1. Operating systems
Quick links
Operating System ABCs
Operating System types
Operating System overviews
Troubleshooting
Operating System Q&A
Operating System definitions
Apple news
Linux / Unix news
Microsoft news
Operating system ABCs
An operating system, or OS, is a software program that enables the computer hardware to
communicate and operate with the computer software. Without a computer operating system,
a computer would be useless.
Operating system types
As computers have progressed and developed so have the types of operating systems. Below
is a basic list of the different types of operating systems and a few examples of operating
systems that fall into each of the categories. Many computer operating systems will fall into
more than one of the below categories.
GUI - Short for Graphical User Interface, a GUI Operating System contains graphics and
icons and is commonly navigated by using a computer mouse. See our GUI dictionary
definition for a complete definition. Below are some examples of GUI Operating Systems.
System 7.x
Windows 98
Windows CE
Multi-user - A multi-user operating system allows for multiple users to use the same
computer at the same time and/or different times. See our multi-user dictionary definition for
a complete definition for a complete definition. Below are some examples of multi-user
operating systems.
Linux
Unix
Windows 2000
Multiprocessing - An operating system capable of supporting and utilizing more than one
computer processor. Below are some examples of multiprocessing operating systems.

2. Linux
Unix
Windows 2000
Multitasking - An operating system that is capable of allowing multiple software processes
to run at the same time. Below are some examples of multitasking operating systems.
Unix
Windows 2000
Multithreading - Operating systems that allow different parts of a software program to run
concurrently. Operating systems that would fall into this category are:
Linux
Unix
Windows 2000
Troubleshooting
Common questions and answers to operating systems in general can be found on the below
operating system question and answers. All other questions relating to an operating system in
particular can be found through the operating system page.
Linux / Variants
MacOS
MS-DOS
IBM OS/2 Warp
Unix / Variants
Windows CE
Windows 3.x
Windows 95
Windows 98
Windows 98 SE
Windows ME
Windows NT
Windows 2000
Windows XP
Windows Vista
Windows 7
Operating system listing
Below is a listing of many of the different types of operating systems available today, the
dates they were released, the platforms they have been developed for and who developed
them.
Operating
Date first released Platform Developer
system
AIX / AIXL Unix / Linux history can be found here. Various IBM

3. Currently no AmigaOS operating
AmigaOS Amiga Commodore
system history.
BSD Unix / Linux history can be found here. Various BSD
Caldera Linux Unix / Linux history can be found here. Various SCO
Corel Linux Unix / Linux history can be found here. Various Corel
Debian Linux Unix / Linux history can be found here. Various GNU
DUnix Unix / Linux history can be found here. Various Digital
DYNIX/ptx Unix / Linux history can be found here. Various IBM
Hewlett
HP-UX Unix / Linux history can be found here. Various
Packard
IRIX Unix / Linux history can be found here. Various SGI
Kondara Linux Unix / Linux history can be found here. Various Kondara
Linux Unix / Linux history can be found here. Various Linus Torvalds
Apple operating system history can be Apple
MAC OS 8 Apple
found here. Macintosh
Apple operating system history can be Apple
MAC OS 9 Apple
found here. Macintosh
Apple operating system history can be Apple
MAC OS 10 Apple
found here. Macintosh
Apple operating system history can be Apple
MAC OS X Apple
found here. Macintosh
Mandrake
Unix / Linux history can be found here. Various Mandrake
Linux
MINIX Unix / Linux history can be found here. Various MINIX
MS-DOS 1.x MS-DOS history can be found here. IBM / PC Microsoft
MS-DOS 2.x MS-DOS history can be found here. IBM / PC Microsoft
MS-DOS 3.x MS-DOS history can be found here. IBM / PC Microsoft
MS-DOS 4.x MS-DOS history can be found here. IBM / PC Microsoft
MS-DOS 5.x MS-DOS history can be found here. IBM / PC Microsoft
MS-DOS 6.x MS-DOS history can be found here. IBM / PC Microsoft
Apple operating system history can be
NEXTSTEP Various Apple
found here.
OSF/1 Unix / Linux history can be found here. Various OSF
QNX Unix / Linux history can be found here. Various QNX

4. Red Hat Linux Unix / Linux history can be found here. Various Red Hat
SCO Unix / Linux history can be found here. Various SCO
Slackware
Unix / Linux history can be found here. Various Slackware
Linux
Sun Solaris Unix / Linux history can be found here. Various Sun
SuSE Linux Unix / Linux history can be found here. Various SuSE
Apple operating system history can be Apple
System 1 Apple
found here. Macintosh
Apple operating system history can be Apple
System 2 Apple
found here. Macintosh
Apple operating system history can be Apple
System 3 Apple
found here. Macintosh
Apple operating system history can be Apple
System 4 Apple
found here. Macintosh
Apple operating system history can be Apple
System 6 Apple
found here. Macintosh
Apple operating system history can be Apple
System 7 Apple
found here. Macintosh
System V Unix / Linux history can be found here. Various System V
Tru64 Unix Unix / Linux history can be found here. Various Digital
Turbolinux Unix / Linux history can be found here. Various Turbolinux
Ultrix Unix / Linux history can be found here. Various Ultrix
Unisys Unix / Linux history can be found here. Various Unisys
Unix Unix / Linux history can be found here. Various Bell labs
UnixWare Unix / Linux history can be found here. Various UnixWare
VectorLinux Unix / Linux history can be found here. Various VectorLinux
Windows 2000 Windows history can be found here. IBM / PC Microsoft
Windows 2003 Windows history can be found here. IBM / PC Microsoft
Windows 3.X Windows history can be found here. IBM / PC Microsoft
Windows 7 Windows history can be found here. IBM / PC Microsoft
Windows 95 Windows history can be found here. IBM / PC Microsoft
Windows 98 Windows history can be found here. IBM / PC Microsoft
Windows CE Windows history can be found here. PDA Microsoft
Windows ME Windows history can be found here. IBM / PC Microsoft

5. Windows NT Windows history can be found here. IBM / PC Microsoft
Windows Vista Windows history can be found here. IBM / PC Microsoft
Windows XP Windows history can be found here. IBM / PC Microsoft
Xenix Unix / Linux history can be found here. Various Microsoft