Microsoft’s Windows operating system

In 1985 Microsoft came out with its Windows operating system, which gave PC compatibles some of the same capabilities as the Macintosh. Year after year, Microsoft refined and improved Windows so that Apple, which failed to come up with a significant new advantage, lost its edge. IBM tried to establish yet another operating system, OS/2, but lost the battle to Gates’s company. In fact, Microsoft also had established itself as the leading provider of application software for the Macintosh. Thus Microsoft dominated not only the operating system and application software business for PC-compatibles but also the application software business for the only nonstandard system with any sizable share of the desktop computer market. In 1998, amid a growing chorus of complaints about Microsoft’s business tactics, the U.S. Department of Justice filed a lawsuit charging Microsoft with using its monopoly position to stifle competition.

Workstation computers

While the personal computer market grew and matured, a variation on its theme grew out of university labs and began to threaten the minicomputers for their market. The new machines were called workstations. They looked like personal computers, and they sat on a single desktop and were used by a single individual just like personal computers, but they were distinguished by being more powerful and expensive, by having more complex architectures that spread the computational load over more than one CPU chip, by usually running the UNIX operating system, and by being targeted to scientists and engineers, software and chip designers, graphic artists, moviemakers, and others needing high performance. Workstations existed in a narrow niche between the cheapest minicomputers and the most powerful personal computers, and each year they had to become more powerful, pushing at the minicomputers even as they were pushed at by the high-end personal computers.

The most successful of the workstation manufacturers were Sun Microsystems, Inc., started by people involved in enhancing the UNIX operating system, and, for a time, Silicon Graphics, Inc., which marketed machines for video and audio editing.

The microcomputer market now included personal computers, software, peripheral devices, and workstations. Within two decades this market had surpassed the market for mainframes and minicomputers in sales and every other measure. As if to underscore such growth, in 1996 Silicon Graphics, a workstation manufacturer, bought the star of the supercomputer manufacturers, Cray Research, and began to develop supercomputers as a sideline. Moreover, Compaq Computer Corporation—which had parlayed its success with portable PCs into a perennial position during the 1990s as the leading seller of microcomputers—bought the reigning king of the minicomputer manufacturers, Digital Equipment Corporation (DEC). Compaq announced that it intended to fold DEC technology into its own expanding product line and that the DEC brand name would be gradually phased out. Microcomputers were not only outselling mainframes and minis, they were blotting them out.

Living in cyberspace

Ever smaller computers

Embedded systems

One can look at the development of the electronic computer as occurring in waves. The first large wave was the mainframe era, when many people had to share single machines. (The mainframe era is covered in the section The age of Big Iron.) In this view, the minicomputer era can be seen as a mere eddy in the larger wave, a development that allowed a favoured few to have greater contact with the big machines. Overall, the age of mainframes could be characterized by the expression “Many persons, one computer.”

The second wave of computing history was brought on by the personal computer, which in turn was made possible by the invention of the microprocessor. (This era is described in the section The personal computer revolution.) The impact of personal computers has been far greater than that of mainframes and minicomputers: their processing power has overtaken that of the minicomputers, and networks of personal computers working together to solve problems can be the equal of the fastest supercomputers. The era of the personal computer can be described as the age of “One person, one computer.”

Since the introduction of the first personal computer, the semiconductor business has grown to more than a quarter-trillion-dollar worldwide industry. However, this phenomenon is only partly ascribable to the general-purpose microprocessor, which accounts for about one-sixth of annual sales. The greatest growth in the semiconductor industry has occurred in the manufacture of special-purpose processors, controllers, and digital signal processors. These computer chips are increasingly being included, or embedded, in a vast array of consumer devices, including pagers, mobile telephones, music players, automobiles, televisions, digital cameras, kitchen appliances, video games, and toys. While the Intel Corporation may be safely said to dominate the worldwide microprocessor business, it has been outpaced in this rapidly growing multibillion-dollar industry by companies such as Motorola, Inc.; Hitachi, Ltd.; Texas Instruments Incorporated; NEC Corporation; and Lucent Technologies Inc. This ongoing third wave may be characterized as “One person, many computers.”

Handheld digital devices

The origins of handheld digital devices go back to the 1960s, when Alan Kay, a researcher at Xerox’s Palo Alto Research Center (PARC), promoted the vision of a small, powerful notebook-style computer that he called the Dynabook. Kay never actually built a Dynabook (the technology had yet to be invented), but his vision helped to catalyze the research that would eventually make his dream feasible.

