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Operating Systems
The very basics or different choices
By: David K. Every
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2002-03-12 06:51:24
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 he computer industry originally had dozens of choices in the types of computers and Operating Systems people could buy. All this diversity meant that if you really knew what you wanted, then there was a machine just for you. But most people didn't and found it confusing. Over time, the industry has "collapsed" into basically 3 standards that we have today. There's UNIX, Mac, and a few variants of Microsoft Windows. And even that is getting smaller.
UNIX is an Operating System (a way to operate a computer) that was built by computer programmers for computer programmers. It isn't easy to use, but it is incredibly powerful -- especially for setting up a machine to "serve" other machines (give them information they want). There were many computer companies that built their Operating System to be UNIX-based and run UNIX programs. (For sake of discussion, LINUX is a variant of UNIX).
The Macintosh computer was created by Apple -- which were built to be easy to use and powerful for users. These machines pioneered many concepts like built-in networking (so users could work together), and made it easy to add things to your computer (Plug & Play), and other concepts to make it "just work right".
Windows was sort of the Frankenstien's monster of the computer world. Anything that anyone else was doing, Microsoft copied it, and threw that in their as well. The results were that you ended up with a pretty powerful set of features, but the features don't always make sense or don't feel like they belong with the other features. But there are so many features that it can do lots of things.
There are many flavors of Windows to do different things. There is WindowsCE for "Consumer Electronics", meaning hand-held computers. There is regular versions of Windows for home computers (Windows95, 98, ME). There are versions for doing high end stuff like UNIX does (WindowsNT, 2000, and soon XP). Windows works good enough for most people, and there are enough choices that most people run some variant of Windows.
Recently, Apple has merged their old Macintosh Operating System (and its ease of use), with UNIX (and its power) into a new version of their Operating System -- called MacOS X. (X being the roman numeral 10, and to remind people of the "X" in "UNIX" -- all previous verions of the MacOS were numbered 1 to 9). So now there is really only Windows and UNIX -- though there are many variations of UNIX with Apple's being by far the easiest to use.
Every computer has advantages and disadvantages. Macs tend to be better for graphics, education, publishing and content creation. PCs with Windows are a little better for games, and have a lot more programs, and can be easier to exchange files with other Windows users. (Though honestly there are many thousands of programs for Macs, and they can run most Windows software as well -- they just run Windows programs a bit slower that a real PC would). UNIX is great for programmers, serving and sharing information (sometimes whether you want to or not).
So what you are doing that should help decide which computer system to buy.
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