Compare And Contrast Operating System

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What Is an Operating System and What Is It’s Purpose? An operating system is a piece of software that manages all the hardware on the system and allows the user to interact with them. The OS is the most important software on the computer and automatically starts when the PC is booted. It’s a lower level software and usually allows third party programs to run within the operative system. It also manages the disk drive and dictates how files are stored within the HDD. Furthermore it manages peripherals and inputs such as mice, keyboards and printers. Even though early operating systems were operated in a command line interface, they evolved and became more intuitive with the advent of graphical user interface and the mouse. These two advents made operating systems more interactive, intuitive and easier to use especially for the general public. Comparing Some of the Most Popular Computer Operating Systems. Some of the most popular choices for OS’s are Mac OSX, Windows and Linux. More specifically I’m going to be comparing OS X Lion 10.7, Windows 7 and Ubuntu. I’m going to start off with the user interface. OSX wins by far being the simplest, easiest to learn and most aesthetically pleasing. Windows 7 UI looks really …show more content…

Windows uses the “New Technology Filing System” or NTFS. This filing system was introduced and included with every version of Windows since 1993. It has many useful features like encryption, permissions and better support for larger disks. Mac OSX in the other hand uses HFS+ as their filing system for all their operating systems and their mobile devices (iPhones, iPods and iPads). Ubuntu gives you the choice of either using Ext3 or Ext4 as a filing system when you first install the OS. Ext3 is regarded as more stable but Ext4 can improve the amount you can store and the overall disk

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