“Bill Gates has nothing on this shit!”: Operating Systems Affecting the World

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Computers are a fascinating part of many people’s lives. Many people, including me, complain about using different operating systems claiming how one specific operating system is the easiest to use. I remember having a conversation with my sister about the simplicity of a Mac OS compared to a Windows operating system. Our conversation started with my sister stating that: “I hate Macs. They’re so hard to use.” “You should give them a chance. It’s really not that hard to adapt to them after a while.” “That’s because you’re a Computer Science major. It’s easy for you to switch between a Windows and a Mac. It’s harder for me because I’ve used windows-based computers my whole life.” In this case, the Mac OS (Operating System) differs from other operating systems like Windows, which presents difficulty to users. Basic operating systems including Mac, UNIX, Linux, and Windows function in different ways, but present one distinct purpose: the implementation of programs to do different tasks. Operating systems are complex structures of information, or data, that is stored in programs, files, folders, and much more. Operating systems consist of software, which are bunches of programs. An operating system is the software that stores data and information that a user inputs. The processing of input occurs through the user entering information through the keyboard, also called “keying in information.” This precise definition provides background information to the fact that operating systems are composed of a central idea. Operating systems are the key element that allows someone to use a computer. This idea sparked the creation of the first operating system in the 1960’s by the General Motors Research Laboratories. The history of ... ... middle of paper ... ...97. Prentice-Hall. 12 March 2008 < http://www.math-cs.gordon.edu/courses/cs322/lectures/history.html>. Haigh, Thomas. "Multicians.org and the History of Operating Systems," Iterations: An Interdisciplinary Journal of Software History. 1 (September 13, 2002): 1-9. Molinari, Brian. Introduction to computer systems. Great Britain: Cambridge U, 1985. Muhammad, Rashid Bin. Computer Science. Course Home page. Dept. of Computer Science, Kent State U. 10 March 2008 . Temple, Ronald H. Minicomputers: Hardware, Software, and Applications. Ed. James D. Schoeffler. New York: The Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers, 1972. Thibodeau, Patrick. “Windows, Linux Servers Chip Away at Unix.” Computerworld. 10 Dec. 2007: 16+. Academic Search Premier. Ebscohost. Wilkes U, Wilkes-Barre, Farley Lib. 21 Feb. 2008 .

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