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====== A Short History of Operating Systems ======

Mithat Konar\\
Dec 4, 2019

===== The major eras =====
  * The no-OS era
  * Mainframe/midrange-server era
  * The personal computing era
  * GUI desktop era
  * Open source "era"
  * Mobile era

===== The no-OS era =====

  * **until ~1960**
  * Earliest computers did not have operating systems.
  * Expectations and capabilities were simple enough that OSes weren't needed.
  * Many limited-capability modern computers still don't have OSes.
    * Simple remote controls
    * Microwave oven panels

===== Mainframe/midrange-server era =====

  * **~1960-1975**
  * multiuser (with authentication), multitasking
  * UNIX (late 1960's)
    * many versions
    * commercial but given away to academic institutions
    * still widely used in research and academia

===== The personal computing era =====

  * **~1975-1985**
  * a.k.a. **microcomputer** era
  * single user (no authentication), single tasking
  * CLI and menu UI
  * CP/M (1974)
  * Apple II (1977)
  * DOS (1981)
  * Commodore 64 (1982), Amiga (1985) ...

===== GUI desktop era =====

  * **~1985-2010**
  * Apple Macintosh (1984)

===== GUI desktop era =====

  * Microsoft Windows
    * 1.0 (1985), 3.1 (1992): DOS-based
    * Windows NT (1993): UNIX competitor
    * Windows 95 (1995): preemptive multitasking
    * Windows 98 (1998): networking support
    * Windows 2000 (2000): NT evolved
    * Windows XP (2001): true multiuser; Pro, Home versions
    * Windows Vista (2006): gazillions of versions
    * Windows 7 (2009): many versions
    * Windows 8 (2012): one-OS-for-all-platforms, touch-centric
    * Windows 10 (2015)

===== GUI desktop era =====

  * Apple's Mac OS X / OS X / macOS (2001)
    * Unix-based (Darwin BSD)
  * Google's Chrome OS (2011)
    * Linux core hosting Google Chrome and Chrome-based apps.

===== Open-source alternatives =====

  * **~1991-present**
  * Linux (1991)
  * BSD UNIX (open versions since ~1991)
  * Great for desktop/laptop use.
  * Great for servers.
    * Linux powers most Web servers


===== Mobile era =====

  * **~2010 - present**
  * Embedded Linux (1991)
  * Windows CE/Embedded (1996)
  * Palm (1996)
  * Symbian (1997)
  * BlackBerry OS (1999)
  * Windows Mobile (2000)
  * iOS (2007)
  * Android (2008)

===== Mobile era =====

  * webOS (2010)
  * bada (2010)
  * Aliyun (2011)
  * Tizen (2012)
  * Sailfish OS (2012)
  * Firefox OS (c. 2013)
  * Ubuntu Touch (2013)

===== Mobile era =====

  * Android Wear / Wear OS (2014)
  * watchOS (2015)
  * iPadOS (2019)
  * Many small Linux projects

===== Not covered =====

  * Custom OS for supercomputers, etc.