An operating system (OS) is a software that maintains the connection between the computer’s hardware and software. It acts as an intermediary between the user and the computer system.
Main functions:Establish communication between user and hardware File management, memory management, process control Run software Provide interface (GUI or CLI)
History of operating systems (in brief):
Year – Description
1950s Early computers ran without an operating system. Users used machine language.
1960s Batch processing and time-sharing systems were introduced. For example, the IBM System/360 OS
1970s Unix was introduced. It was a versatile, multitasking OS.
1980s MS-DOS, Apple Macintosh OS, and Windows 1.0 were introduced. Graphical user interfaces (GUI) became popular.
1990s Modern versions of Windows 95/98, Linux, and Mac OS were introduced.2000s Modern OSs such as Windows XP/7/10/11, macOS, Ubuntu, Android, iOS, etc. are in use.
List of popular operating systems:
💻 For Desktop/Laptop:
1. Windows (7, 8, 10, 11)2. macOS (Apple)3. Linux (Ubuntu, Fedora, Debian, Arch, Mint)4. Chrome OS5. BSD (FreeBSD, OpenBSD)
📱 For mobile:
- Android (Google)
- iOS (Apple)
- HarmonyOS (Huawei)
- KaiOS (for feature phones)
🖥️ For Servers and Developers:1. Linux Server editions (Red Hat, CentOS, Ubuntu Server)2. Windows Server3. FreeBSD4. Solaris (Oracle)
