoft
Windows 95	Microsoft Windows history.	IBM	Microsoft
Windows 98	Microsoft Windows history.	IBM	Microsoft
Windows CE	Microsoft Windows history.	PDA	Microsoft
Windows ME	Microsoft Windows history.	IBM	Microsoft
Windows NT	Microsoft Windows history.	IBM	Microsoft
Windows Vista	Microsoft Windows history.	IBM	Microsoft
Windows XP	Microsoft Windows history.	IBM	Microsoft
Xenix	Unix and Linux history.	Various	Microsoft