Theme/Thesis Origins of Operating Systems

Operating systems runs the software, and software sells computers. Operating systems may seem like they come and go. But, Reminisce of past operating systems is evident in today’s computers

The Apple Lisa and Macs' look and feel came directly from the another computer. Mac’s graphical interface has can be traced directly to Xerox’s abandoned Alto computer. Xerox had developed the Alto for a single user, thus creating the first personal computer. It was developed in the PARC research facility, but Xerox determined it unmarketable, since it cost $40,000 so some engineers transferred from PARC to Apple to help on the Lisa project. When Steve Jobs (Apple’s CEO) toured the Palo Alto Research Center he first saw the Alto and its features. From this tour he used Xerox’s ideas on Lisa for pop-up menus, mouse used to select text, windows, and so on. From Lisa came the cheaper, more popular Macintosh. As new Macs came out, new borrowed features were put in, now the Mac OS X, the newest version of the Macintosh OS, is UNIX based, (UNIX is another operating system).

All Microsoft did was borrow and improve. In 1980 IBM asked Microsoft to sell an OS to them, Microsoft would only license it, but IBM still accepted. Quickly Microsoft bought the rights to QDOS (Quick and Dirty Operating System), which was based on CP/M (Control Program for Microcomputers), a fairly popular operating system for computers then, adapted from Unix, another popular OS. Microsoft bought QDOS for $50,000, making sure not to let QDOS’s manufacture know about the IBM deal, they then renamed QDOS to MS-DOS (Microsoft Disk Operating System), and improved on MS-DOS. IBM’s PC is later released, with great success. Building off of Xerox’s PARC project and Apple’s success with their GUI (Graphical User Interface) in Lisa and Macintosh, Microsoft started Windows, a GUI that ran over DOS. IBM did not give them a deal this time, since they were working on a similar project called Top View. Windows 1.0 was released November 10th, 1985 (2 years after promised release date), it used many of the Alto’s features, such as windows and file menus. Then, Windows 2.0 came out in 1987, with many improvements, in 1988 Microsoft became the top software vender. Windows’s predecessors could be easily traced when they add Icons, a picture on the desktop linked to a file or program, another similarity to the Alto and the Mac. Also in 1988, Apple filed a suit against Microsoft for copyright infringement, but Microsoft defends that all the ideas were from Xerox originally. Later in 1990 then 1992 Windows 3.x (Windows 3.0 and Windows 3.1) is released, which is an improvements on its predecessors, but there was no major interface change. Then in 1995, Windows 95 is released, which the actual operating system is based on MS-DOS, but does not run over MS-DOS, as did all of its predecessors (Windows 1.0, 2.0, 3x.; Top View). Microsoft’s tactics are questionable, but they sell the most popular operating systems in the world (Windows 3x, 95, 98 66%, Windows NT 21%), all based on other’s work.

Linux is a ‘flavor’ or UNIX. Linux, like Mac OS X and CP/M, is based on the UNIX operating system. UNIX was developed in Bell Labs, during the late 70s. Linux, out of CP/M and Mac OS X is the closest related to UNIX. Linux was developed by Linus Trovalds, from the University of Helsinki, and its roots are very distinct whenever it is compared to UNIX. Linux computers can run X-Windows, GUI designed off of Windows. Linux-running computers may be the future, perhaps because of its close ties with UNIX.

When examined, the roots of an operating system can be clearly seen, when Windows 1.0 is compared MS-DOS and Xerox’s Alto, its roots are clearly seen, along with MS-DOS compared to QDOS compared to PC/M compared to UNIX, and the same with Mac and Linux. Soon, with the coming of Mac OS X the most popular OSs will be remotely and directly UNIX based. UNIX was the choice by many to base an operating system off of, UNIX is the ‘backbone’ of the Internet, a great deal of servers run off either UNIX or Linux. Bell Labs should be held in people’s highest regards, they have created basically the whole market for computers, they invented the transistor in 1947 and UNIX in the 70s, computers would still be room-sized. Bell Labs was part of the AT&T monopoly and created so much useful technology, and still is under the name Lucent, but do they have half the resources they did under AT&T, would more greater or cheaper technology be available if Ma Bell hadn’t been split up. Because of Bell’s involvement in Operating Systems, we have things like the Internet and Personal Computers.

Bibliography: Note - these are note all the pages used

Gonzalez, Franciso "Linux Info"

http://www.geocities.com/SiliconValley/Lab/6582/

(31 May 2000)

Waring, Becky "OS X Preview" C|NET 3/8/00

http://www.cnet.com/software/0-3717-7-1563906.html?st.sw.3717-7-1563905.dir.3717-7-1563906

(31 May 2000)

Horn, Bruce "On Xerox, Apple and Progress" Glen Sanford 1996-9

http://www.apple-history.com/horn1.html

(30 May 2000)

"The Graphical User Interface" Glen Sanford 1996-9

http://www.apple-history.com/GUI.html