It happened by small steps. The popularity of the personal computer and the ongoing miniaturization of the semiconductor circuitry and other devices first led to the development of somewhat smaller, portable—or, as they were sometimes called, luggable—computer systems. The first of these, the Osborne 1, designed by Lee Felsenstein, an electronics engineer active in the Homebrew Computer Club in San Francisco, was sold in 1981. Soon most PC manufacturers had portable models. At first these portables looked like sewing machines and weighed in excess of 20 pounds (9 kg). Gradually they became smaller (laptop-, notebook-, and then sub-notebook-size) and came with more powerful processors. These devices allowed people to use computers not only in the office or at home but also while traveling—on airplanes, in waiting rooms, or even at the beach.

As the size of computers continued to shrink and microprocessors became more and more powerful, researchers and entrepreneurs explored new possibilities in mobile computing. In the late 1980s and early ’90s, several companies came out with handheld computers, called personal digital assistants (PDAs). PDAs typically replaced the cathode-ray-tube screen with a more compact liquid crystal display, and they either had a miniature keyboard or replaced the keyboard with a stylus and handwriting-recognition software that allowed the user to write directly on the screen. Like the first personal computers, PDAs were built without a clear idea of what people would do with them. In fact, people did not do much at all with the early models. To some extent, the early PDAs, made by Go Corporation and Apple, were technologically premature; with their unreliable handwriting recognition, they offered little advantage over paper-and-pencil planning books.

The potential of this new kind of device was realized in 1996 when Palm Computing, Inc., released the Palm Pilot, which was about the size of a deck of playing cards and sold for about $400—approximately the same price as the MITS Altair, the first personal computer sold as a kit in 1974. The Pilot did not try to replace the computer but made it possible to organize and carry information with an electronic calendar, telephone number and address list, memo pad, and expense-tracking software and to synchronize that data with a PC. The device included an electronic cradle to connect to a PC and pass information back and forth. It also featured a data-entry system called “graffiti,” which involved writing with a stylus using a slightly altered alphabet that the device recognized. Its success encouraged numerous software companies to develop applications for it.

In 1998 this market heated up further with the entry of several established consumer electronics firms using Microsoft’s Windows CE operating system (a stripped-down version of the Windows system) to sell handheld computer devices and wireless telephones that could connect to PCs. These small devices also often possessed a communications component and benefited from the sudden popularization of the Internet and the World Wide Web. In particular, the BlackBerry PDA, introduced by the Canadian company Research in Motion in 2002, established itself as a favourite in the corporate world because of features that allowed employees to make secure connections with their company’s databases.

In 2001 Apple introduced the iPod, a handheld device capable of storing 1,000 songs for playback. Apple quickly came to dominate a booming market for music players. The iPod could also store notes and appointments. In 2003 Apple opened an online music store, iTunes Store, and in the following software releases added photographs and movies to the media the iPod could handle. The market for iPods and iPod-like devices was second only to cellular telephones among handheld electronic devices.

While Apple and competitors grew the market for handheld devices with these media players, mobile telephones were increasingly becoming “smartphones,” acquiring more of the functions of computers, including the ability to send and receive e-mail and text messages and to access the Internet. In 2007 Apple once again shook up a market for handheld devices, this time redefining the smartphone market with its iPhone. The touch-screen interface of the iPhone was in its way more advanced than the graphical user interface used on personal computers, its storage rivaled that of computers from just a few years before, and its operating system was a modified version of the operating system on the Apple Macintosh. This, along with synchronizing and distribution technology, embodied a vision of ubiquitous computing in which personal documents and other media could be moved easily from one device to another. Handheld devices and computers found their link through the Internet.

A Brief History of Operating Systems

Operating systems provide a set of functions and links needed to control and synchronize computer hardware. These are used by most application programs on a computer. The first computers had no operating system. Every program needed the full hardware specification to run correctly and perform standard tasks, and its own drivers for peripheral devices. Considering the hardware system was evolving and becoming more complex, app programs became a necessity.

If we take a look back to the first computer, the Z1, made in 1936–1938, this computer ran without an operating system. Only 20 years later did we have the first ever operating system when General Motors produced NAA I/O back in 1956 for its IBM 704.

This was mainly due to the need for integration into the corporate world.

In the 1960s Bell labs started working on the origins of UNIX, the first multi-tasking and multi-user functionality operating system. The first version was available in the 70s. Unlike the general operating system like that used in GM, where if someone wanted to change a set of functions on a mainframe, they would have to format all the functions of the operating system and start again. This was a big leap forward. Many operating systems today trace their origins back to UNIX, namely: Linux, Mac OS X, Android, iOS, Chrome OS.

