Unix Operating System

The paper examines the UNIX Operating System (OS). Understanding computing without the utilization or knowledge of UNIX is very difficult for most people. The reason for this could be the fact that the various editions UNIX Operating System have a significant usage in almost every computer, irrespective of the computer's version. Its is also a fact that many of the computer's tasks can be done only with the assistance of the UNIX operating system. The paper explains why the UNIX operating system is so accessible and significant. It delves into the background of the system and the ideas behind it. The paper further analyzes the developments made in UNIX systems over the years, the key utilities and the present status of UNIX Operating Systems. The conclusion presents the future of the UNIX Operating System.

From the Paper:

"UNIX is an operating system, which not only is extremely unique, but also had been the first of its kind because, unlike other programs at the time, all the computer need to do was operate the UNIX operating system and then the operating system would operate everything else, i.e. this special kind of program runs all the other related programs that the user needs to work with when he is using the computer. This kind of program or creation of such a program was not normality till and after the 1970s. In the computing industry back then, the trend was that an operating system was created by the owners of the industry for the implementation in a certain computer that was sold by the company itself. This made the computer act like a very limited machine while working on programs that did not work in concurrence with the operating system already in the computer. The inability of a variety of different programs to work on a single computer was also a handicap. The operating system, of course, was different from one type of computer to the other because of the different makers in the market. A good example to clarify this application is the Apple's Macintosh- operating system which has been an owner operating system for a large part of the system's use making the programs working on this structure unable to work on any other setup or operating system. Another example of such a system is the DEC's VMS. 4. UNIX is the most influential and successful open OS that can work on any kind of computer with its various editions. MS-DOS, a program partly formed by the UNIS OS is a good example of a non-owner (or open) OS (John 1998)."

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