Comparison of user features of operating systems refers to a comparison of the general user features of majoroperating systems in a narrative format. It does not encompass a full exhaustive comparison or description of all technical details of all operating systems. It is a comparison of basic roles and the most prominent features. It also includes the most important features of the operating system's origins, historical development, and role.
An operating system (OS) issystem software that manages computer hardware,software resources, and provides commonservices for computer programs.
Time-sharing operating systemsschedule tasks for efficient use of the system and may also include accounting software for cost allocation ofprocessor time,mass storage, printing, and other resources.
For hardware functions such asinput and output andmemory allocation, the operating system acts as an intermediary between programs and the computer hardware,[1][2] although the application code is usually executed directly by the hardware and frequently makessystem calls to an OS function or isinterrupted by it. Operating systems are found on many devices that contain a computer – from cellular phones and video game consoles toweb servers andsupercomputers.
As of June 2024[update], the dominant general-purpose desktop operating system isMicrosoft Windows with a market share of around 72.91%.macOS byApple Inc. is in second place (14.93%), and the varieties ofLinux are collectively in third place (4.04%).[3] In themobile sector, including both smartphones andtablets,Android is dominant with a market share of 71%, followed by Apple'siOS with 28%;[4] for smartphones alone, Android has 72% and iOS has 28%.[5]Linux distributions are dominant in the server and supercomputing sectors. Other specialized classes of operating systems (special-purpose operating systems)[6][7]), such asembedded and real-time systems, exist for many applications.Security-focused operating systems also exist. Some operating systems have low system requirements (i.e.light-weight Linux distribution). Others may have higher system requirements.
Some operating systems require installation or may come pre-installed with purchased computers (OEM-installation), whereas others may run directly from media (i.e.live cd) or flash memory (i.e. USB stick).
MS-DOS (acronym for Microsoft Disk Operating System) is an operating system forx86-based personal computers mostly developed byMicrosoft. Collectively, MS-DOS, its rebranding asIBM PC DOS, and some operating systems attempting to be compatible with MS-DOS, are sometimes referred to as "DOS" (which is also the generic acronym fordisk operating system). MS-DOS was the main operating system forIBM PC compatible personal computers during the 1980s, from which point it was gradually superseded by operating systems offering agraphical user interface (GUI), in various generations of the graphical Microsoft Windows operating system.[citation needed]
IBM licensed and re-released it in 1981 asPC DOS 1.0 for use in its PCs. Although MS-DOS and PC DOS were initially developed in parallel by Microsoft and IBM, the two products diverged after twelve years, in 1993, with recognizable differences in compatibility, syntax, and capabilities.[citation needed]
During its lifetime,several competing products were released for the x86 platform,[8] and MS-DOS went through eight versions, until development ceased in 2000.[9] Initially, MS-DOS was targeted atIntel 8086 processors running on computer hardware usingfloppy disks to store and access not only the operating system, but application software and user data as well. Progressive version releases delivered support for other mass storage media in ever greater sizes and formats, along with added feature support for newer processors and rapidly evolving computer architectures. Ultimately, it was the key product in Microsoft's development from aprogramming language company to a diverse software development firm, providing the company with essential revenue and marketing resources. It was also the underlying basic operating system on which early versions of Windows ran as a GUI.[citation needed]
Microsoft Windows, commonly referred to as Windows, is a group of severalproprietarygraphical operating system families, all of which are developed and marketed byMicrosoft. Each family caters to a certain sector of the computing industry. Active Microsoft Windows families includeWindows NT andWindows IoT; these may encompass subfamilies, (e.g.Windows Server orWindows Embedded Compact) (Windows CE). Defunct Microsoft Windows families includeWindows 9x,Windows Mobile, andWindows Phone.
Microsoft announced anoperating environment namedWindows on 10 November 1983, as a graphicaloperating system shell forMS-DOS in response to the growing interest in graphical user interfaces (GUIs); Windows 1.0 first shipped on 20 November 1985.[10] Microsoft Windows came todominate the world's personal computer (PC) market withover 90% market share, overtakingMac OS, which had been introduced in 1984, while Microsoft has in 2020 lost its dominance of the consumer operating system market, with Windows down to 30%, lower thanApple's 31% mobile-only share (65% for desktop operating systems only, i.e. "PCs" vs. Apple's 28% desktop share) in its home market, the US, and 32% globally (77% for desktops), where Google's Android leads.
