- PC SOFTWARE -

Your operating system is the "soul" of your PC, and without it none of your user programs would work.  Operating systems as we know them started with `MS DOS'  in the late 70's.  Whether you realize it or not, MS DOS is still the underlying platform for all new Windows operating systems - and without it, things like your BIOS would not work. 

 For a quick history on operating systems, in 1978-79 Microsoft, in a joint venture with IBM, developed the first PC "Disk Operating System - (DOS)".  Microsoft later bought the software rights from IBM (big mistake by IBM).  DOS 1.0 was upgraded over the years and in around 1994 the final version of DOS (V6.22) was released.  Beginning in the late 1980's the Microsoft "Windows" era started - and it came into full fruition in 1995 with "Windows '95" - the operating system that changed history!  It had a McIntosh-like desktop (the main screen you see after you finish booting up) that made everything easier to get to.  With it came all of the Microsoft "User Applications" that worked much better on a Win 95 platform - and created a `total' software package for home and office.  

What you are looking at below is the Microsoft Corporation logo for `Windows 98' - still a widely used and all-around reliable operating system for `vintage' PC's.  Microsoft stopped supporting Win '98, however, to drive consumers to their newest OS, XP.  

XP has been the standard for both home and office use for over 3 years now - and even though it made me nervous at the beginning, I now wonder how I ever lived without it.  The only growing pains XP had was finding device drivers for video cards, sound cards, modems, etc.  However the manufacturers of these devices saw the writing on the wall and came up with the software to make their `stuff' work in an XP environment.

 

Computer operating systems really come in two distinct categories, `workstation' (individual users) and `network'.

Microsoft workstation (home or office) operating systems currently in use are Win '95 (for the die-hards), Win '98 (still good and going strong), ME (only lasted a year and full of problems) and, most recently, Windows XP (eXPerience).  I like XP on a new PC with XP compatible hardware, but don't try upgrading a unit over 4 years old with it.  The thing I don't like about it is the copyright hassle that comes with it (you can only install it on one of your PC's).

Beyond the home or office PC operating systems are the office `network' platforms like "Novell" and "Windows NT & 2000".  These programs are hosted on a network `server', are designed to control who can gain access to what information in the `system' (network users), and provide more "robust" interaction between users and the network server (super PC that is run by the server operating system, holds "common" office applications programs, and `backs-up' critical data).  During the `DOS' era, Novell had a corner on this market (with a very complex program that took years to master) but then, in it's wisdom, Microsoft came up with simpler, more powerful alternatives.  

On the horizon is "Windows.net" which is expected to do great and wonderful things (check out the below features).