In 1977 The Apple II series was born. This is a family of home computers which was the first highly successful micro-computer designed by Steve Wozniak. It was an 8-bit computer with the first color-graphics.

The original OS was in ROM (read-only memory) alongside Integer basic which was originally based on cassette. Once the disk had been implemented in 1978, Shepardson Microsystems commissioned the first Disk Operating System (DOS).

Apple Dos 3.3 was the final and most popular version of the software.

In 1981 May MS-DOS was launched by Microsoft and started on the basis of 86-DOS by a company called “Seattle computer products” which was created by Tim Patterson. The original copy of MS-DOS took only 6 weeks to build as it was identical to Digital Research CP/M which was a similar version of the product.

MS-DOS was launched, shipped and used for the IBM personal computer, which was also licensed to IBM but called PC-DOS.

NeXTSTEP is a multi-tasking, object-oriented operating system developed by NeXT Computer. This was initially used in the late 80s and early 90s for it’s trademarked workstation computer NeXTcube. NeXT Computer was the platform that created the Electronic AppWrapper which was the first commercial electronic software distribution catalog that collectively managed encryption and provided digital rights for application software and digital media.

The AppWrapper gave birth to what we know today as the app store.

After Apple purchased NeXT they went on to create systems like macOS, IOS, and WatchOS to name a few. In addition, many of Apple’s features and apps came directly from NeXT.

In December 1987, OS/2 was released. OS/2 is a series of computer operating systems, created initially by both Microsoft and IBM. After the fallout from the two companies, after the incorrect positioning of OS/2 and Microsoft 3.1 in 1992, both companies severed their relations.

OS/2 was initially intended as a protected mode protector of PC-Dos.

On May 22, 1990, Microsoft Windows launched Windows 3.0. The graphical environment was the 3rd major release.

Windows 3.0 became a rival to Apple Macintosh and Commodore Amiga on the GUI (graphical user interface) front.

On September 17, 1991, Linux released its operating system kernel. Which is the base for it’s UNIX like open source OS.

Linux is a free OS which is widely known for its distributions such as Ubuntu and it’s commercial use like that of Redhat Hat enterprise Linux.

Linux is the leading OS on servers and on mainframe computers, also the only OS used on Top500 supercomputers. Linux has the largest installed base of all general purpose operating systems.

On April 22nd, 1992, Microsoft launched Windows 3.1x, which is a 16-bit operating environment. Windows 3.1 introduced several enhancements throughout its lifespan to the MS-DOS-based platform namely; expanded support for multimedia, improved system stability, Workgroup networking, and TrueType fonts.

On August 24, 1995, Windows 95 was released by Microsoft as the first operating system in the 9x family (versions released after 1995 and until 2000). The major change was 32-bit operating environments and it’s plug and play features.

On June 25, 1998, Microsoft launched Windows 98, which sported a hybrid 16 bit and 32 bit GUI which makes it a graphical operating system. It is an unchanging product and has a boot-stage that runs on MS-DOS. This Windows OS is part of the 9x family.

On March 6, 2008, iPhone OS 1 was the first iOS for Apple’s mobile operating system. No official name was given to the system. Apple stated that the iPhone ran on a version of its desktop operating system macOS, then known as Mac OSX. When Apple released the iPhone software development kit (iPhone SDK), it then named the operating system as iPhone OS which later on became iOS.

On September 23, 2008, Android was released. Android is a Mobile OS which was developed by Google. Based on the Linux Kernel and other Open Source software. It is designed mainly for Touchscreen devices although there are other renditions of the OS. Android is IOS’s first major competitor.

On October 22, 2009, Microsoft launched Windows 7 internationally to the public.

Windows 7 was intended to be an upgrade of Windows Vista, its predecessor and addressed Vista’s poor critical reception while maintaining its hardware and software compatibility.

New features were also added to the OS such as Libraries, HomeGroup — a file sharing system, support for multi-touch input, “Action Center” interface for an overview of maintenance information and system security, and edits were made to the User Account Control to make it less intrusive.

On May 2011 Google launched Chrome OS which is a Linux Kernel based OS. It is a free software which uses the Google Chrome web browser as it’s a primary user interface (UI). and supports web applications.

Its User Data runs directly off of the cloud, making it the first OS to be cloud-based.

After reviewing some of the most well-known operating systems through the generations, it is evident that there has been a huge advancement in the world of operating systems and how these systems have become more user-friendly and graphics-oriented in order to deliver the best product for engagement to the end user.

Looking at all the OS predecessors there is a lot more to expect in the future.

We are currently on the precipice of AI, robotics, and blockchain and these sectors will lead us towards different dimensions of Operating Systems.