Early operating system
At first, computers had no operating system. People control computers through various operation buttons. Later, assembly language appeared, and the operator input the program into the computer for compilation through punched paper tape. These computers with built-in languages can only be run by operators themselves, which is not conducive to the use of equipment and programs. In order to solve this problem, the operating system appeared, which well realized the use of programs and the management of computer hardware resources.
With the development of computing technology and large-scale integrated circuits, microcomputers have developed rapidly. Since the mid-1970s, computer operating systems have appeared. From 65438 to 0976, American Digital Research Software Company developed an 8-bit CP/M operating system. The system allows users to control and manage the system through the keyboard of the console, and its main function is to manage file information, so as to realize automatic access to hard disk files or other equipment files. Since then, some 8-bit operating systems mostly adopt CP/M structure.
DOS operating system
The development of computer operating system has gone through two stages. The first stage is a single-user single-task operating system. After CP/M operating system, there are disk operating systems such as C-DOS, M-DOS, TRS-DOS, S-DOS and MS-DOS.
It is worth mentioning that MS-DOS is an operating system running on IBM-PC and its compatible computers. It originated from SCP86-DOS and is a single-user operating system based on 8086 microprocessor in 1980. Later, Microsoft obtained the patent of operating system and installed it on IBM-PC, named PC-DOS. 198 1 year, Microsoft's MS-DOS version 1.0 and IBM's PC came out, which was the first practical 16 bit operating system. Microcomputer has entered a new era. 1987, Microsoft released MS-DOS version 3.3, which is a very mature and reliable DOS version, and Microsoft gained the dominance of personal operating system.
Since 198 1 came out, DOS has undergone seven major version upgrades, from 1.0 version to the current version of 7.0, and has been continuously improved and perfected. However, the single user, single task, character interface and 16 bits of DOS system have not changed, so its memory management is limited to 640KB.
A new era of operating system
The second stage of the development of computer operating system is multi-user multi-task time-sharing system. Its typical representatives are UNIX, XENIX, OS/2 and Windows operating systems. Time-sharing multi-user, multi-task, tree file system, redirection and pipeline are the three characteristics of UNIX.
OS/2 is a 32-bit system with graphical interface, which can not only handle the application software of 32-bit OS/2 system, but also run 16-bit DOS and Windows software. It integrates multi-task management, graphic window management, communication management and database management.
Windows is the first generation of windows multitasking system released by Microsoft in June 1985+0 1, which makes PC enter the so-called graphical user interface era. Windows 1.x is a version with multi-window and multi-task function, but the hardware platform at that time was PC/XT, which was very slow, so Windows 1.x was not very popular. At the end of 1987, Microsoft introduced version 2.x of MS-Windows, which has the function of overlapping windows, the window size can also be adjusted, and the extended memory and the extended memory can be used as disk cache, thus improving the performance of the whole computer, and it also provides many application programs.
1990, Microsoft introduced Windows 3.0, which further strengthened its functions, powerful memory management and provided a considerable number of Windows application software, thus becoming the new operating system standard for 386 and 486 microcomputers. Subsequently, Windows released version 3. 1, and launched the corresponding Chinese version. Compared with version 3.0, version 3. 1 added some new functions, which was welcomed by users and was the most popular version of Windows at that time. 1995, Microsoft introduced Windows 95. Before that, Windows was booted by DOS, which means they are not completely independent systems, but Windows 95 is a completely independent system, which has been further improved in many aspects, integrating network functions and plug-and-play functions. It is a brand-new 32-bit operating system. 1998, Microsoft introduced an improved version of Windows 95. One of the biggest features of Windows 98 is the integration of Microsoft's Internet browser technology into Windows 95, which makes accessing Internet resources as convenient as accessing local hard disks, thus better meeting people's growing demand for accessing Internet resources. Windows 98 has become the mainstream operating system currently in practical use.
Since Microsoft introduced Windows 1.0 in 1985, Windows system has almost become synonymous with operating system, from Windows 3.x running under DOS to Windows 9x/Me/2000/NT/XP which is now popular all over the world.
Operating system Linux
Linux is the largest free software in the world at present. It is an operating system comparable to UNIX and Windows, with complete network functions. Linux was originally developed by Finnish Linus Torvalds. After its source program was published on the Internet, it aroused the enthusiasm of computer enthusiasts all over the world. Many people downloaded the source program, perfected a function according to their own wishes, and then sent it back to the Internet. Therefore, Linux has been carved into the most stable and promising operating system in the world.
From the development point of view, it is still too early for Linux to replace UNIX and Windows, but a software with excellent stability, flexibility and ease of use will certainly be used more and more widely.