Apple came to see Windows as an unfair encroachment on their innovation in GUI development as implemented on products such as theLisa andMacintosh (eventually settled in court in Microsoft's favor in 1993). As of January 2023[update], on PCs, Windows is still the most popular operating system in all countries.[11][3] However, in 2014, Microsoft admitted losing the majority of the overall operating system market toAndroid,[12] because of the massive growth in sales of Androidsmartphones. In 2014, the number of Windows devices sold was less than 25% that of Android devices sold. This comparison, however, may not be fully relevant, as the two operating systems traditionally target different platforms. Still, numbers for server use of Windows (that are comparable to competitors) show one third market share, similar to that for end user use.
As of October 2020[update], the most recent version of Windows for PCs,tablets andembedded devices isWindows 10, version 20H2. The most recent version forserver computers isWindows Server, version 20H2.[13]A specialized version of Windows also runs on theXbox Onevideo game console.[14]
Windows 95 introduced a redesignedshell based around adesktop metaphor;File shortcuts (also known as shell links) were introduced[15] and the desktop was re-purposed to hold shortcuts to applications, files and folders, reminiscent of Mac OS.
InWindows 3.1 the desktop was used to display icons of running applications. In Windows 95, the currently running applications were displayed as buttons on ataskbar across the bottom of the screen.[16] The taskbar also contained a notification area used to display icons for background applications, a volume control and the current time.[17]
TheStart menu, invoked by clicking the "Start" button on the taskbar or by pressing theWindows key, was introduced as an additional means of launching applications or opening documents. While maintaining the program groups used by its predecessorProgram Manager, it also displayed applications within cascading sub-menus.[18]
The previousFile Manager program was replaced byWindows Explorer and the Explorer-basedControl Panel and several otherspecial folders were added such as My Computer, Dial Up Networking, Recycle Bin, Network Neighborhood, My Documents, Recent documents, Fonts, Printers, andMy Briefcase among others.AutoRun was introduced for CD drives.
The user interface looked dramatically different from prior versions of Windows, but its design language did not have a special name likeMetro,Aqua orMaterial Design. Internally it was called "the new shell" and later simply "the shell".[19] The subproject within Microsoft to develop the new shell was internally known as "Stimpy".[20]
In 1994, Microsoft designersMark Malamud and Erik Gavriluk approachedBrian Eno to compose music for the Windows 95 project.[21] The result was the six-second start-up music-sound of the Windows 95 operating system,The Microsoft Sound and it was first released as a startup sound in May 1995 on Windows 95 May Test Release build 468.[22]
When released for Windows 95 and Windows NT 4.0,Internet Explorer 4 came with an optionalWindows Desktop Update, which modified the shell to provide several additional updates to Windows Explorer, including aQuick Launch toolbar, and new features integrated with Internet Explorer, such asActive Desktop (which allowed Internet content to be displayed directly on the desktop).
Some of the user interface elements introduced in Windows 95, such as the desktop, taskbar, Start menu and Windows Explorer file manager, remained fundamentally unchanged on future versions of Windows.
