Survey of PC OS Chapter 6B

DOS 16 bit OS Stands for Disk Operating System, came with original IBM PC. First version is called PC-DOS introduced by IBM on IBM PC. Later Microsoft offered MS-DOS for IBM compatible PC clones. MS-DOS was actually developed at Seattle Computer Products. Microsoft bought the company as soon as it sensed the importance of IBM PC. Advantage: simple small programs requires less space, easy to execute. Still used on computers running simple single function task. E.g. restaurants, shops still run MS-DOS on grayscale monitors.

Windows NT Workstation NT stands for New Technology, introduced in 1993 as a 32 bit OS. It is the first full 32 bit processor. Windows 3.x and windows 9x were 16/32 bit hybrids. Designed to be a successor of DOS, but it was too heavy and large for the computing power of the PCs of the era. Instead of releasing Windows NT, Microsoft went back to the drawing board and designed Windows 95, Later it was marketed for professional market for two segments namely workstations and network servers. Branded as NT workstation and NT network server.

Windows 9x Stands for Windows 95,98, and ME (Millennium Edition) of consumer grade OSs. Before windows 9x, there was a family of OS named Windows 3.x so named for Windows 3.0, windows 3.1 and windows 3.11. Windows 95 is an OS which does not require MS-DOS to be installed before. Whereas Windows 3.x was an operating environment which ran on top of DOS Advantages of 95, networking with printers, networks, first version to support plug and play. GUI features such as taskbar and START button. Windows 98 was just an update of 95 rather than a whole new OS. The improvements were not that dramatic from 95, as it was for windows 3.x to 95. Improved feature of 98 is the Active Desktop with the Internet Explorer, which enables users to gather information such as stock ticker, weather info on the desktop directly from the Internet. Windows ME had improved multimedia such as video editing

Windows 2000 Professional Combines the user friendly interface of 98 with file systems, networking power of NT. Windows 2000 was robust OS. So Microsoft designed it for 4 markets: desktop and three versions for network servers. Beginning of support of SMP(Symmetric Multi-Processing) parallel processing up to 2 processors

Windows XP Came in 2001, First product to include both consumer and enterprise grade elements. Very popular due user friendly interface as well as robustness with security and less likelihood of crash. More 3D look with lots of shading Digital Media Support: Windows Media Player 9 with broadcast support and video editing Advanced Networking: Universal Plug and Play: find and use hardware connected via network. Also allows multiple computers to be connected via single internet connection through Internet Connection Sharing. IrComm modem allows cellphone to connect to PC internet.

available in many different flavors: 1. XP Professional 2. XP Home 3. XP Media Center edition 4. XP embedded for consumer electronics such as PDA 64 bit XP for Opteron and Athlon 64 processors.

Vista Came in 2006, Vista had Aero Glass user interface. Where borders had glasslike translucent boundary where backgrounds are semi-visible like you are seeing through glass. Windows Flip feature will show a live preview of each open window. Taskbar live thumbnail: hovering over a taskbar button of a window shows live preview of that window. Desktop Window Manager(DWM): To achieve hardware acceleration, duty of rendering UI was transferred from CPU to Graphical Processing Unit(GPU). Task Dialogs: more complex version of dialog box. Dialog box is usually a question and few simple command buttons. Whereas task dialogs have more complex elements: checkboxes, progress bars, hyperlinks, Centralized configuration Autonomic computing: detect problem before it even occurs sensing hints of problems. Sleep state consumes less power. faster start-up time

vista Versions: Vista Home basic: for browsing internet, email, photo, movie viewing Vista Home Premium: Slideshow, media center, meeting space, mobility center, Tablet PC support, Vista Business: protects stored files from unauthorized viewers, Vista Ultimate: Language Packs, BitLocker Drive Encryption, DreamScene screensavers Vista Enterprise: corporate sales program that offered protection under Software Assurance Agreements, provided service for group purchase such as spread payments over multiple periods, free upgrade and discount, access to exclusive products such as enterprise editions, free training, access to E-Learning,

Windows 7 Came in 2009. beginning of touchscreen friendly and unique mouse based gestures. Had improved aero features: 1.Aero Peek: hovering over a taskbar thumbnail shows a preview of the entire window. 2. Aero Shake: shaking, quickly dragging a window back and forth, minimizes all other windows, shaking it again brings them back.

Windows 8 Released in 2012. New logo for windows resembles a set of 4 panes or glass squares. Windows 8 removed the permanent START button for the 1st time since windows 95. Concept is desktop itself is an app rather than the primary face of the user interface. Touchscreen based OS to be more compatible with Surface tablet and Windows Phone smartphone Concept of “Windows on everywhere and every kinds of devices” where apps are portable between devices. Uses Metro design language which incorporates two screen which can be shown separately on 2 different monitors: one traditional menu based mouse based GUI, the other being Apps based touchscreen input.

Windows 8 Metro design language depends on large typography which has large text that catches the eye instantly rather than small icon based UI. The inspiration came from Swiss typographic style design that favors large texts that are prominent and easily visible and from public transport systems where large text based sign are posted on cars and stands. START screen: displays programs and dynamically updates screen based on a grid of tiles. A new Lock screen with clock and notification. Integration with online Windows store to promote developers to come up with more apps. Other features: USB 3.0, NFC(Near Field Communication), cloud computing, built-in anti-virus.

Recent developments Windows 8.1 Released in 2013, Upgrading to Windows 8.1 is required for windows 8 users to receive support after january,2016. Windows 10 Windows 8.1 is succeeded by Windows 10 in July, 2015.