Operating_Systems

Most personal computers are equipped with a version of the Windows operating system, whereas Apple personal computers have a different operating system. Other choices are also available, such as UNIX, FreeBSD and Linux. Why do you think Windows is so prevalent' What do the other systems have to offer that Windows does not' Who uses the other systems' Why do you think Windows is so prevalent' I think that the Windows OS is so prevalent because of the graphical user interface that is so easy to use and it can be installed in most of the PCs available on the market. The Mac OS works only on Macintosh computers and this is a big disadvantage. The UNIX is not for the faint of heart because of its command-line interface, cryptic Instructions, and the fact that it requires many commands to do even simple tasks. Linux can run on nearly any computer and can support almost any type of application but uses a command-line interface with the availability of some windows-based GUI environments, called shells. According to the FreeBSD website the FreeBSD OS is designed for specific processors such as Intel x86 and Itanium, AMD64, Alpha, Sun UltraSPARC. What do the other systems have to offer that Windows does not' Unix is more flexible and can be installed on many different types of machines, including main-frame computers, supercomputers and micro-computers. It is more stable and does not go down as often as Windows does, therefore requires less administration and maintenance. It has greater built-in security and permissions features than Windows. It possesses much greater processing power than Windows. It is the leader in serving the Web. About 90% of the Internet relies on Unix operating systems running Apache, the world's most widely used Web server. The software upgrades from Microsoft often require the user to purchase new or more hardware or prerequisite software. That is not the case with Unix. http://linux.about.com/cs/unix101/a/whyunix.htm Linux is very cheap or free, Windows is expensive. The majority of Linux variants and versions are notoriously reliable and can often run for months and years without needing to be rebooted. Many of the available software programs, utilities, and games available on Linux are freeware and/or open source. http://www.computerhope.com FreeBSD is extremely robust. There are numerous testimonials of active servers with uptimes measured in years. The new Soft Updates file system optimizes disk I/O for high performance, yet still ensures reliability for transaction based applications, such as databases. FreeBSD is the system of choice for high performance network applications. FreeBSD will outperform other systems when running on equivalent hardware. The largest and busiest public server on the Internet, at ftp.freesoftware.com, uses FreeBSD to serve more than 1.2TB/day of downloads. FreeBSD is used by Yahoo!, Qwest and many others as their main server OS because of its ability to handle heavy network traffic with high performance and rock solid reliability. FreeBSD can be downloaded from the Internet for FREE. http://people.freebsd.org/~murray/bsd_flier.html MAC OS X doesn't work anything like Windows. Instead, it separates most programs from each other, and from the operating system itself. What this means is that if one program quits working, the rest of the computer keeps working. Viruses and security holes on the Mac are almost nonexistent with OS X. Mac computers are also easy to problem solve and fix, whereas Windows computers often need the help of a paid computer technician. OS X is Windows network friendly too. OS X can share printers and files over a network with Windows based PCs. http://www.familyresource.com/lifestyles/technology/buying-a-home-computer-mac-vs-windows Who uses the other systems' FreeBSD is used as a platform for devices and products from many of the world’s largest IT companies, including: Apple, Cisco, Juniper, NetApp.  FreeBSD is also used to power some of the biggest sites on the Internet, including: Yahoo!, Yandex, Apache, Rambler, Sina, Pair Networks, Sony Japan, Netcraft, NetEase, Weathernews, TELEHOUSE America, Experts Exchange. http://www.freebsd.org/doc/handbook/nutshell.html Some companies that are using LINUX OS are: Burlington Coat Factory, Google search engine, Government of Mexico City, Panasonic, USA Toyota Motor Sales, Travelocity, U.S. Federal Courts, and U.S. Postal Service. http://www.aaxnet.com/design/linux2.html Although UNIX does not have an important place in the market for desktop operating systems, thanks to its power and its appeal to engineers and other users of CAD and CAM software, UNIX has been popular for high-powered workstations. In the business world, UNIX remains a popular network operating system, especially among organizations that manage large databases shared by hundreds or thousands of users. Many types of specialized database-specific software programs have been developed for the UNIX platform and are deeply entrenched in industries such as insurance, medicine, banking, and manufacturing. Apple Computer’s UNIX-based Mac OS X operating system is making inroads in the business community, according to a report by market research firm Jupiter Research. The report tracks desktop and server operating systems in medium to large sized business. The report found that 17 percent of businesses with 250 employees or more were running Mac OS X on their desktop computers. Twenty-one percent of businesses that had 10,000 or more employees used Mac OS X on their desktop. Mac OS X Server is also doing well with businesses. Nine percent of companies with 250 employees or more used Mac OS X Server, while 14 percent of companies with 10,000 employees or more used Apple’s Server software. http://www.macworld.com/article/46004/2005/07/osx.html