A new iteration of theStart menu is used on theWindows 10 desktop, with a list of places and other options on the left side, and tiles representing applications on the right. The menu can be resized, and expanded into a full-screen display, which is the default option in Tablet mode.[23] A new virtual desktop system was added. A feature known as Task View displays all open windows and allows users to switch between them, or switch between multiple workspaces.[23] Universal apps, which previously could be used only in full screen mode, can now be used in self-contained windows similarly to other programs.[24][23] Program windows can now be snapped to quadrants of the screen by dragging them to the corner. When a window is snapped to one side of the screen, Task View appears and the user is prompted to choose a second window to fill the unused side of the screen (called "Snap Assist").[23] Windows' system icons were also changed.[25]
Charms have been removed; their functionality in universal apps is accessed from anApp commands menu on their title bar.[24][23] In its place is Action Center, which displays notifications and settings toggles. It is accessed by clicking an icon in the notification area, or dragging from the right of the screen. Notifications can be synced between multiple devices.[24][25] The Settings app (formerly PC Settings) was refreshed and now includes more options that were previously exclusive to the desktopControl Panel.[26][27]
Windows 10 is designed to adapt its user interface based on the type of device being used and available input methods. It offers two separate user interface modes: a user interface optimized for mouse and keyboard, and a "Tablet mode" designed for touchscreens. Users can toggle between these two modes at any time, and Windows can prompt or automatically switch when certain events occur, such as disabling Tablet mode on a tablet if a keyboard or mouse is plugged in, or when a2-in-1 PC is switched to its laptop state. In Tablet mode, programs default to a maximized view, and the taskbar contains a back button and hides buttons for opened or pinned programs by default; Task View is used instead to switch between programs. The full screen Start menu is used in this mode, similarly to Windows 8, but scrolls vertically instead of horizontally.[28][29][30][31]
The classic Mac OS[a] (System Software) is the series of operating systems developed for theMacintosh family of personal computers by Apple Inc. from 1984 to 2001, starting withSystem 1 and ending withMac OS 9. The Macintosh operating system is credited with having popularized the graphical user interface concept.[32] It was included with every Macintosh that was sold during the era in which it was developed, and many updates to the system software were done in conjunction with the introduction of new Macintosh systems.
Apple released theoriginal Macintosh on 24 January 1984. Thefirst version of the system software, which had no official name, was partially based on theLisa OS, which Apple previously released for the Lisa computer in 1983. As part of an agreement allowingXerox to buyshares in Apple at a favorable price, it also used concepts from theXerox PARCAlto computer, which former Apple CEOSteve Jobs and other Lisa team members had previewed.[33] This operating system consisted of theMacintosh Toolbox ROM and the "System Folder", a set of files that were loaded from disk. The nameMacintosh System Software came into use in 1987 with System 5. Apple rebranded the system asMac OS in 1996, starting officially with version 7.6, due in part to itsMacintosh clone program.[34] That program ended after the release ofMac OS 8 in 1997.[35] The last major release of the system was Mac OS 9 in 1999.[36]
Initial versions of the System Software ran one application at a time. With theMacintosh 512K, a system extension called theSwitcher was developed to use this additional memory to allow multiple programs to remain loaded. The software of each loaded program used the memory exclusively; only when activated by the Switcher did the program appear, even the Finder's desktop. With the Switcher, the now familiar Clipboard feature allowed cut and paste between the loaded programs across switches including the desktop.[citation needed]
With the introduction of System 5, acooperative multitasking extension calledMultiFinder was added, which allowed content in windows of each program to remain in a layered view over the desktop, and was later integrated into System 7 as part of the operating system along with support forvirtual memory. By the mid-1990s, however, contemporary operating systems such asWindows NT,OS/2, andNeXTSTEP had all broughtpre-emptive multitasking,protected memory,access controls, and multi-user capabilities to desktop computers, The Macintosh's limitedmemory management and susceptibility to conflicts amongextensions that provide additional functionality, such as networking or support for a particular device,[37] led to significant criticism of the operating system, and was a factor in Apple's declining market share at the time.[citation needed]
After two aborted attempts at creating a successor to the Macintosh System Software calledTaligent andCopland, and afour-year development effort spearheaded bySteve Jobs' return to Apple in 1997, Apple replaced Mac OS with a new operating system in 2001 named Mac OS X; the X signifying the underlying Unix system family base shared with Jobs' development of theNeXTSTEP operating systems on theNeXT computer. It retained most of the user interface design elements of the classic Mac OS, and there was some overlap ofapplication frameworks for compatibility, but the two operating systems otherwise have completely different origins and architectures.[citation needed]
Thefinal updates to Mac OS 9 released in 2001 provided interoperability with Mac OS X. The name "Classic" that now signifies the historical Mac OS as a whole is a reference to theClassic Environment, acompatibility layer that helped ease the transition to Mac OS X (now macOS).[38]
macOS[39] (previouslyMac OS X and laterOS X) is a series ofproprietary graphical operating systems developed and marketed by Apple Inc. since 2001. It is the primary operating system for Apple'sMac computers. Within the market of desktop, laptop and home computers, and by web usage, it is thesecond most widely used desktop OS, afterMicrosoft Windows.[40][41]
macOS is the direct successor to theclassic Mac OS, the line of Macintosh operating systems with nine releases from 1984 to 1999. macOS adopted theUnix kernel and inherited technologies developed between 1985 and 1997 atNeXT, the company that Apple co-founderSteve Jobs created after leaving Apple in 1985. Releases fromMac OS X 10.5 Leopard[42] and thereafter areUNIX 03 certified.[43] Apple's mobile operating system,iOS, has been considered a variant of macOS.[44]
Mac OS X 10.0 (code namedCheetah) was the firstmajor release and version ofmacOS,Apple's desktop and server operating system. Mac OS X 10.0 was released on 24 March 2001 for a price of US$129. It was the successor of theMac OS X Public Beta and the predecessor ofMac OS X 10.1 (code named Puma).
