What is Operating System
An operating system is software that manages all of the hardware resources associated with your desktop or laptop. In simple words, the operating systems manage the communication between your software and your hardware. Without the operating systems (OS), the software wouldn’t function.
Microsoft Windows
Microsoft Windows, known as Windows and Windows OS, is a computer operating system (OS) developed by Microsoft Corporation for personal computers (PCs). Presenting the first graphical user interface (GUI) for PCs, the Windows OS soon dominated the market. Almost 90% of PCs run any version of Windows. It is one of the most used operating systems.
Let’s dig into the history of Windows OS
History
In 1985, the first version of Windows was released. That was an extension of Microsoft’s disk operating System or MS-DOS with a simple GUI. For the very first time, Windows allowed DOS users to visually navigate a virtual desktop. That kind of operating systems displayed the contents of electronic folders and files with the click of a mouse button, instead of typing commands and directory paths at a command prompt.
Later on, different versions were introduced with functionality, Windows File Manager, Program Manager, and Print Manager programs, and a dynamic interface. In 1995 consumers released Windows 95 fully integrated Windows and DOS and offered a built-in World Wide Web browser Internet Explorer.
Advancement
Release of Windows XP in 2001, Microsoft united its various Windows packages under a single banner and offered multiple editions for consumers, businesses, multimedia developers, and others. Windows Vista succeeded the successful XP standard in late 2006. Which quickly acquired a reputation for being a large, slow, and resource-consuming system due to some troubles and market resistance. In response to such disappointments, in 2009 Microsoft released Windows 7. Windows 8 in 2012 offered a start screen in which applications appeared as tiles on a grid. All these operating systems, Feature synchronization of settings so users could log on to another machine with the same OS.
In 2015 Microsoft released Windows 10, which came with an additional feature Cortana, a digital personal assistant like Apple’s Siri. Secondly, the Web browser Microsoft Edge replaced Internet Explorer.
Window 10
Processor: 1 gigahertz (GHz) or faster processor or SoC
RAM (Read-only Memory): 1 GB for 32-bit or 2 GB for 64-bit
Hard disk space: 16 GB for 32-bit OS or 20 GB for 64-bit OS
Graphics card: DirectX 9 or later with WDDM 1.0 driver
Display: 800 x 600
Microsoft announced that Windows 10 would be the last version of Windows OS but today we have a new release of Windows OS with amazing features.
Windows 11
To install Windows 11, devices must meet the following minimum hardware requirements:
Processor: 1 GHz or faster with two or more cores on a compatible 64-bit processor or system on a chip (SoC).
RAM ( Read-only Memory ): Minimum 4 GB. Hard disk space: Minimum 64 GB
Apple macOS
It is a Unix-like operating system developed and marketed by Apple Inc. since 2001. In the market of desktop and laptop computers, it is the 2nd most widely used OS, after Microsoft Windows.
History
macOS, an operating system (OS) developed by the American computer company Apple Inc. This was introduced in 1984 to run the Macintosh line of personal computers (PCs). Its GUI (Graphical user interface ) inspired windows to make its own GUI, Windows OS.
Apple’s marketing strategy was focused on the Macintosh’s ease of use. From the start of its launch date, Apple’s OS used GUI rather than writing commands on command prompt to navigate through files and folders. They used a mouse as a pointing device to select an icon on the desktop. Later on, OS adopted that GUI for a better experience.
Advancement
Mac OS introduced features such as multiple user accounts, Internet file sharing, and network browsing. In 1996 Apple acquired its rival NeXT Computers, which was founded by Steve Jobs after he departed from Apple, and in 2001 the company rolled out Mac OS X, Apple’s most recent OS release. Features such as automated backups and a “Dashboard” manager for small, were updates to OS X.
In 2007 Apple introduced the iPhone smartphone and the iPad tablet computer, mobile phones to which the internet was accessible. Apple introduced a cloud computing service (iCloud) in 2001 that lets users share data among all of their Apple devices, for both OS X and the mobile operating system iOS. In 2016 Apple renamed the system MacOS.
