Stand-Alone Operating Systems

Bill Gates, founder of Microsoft and one of the wealthiest men in the world, began his fortune with the MS-DOS operating system. Although developed for IBM, Microsoft retained the rights to the operating system and licensed the source code to several hardware manufacturers, which resulted in multiple variations. An application written for one type of DOS, however, will work with any other variation. A number follows each version of PC-DOS or MS-DOS. The integer portion of the number indicates a major release, while the decimal portion indicates updates. Thus, MS-DOS 6.2 means major version six, which has been updated twice. To a great extent, the popularity of DOS was a result of the large number of applications written to work with the operating system.

Windows 1.0, released in 1985, was Microsoft’s first attempt with a graphical user interface. It was not until five years later, however, with the release of Windows 3.0, that computer users began to take Windows seriously. Windows required 2 MB of memory (with 4 MB recommended) and an 80386 or newer processor, so it could not be used with many older PCs. Nevertheless, because Windows 3.0 was easier to use than DOS, eventually most software was written, and many popular DOS programs were rewritten, to work with Windows.

Despite the advantages of Windows 95 and a heavily-funded promotional campaign, a poll of DOS and Windows 3.x users showed not everyone immediately embraced the new operating system. When asked how likely they were to adopt Windows 95 within the next six months, respondents replied:

· extremely likely 10%

· possible 35%

· not likely 53%

· don’t know 2%

Why are people often reluctant to adopt a new operating system?

The inclusion of Internet Explorer in the Windows 98 operating system led to an antitrust suit against Microsoft. Prosecutors insisted that the incorporation of a browser was an attempt by Microsoft to eliminate competition from rival Web browsers (such as Netscape Navigator). Microsoft maintained that the addition simply was an enhancement to the operating system. Although Microsoft advertised Windows 98 less heavily than Windows 95, many vendors took up the slack. One retailer offered Windows 98 with the opportunity to buy a new computer for $98. The promotion evidently worked. A buyer waited in line 11 hours for a chance to buy the new operating system and discount computer. When asked if he would have come out simply for Windows 98 (his current computer ran Windows 3.1), he replied, “Not a chance.”

Windows 2000 was released in February, 2000 and was touted as a boon for all businesses, from small companies with no more than two desktop computers to large corporations with vast networks. Windows Millennium is a result of Microsoft’s recognition that the needs of business and home users are different.

For years, the Macintosh operating system had features that made it far easier to use than other operating systems. For example, people could give files sensible names (like “Letter to Grandma”) instead of the cryptic, eight-character strings (like “letgrand.txt”) demanded by DOS and Windows 3.x. While Windows 95 incorporated many of these features, Macintosh devotees still feel their operating system is easier to use. Until recently, the Macintosh operating system was proprietary. In 1994 the operating system was licensed, but experts feel Apple’s promotion has been lukewarm. New standards let IBM computers run Apple software. More than 4,000 applications are designed to run under the Mac OS. Microsoft has developed the more popular Mac OS applications.

IBM supplies OS/2 (Operating System/2) Warp with its high-end personal computers. OS/2 originally was developed jointly by IBM and Microsoft to replace MS-DOS. As an interim measure, Microsoft developed Windows, an operating environment to work with DOS. The eventual popularity of Windows, coupled with the initial poor sales of OS/2, resulted in Microsoft and IBM going their separate ways, with Microsoft concentrating on Windows and IBM continuing to develop OS/2. Features offered in OS/2 Warp include:

· An enhanced graphical user interface

· Integrated business application software

· Speaker-independent speech recognition software

· Desktop objects that allow users to connect directly to the Internet

· Integrated Java programming language that allows Java applications to run without a Web browser

· Support for multiple CPUs using multiprocessing