Mac OS X 10.0 was a radical departure from the classic Mac OS and was Apple's long-awaited answer for a next generation Macintosh operating system. It introduced a brand new code base completely separate fromMac OS 9's as well as all previous Apple operating systems, and had a new Unix-like core,Darwin, which features a newmemory management system. Unlike releases of Mac OS X 10.2 to 10.8, the operating system was not externally marketed with the name of a big cat.
TheFinder is a file browser allowing quick access to all areas of the computer, which has been modified throughout subsequent releases of macOS.[45][46]Quick Look has been part of the Finder sinceversion 10.5. It allows for dynamic previews of files, including videos and multi-page documents without opening any other applications.Spotlight, a file searching technology which has been integrated into the Finder sinceversion 10.4, allows rapid real-time searches of data files; mail messages; photos; and other information based on item properties (metadata) and/or content.[47][48] macOS makes use of aDock, which holds file and folder shortcuts as well as minimized windows.
Apple added Exposé inversion 10.3 (calledMission Control sinceversion 10.7), a feature which includes three functions to help accessibility between windows and desktop. Its functions are to instantly display all open windows as thumbnails for easy navigation to different tasks, display all open windows as thumbnails from the current application, and hide all windows to access the desktop.[49]FileVault is optional encryption of the user's files with the 128-bitAdvanced Encryption Standard (AES-128).[50]
Features introduced inversion 10.4 includeAutomator, an application designed to create an automatic workflow for different tasks;[51]Dashboard, a full-screen group of small applications calleddesktop widgets that can be called up and dismissed in one keystroke;[52] andFront Row, a media viewer interface accessed by theApple Remote.[53] Sync Services allows applications to access a centralized extensible database for various elements of user data, including calendar and contact items. The operating system then managed conflicting edits and data consistency.[54]
All system icons are scalable up to 512×512 pixels as of version 10.5 to accommodate various places where they appear in larger size, including for example theCover Flow view, athree-dimensional graphical user interface included withiTunes, the Finder, and other Apple products for visually skimming through files and digital media libraries via cover artwork. That version also introducedSpaces, avirtual desktop implementation which enables the user to have more than one desktop and display them in an Exposé-like interface;[55] an automatic backup technology calledTime Machine, which allows users to view and restore previous versions of files and application data;[56] and Screen Sharing was built in for the first time.[57]
In more recent releases, Apple has developed support foremoji characters by including the proprietaryApple Color Emoji font.[58][59] Apple has also connected macOS with social networks such as Twitter and Facebook through the addition of share buttons for content such as pictures and text.[60] Apple has brought several applications and features that originally debuted in iOS, its mobile operating system, to macOS in recent releases, notably theintelligent personal assistantSiri, which was introduced inversion 10.12 of macOS.[61][62]
Unix (/ˈjuːnɪks/; trademarked asUNIX) is a family ofmultitasking,multiuser computer operating systems that derive from the originalAT&T Unix, whose development started in the 1970s at theBell Labs research center byKen Thompson,Dennis Ritchie, and others.[63]
Initially intended for use inside theBell System, AT&Tlicensed Unix to outside parties in the late 1970s, leading to a variety of both academic and commercial Unix variants from vendors includingUniversity of California, Berkeley (BSD), Microsoft (Xenix),Sun Microsystems (SunOS/Solaris),HP/HPE (HP-UX), andIBM (AIX). In the early 1990s, AT&T sold its rights in Unix toNovell, which then sold its Unix business to theSanta Cruz Operation (SCO) in 1995.[64] The UNIX trademark passed toThe Open Group, an industry consortium founded in 1996, which allows the use of the mark for certified operating systems that comply with theSingle UNIX Specification (SUS). However, Novell continues to own the Unix copyrights, which theSCO Group, Inc. v. Novell, Inc. court case (2010) confirmed.