General Requirements
For OS X 10.9 or later
RAM:4GB of memory
Hard Disk Space:12.5GB of available storage
Mac Hardware Requirements
These Mac models are compatible with macOS Catalina:
MacBook (Early 2015 or newer),(Mid 2012 or newer), (Mid 2012 or newer)
Mac mini (Late 2012 or newer)
iMac (Late 2012 or newer)
iMac Pro (2017)
Mac Pro (Late 2013 or newer)
Linux Operating System
Linux is an operating system. One of the most popular platforms on the planet and Android is powered by the OS.
The Linux operating system comprises several different pieces:
Bootloader – The software that manages the boot process of your computer. For most users, this will simply be a splash screen that pops up and eventually goes away to boot into the operating system.
Kernel – One piece of the whole that is called ‘Linux’. The kernel is the core of the system and manages the CPU, memory, and peripheral devices. The kernel is the lowest level of the OS.
Init system – This is a sub-system that bootstraps the user space and is charged with controlling daemons. It is the Init system that manages the boot process, once the initial booting is handed over from the bootloader.
Daemons – Background services like sound, scheduling, etc. Either startup during boot or after you log into the desktop.
Graphical server – That displays the graphics on your monitor. It is known as the X server or X.
Desktop environment – It is the piece to which users interact actually. There are many desktop environments to choose from GNOME, Cinnamon, Mate, Pantheon, Enlightenment, KDE, etc. Every desktop environment contains built-in applications such as file managers, configuration tools, web browsers, and games.
Applications – Only Linux offers thousands of high-quality software titles that can be easily found and installed. Modern Linux distributions include App Store-like tools to simplify application installation. For example, Ubuntu Linux has the Ubuntu Software Center which allows you to quickly search among the thousands of apps and install them from one centralized location.
Why only Linux, not others?
To learn a new thing is not easy if you have one then why learn another one. Most people ask why Linux is better than other operating systems. Linux might be the perfect platform to remove or tackle obstacles like malware, slowdowns, crashes, costly repairs, and viruses. All in all, such qualities make Linux the better OS for your desktop.
Linux is Open source :
- Linux is also distributed under an open-source license. Open source follows these key tenants:
- The freedom to run the program, for any purpose.
- Have freedom to study how the program works, and change it to make it do what you wish.
- The freedom to redistribute copies so you can help your neighbor.
- Freedom to distribute copies of your modified versions to others.
Without a doubt, Linux is one of the operating systems that is “by the people, for the people”. These tenants are also the main factor in why many people choose Linux. It’s about freedom and freedom of use and freedom of choice.
Linux System Requirements
You can run Data Replication on the following versions of 64-bit Linux operating systems:
Red Hat Enterprise Linux 6.5, 6.6,6.7,6.8,6.9,7,7.1,7.2,7.3,7.4
SUSE Linux Enterprise Server 11 SP4
SUSE Linux Enterprise Server 12 SP3
The following table shows the recommended processor type, memory, and disk space:
Processor : 64-bit Opteron, EM64T
RAM :1 GB or greater
Swap space: 1 GB or greater
Hard Disk space: 500 MB free space
Unix Operating System
What is UNIX?
UNIX is an operating system that was first developed in the 1960s and is still under constant development. It is a stable, multi-user, multi-tasking system for servers, desktops, and laptops. However, knowledge of UNIX is required for operations that aren’t covered by a GUI, or for when there is no windows interface available, for example, in a telnet session.
Types of UNIX
The most popular varieties of UNIX are :
- Sun Solaris
- GNU/Linux
- macOS X(discussed earlier)
The UNIX operating system has three parts;
- The kernel
- The shell
- The programs.
The kernel
The kernel of UNIX is the hub of the operating system: It allocates time and memory to programs and handles the file store and communications in response to system calls.
The shell
The shell acts as an interface between the user and the kernel. When a user logs in, the login program checks the username and password and then starts another program called the shell. The shell is a command-line interpreter (CLI). It interprets the commands the user types in and arranges for them to carry out.
The commands are themselves programs: when they terminate, the shell gives the user another prompt.
Hardware on UNIX
Random Access Memory (RAM): 256MB recommended, 128MB minimum
hard drive space:250MB
CD-ROM drive
TCP/IP network interface
A persistent Internet connection.
