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Incomputer software, anoperating environment orintegrated applications environment is theenvironment in which users runapplication software. The environment consists of auser interface provided by anapplications manager and usually anapplication programming interface (API) to the applications manager.
An operating environment isnot a fulloperating system, but is a form ofmiddleware that rests between the OS and the application. For example, the first version ofMicrosoft Windows,Windows 1.0, was not a full operating system, but aGUI laid over DOS albeit with an API of its own. Similarly, theIBM U2 system operates on bothUnix/Linux andWindows NT. Usually the user interface istext-based orgraphical, rather than acommand-line interface (e.g.,DOS or theUnix shell), which is often the interface of the underlying operating system.
In the mid 1980s,text-based andgraphical user interface operating environments surroundedDOS operating systems with ashell that turned the user'sdisplay into amenu-oriented "desktop" for selecting and runningPC applications. These operating environment systems allow users much of the convenience ofintegrated software without locking them into a single package.
In the mid 1980s,text-based andgraphical user interface operating environments such asIBM TopView,Microsoft Windows,Digital Research'sGEM Desktop,GEOS andQuarterdeck Office Systems'sDESQview surroundedDOS operating systems with ashell that turned the user'sdisplay into amenu-oriented "desktop" for selecting and runningPC applications. These programs were more than simple menu systems—as alternate operating environments they were substitutes for integrated programs such asFramework andSymphony, that allowedswitching,windowing, andcut-and-paste operations among dedicated applications. These operating environment systems gave users much of the convenience ofintegrated software without locking them into a single package. Alternative operating environments madeterminate-and-stay-resident pop-up utilities such asBorland Sidekick redundant. Windows provided its own version of these utilities, and placing them under central control could eliminate memory conflicts thatRAM-resident utilities create.[1] In later versions, Windows evolved from an operating environment into a complete operating system with DOS as a bootloader (Windows 9x) and a complete operating system,Windows NT, was developed at the same time. All versions afterWindows ME have been based on the Windows NT kernel.