Unix systems are characterized by amodular design that is sometimes called the "Unix philosophy". According to this philosophy, the operating system should provide a set of simple tools, each of which performs a limited, well-defined function.[65] A unifiedfilesystem (theUnix filesystem) and aninter-process communication mechanism known as "pipes" serve as the main means of communication,[63] and ashell scripting and command language (theUnix shell) is used to combine the tools to perform complex workflows.
Unix distinguishes itself from its predecessors as the firstportable operating system: almost the entire operating system is written in theC programming language, which allows Unix to operate on numerous platforms.[66]
macOS, described above, is a Unix-like system, and, beginning with Mac OS X Leopard, is certified to comply with the SUS.
Linux[67] is a family ofopen-sourceUnix-like operating systems based on theLinux kernel,[68] anoperating system kernel first released on 17 September 1991, byLinus Torvalds.[69][70][71] Linux is typicallypackaged in aLinux distribution.
Distributions include the Linux kernel and supportingsystem software andlibraries, many of which are provided by theGNU Project. Many Linux distributions use the word "Linux" in their name, but theFree Software Foundation uses the name "GNU/Linux" to emphasize the importance ofGNU software,causing some controversy.[72]
Popular Linux distributions[73][74][75] includeDebian,Fedora, andUbuntu. Commercial distributions includeRed Hat Enterprise Linux andSUSE Linux Enterprise Server. Desktop Linux distributions include awindowing system such asX11 orWayland, and adesktop environment such asGNOME orKDE Plasma. Distributions intended forservers may omitgraphics altogether, or include asolution stack such asLAMP. Because Linux is freely redistributable, anyone may create a distribution for any purpose.[76]
Linux was originally developed for personal computers based on theIntel x86 architecture, but has since beenported to moreplatforms than any other operating system.[77] Because of the dominance of the Linux-based Android onsmartphones, as of January 2023[update], Linux also has the largestinstalled base of allgeneral-purpose operating systems.[11][78][79][80] Although it is, as of January 2023[update], used by only around 2.9 percent ofdesktop computers,[3] theChromebook, which runs the Linux kernel-basedChromeOS, dominates the USK–12 education market and represents nearly 20 percent of sub-$300notebook sales in the US.[81] Linux is the leading operating system on servers (over 96.4% of the top 1 million web servers' operating systems are Linux),[82] leads other large systems such asmainframe computers, and is the only OS used onTOP500supercomputers (since November 2017, having gradually eliminated all competitors).[83][84][85]
Linux also runs on embedded systems, i.e. devices whose operating system is typically built into thefirmware and is highly tailored to the system. This includesrouters,automation controls,smart home technology (such asGoogle Nest),[86] televisions (Samsung and LGSmart TVs useTizen andWebOS, respectively),[87][88][89]automobiles (for example, Tesla, Audi, Mercedes-Benz, Hyundai, and Toyota all rely on Linux),[90]digital video recorders,video game consoles, andsmartwatches.[91] TheFalcon 9's and theDragon 2'savionics use a customized version of Linux.[92]
Linux is one of the most prominent examples of free and open-source software collaboration. The source code may be used, modified and distributed commercially or non-commercially by anyone under the terms of its respective licenses, such as theGNU General Public License.[76]
90% of all cloud infrastructure is powered by Linux including supercomputers and cloud providers.[93] 74% of smartphones in the world are Linux-based.[94]
KDE Plasma 5 is the fifth and current generation of the graphical workspaces environment created byKDE primarily for Linux systems. KDE Plasma 5 is the successor ofKDE Plasma 4 and was first released on 15 July 2014.[95][96] It includes a new default theme, known as "Breeze", as well as increased convergence across different devices. The graphical interface was fully migrated toQML, which usesOpenGL for hardware acceleration, which resulted in better performance and reduced power consumption.[97][95]
FreeBSD is afree and open-sourceUnix-like operating system descended from theBerkeley Software Distribution (BSD), which was based onResearch Unix. The first version of FreeBSD was released in 1993. In 2005, FreeBSD was the most popular open-source BSD operating system, accounting for more than three-quarters of all installedsimply, permissively licensed BSD systems.
FreeBSD has similarities with Linux, with two major differences in scope and licensing. First, FreeBSD maintains a complete system, i.e. the project delivers akernel,device drivers,userland utilities, anddocumentation, as opposed to Linux only delivering a kernel and drivers, and relying on third-parties for system software. Second, FreeBSDsource code is generally released under apermissiveBSD license, as opposed to thecopyleftGPL used by Linux.
The FreeBSD project includes asecurity team overseeing all software shipped in the base distribution. A wide range of additional third-partyapplications may be installed using the pkgpackage management system orFreeBSD Ports, or bycompiling source code.
Much of FreeBSD'scodebase has become an integral part of other operating systems such asDarwin (the basis for macOS, iOS,iPadOS,watchOS, andtvOS),TrueNAS (an open-sourceNAS/SAN operating system), and the system software for thePlayStation 3[98] andPlayStation 4 game consoles.[99]
ChromeOS (formerlyChrome OS,[100] sometimes styled aschromeOS) is aGentoo Linux-based operating system designed by Google. It is derived from thefree softwareChromiumOS and uses theGoogle Chrome web browser as its principaluser interface. However, ChromeOS is proprietary software.
Google announced the project in July 2009, conceiving it as an operating system in which both applications and user data reside in thecloud: hence ChromeOS primarily runsweb applications.[101] Source code and a public demo came that November. The first ChromeOS laptop, known as aChromebook, arrived in May 2011. Initial Chromebook shipments fromSamsung andAcer occurred in July 2011.
ChromeOS has an integrated media player andfile manager. It supportsChrome Apps, which resemble native applications, as well asremote access to the desktop. Reception was initially skeptical, with some observers arguing that a browser running on any operating system was functionally equivalent[citation needed]. As more ChromeOS machines have entered the market, the operating system is now seldom evaluated apart from the hardware that runs it.
Android applications started to become available for the operating system in 2014, and in 2016, access to Android apps inGoogle Play's entirety was introduced on supported ChromeOS devices. Support for a Linux terminal and applications, known as Project Crostini,[102] was released to the stable channel in ChromeOS 69. This was made possible via a lightweight Linux kernel that runs containers inside avirtual machine.
ChromeOS is only available pre-installed on hardware from Google manufacturing partners, but there are unofficial methods that allow it to be installed in other equipment.[103] Itsopen-source upstream,ChromiumOS, can becompiled from downloadedsource code. Early on, Google provided design goals for ChromeOS, but has not otherwise released a technical description.
[Microsoft's chief operating officer] Turner's 14% came from a new forecast released last week by Gartner, which estimated Windows' share of the shipped device market last year was 14%, and would decrease slightly to 13.7% in 2014. Android will dominate, Gartner said, with a 48% share this year
The next area where Apple claims to have made major improvements is the Finder.
Unsurprisingly, each new Mac OS X release has been the vehicle for a parade of Finder fantasies.
The shared commonality of the kernel is what defines a system's membership in the Linux family; the differingOSS applications that can interact with the common kernel are what differentiate Linux distributions.
Originally developed for Intel x86-based PCs, Torvalds' "hobby" has now been released for more hardware platforms than any other OS in history.
Google changes approximately 1,000 instances of "Chrome OS" in the code – from text visible to Chromebook owners to internal comments only seen by developers – to "ChromeOS."
Note: This template roughly follows the 2012ACM Computing Classification System. | |
| Hardware | |
| Computer systems organization | |
| Networks | |
| Software organization | |
| Software notations andtools | |
| Software development | |
| Theory of computation | |
| Algorithms | |
| Mathematics ofcomputing | |
| Information systems |
|
| Security | |
| Human-centered computing | |
| Concurrency | |
| Artificial intelligence | |
| Machine learning | |
| Graphics | |
| Applied computing |
|
| Specialized PlatformDevelopment | |
Operating systems by Microsoft | |
|---|---|
| Desktop / Server | |
| Mobile | |
| Embedded / IoT | |
| Network | |
| Others | |
| Corporate directors |  | |
|---|---|---|
| Team members | ||
| Hardware products | ||
| Software products | ||
