Why are Linux and Mac OS X safer?

First, look at the two factors that cause email viruses and worms to propagate: social engineering, and poorly designed software. Social engineering is the art of conning someone into doing something they shouldn't do, or revealing something that should be kept secret. Virus writers use social engineering to convince people to do stupid things, like open attachments that carry viruses and worms. Poorly designed software makes it easier for social engineering to take place, but such software can also subvert the efforts of a knowledgable, security-minded individual or organization. Together, the two factors can turn a single virus incident into a widespread disaster.

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Let's look further at social engineering. Windows software is either executable or not, depending on the file extension. So if a file ends with ".exe" or ".scr", it can be run as a program (yes, of course, if you change a text file's extension from ".txt" to ".exe", nothing will happen, because it's not magically an executable; I'm talking about real executable programs). It's easy to run executables in the Windows world, and users who get an email with a subject line like "Check out this wicked screensaver!" and an attachment, too often click on it without thinking first, and bang! we're off to the races and a new worm has taken over their systems.

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Even worse, Microsoft's email software is able to infect a user's computer when they do something as innocuous as read an email! Don't believe me? Take a look at Microsoft Security Bulletins MS99-032, MS00-043, MS01-015, MS01-020, MS02-068, or MS03-023, for instance. Notice that's at least one for the last five years. And though Microsoft's latest versions of Outlook blocks most executable attachments by default, it's still possible to override those protections. >>Editor's note: the above vulnerabilities, while valid, all had patches provided by Microsoft months before they were actively exploited by malicious code. This does not negate the fact that the vulnerabilities existed -- however there are also exploits for some Linux mail clients (Pine, mutt) that will execute code on a system when the user views the message as well. To bypass the security fix provided by Microsoft, the user must now take some specific actions as explained in the link above.>>

This sort of social engineering, so easy to accomplish in Windows, requires far more steps and far greater effort on the part of the Linux user. Instead of just reading an email (... just reading an email?!?), a Linux user would have to read the email, save the attachment, give the attachment executable permissions, and then run the executable. Even as less sophisticated users begin to migrate to Linux, they may not understand exactly why they can't just execute attachments, but they will still have to go through the steps. As Martha Stewart would say, this is a good thing. Further, due to the strong community around Linux, new users will receive education and encouragement in areas such as email security that are currently lacking in the Windows world, which should help to alleviate any concerns on the part of newbies.

Further, due to the strong separation between normal users and the privileged root user, our Linux user would have to be running as root to really do any damage to the system. He could damage his /home directory, but that's about it. So the above steps now become the following: read, save, become root, give executable permissions, run. The more steps, the less likely a virus infection becomes, and certainly the less likely a catastrophically spreading virus becomes. And since Linux users are taught from the get-go to never run as root, and since Mac OS X doesn't even allow users to use the root account unless they first enable the option, it's obvious the likelihood of email-driven viruses and worms lessens on those platforms.

Unfortunately, running as root (or Administrator) is common in the Windows world. In fact, Microsoft is still engaging in this risky behavior. Windows XP, supposed Microsoft's most secure desktop operating system, automatically makes the first named user of the system an Administrator, with the power to do anything he wants to the computer. The reasons for this decision boggle the mind. With all the lost money and productivity over the last decade caused by countless Microsoft-borne viruses and worms, you'd think the company could have changed its procedures in this area, but no.

Even if the OS has been set up correctly, with an Administrator account and a non-privileged user account, things are still not copasetic. On a Windows system, programs installed by a non-Administrative user can still add DLLs and other system files that can be run at a level of permission that damages the system itself. Even worse, the collection of files on a Windows system - the operating system, the applications, and the user data - can't be kept apart from each other. Things are intermingled to a degree that makes it unlikely that they will ever be satisfactorily sorted out in any sensibly secure fashion.

The final reason why social engineering is easier in the Windows world is also an illustration of the dangers inherent in any monoculture, whether biological or technological. In the same way that genetic diversity in a population of living creatures is desirable because it reduces the likelihood that an illness - like a virus - will utterly wipe out every animal or plant, diversity in computing environments helps to protect the users of those devices.

Linux runs on many architectures, not just Intel, and there are many versions of Linux, many packaging systems, and many shells. But most obvious to the end user, Linux mail clients and address books are far from standardized. KMail, Mozilla Mail, Evolution, pine, mutt, emacs ... the list goes on. It's simply not like the Windows world, in which Microsoft's email programs - Outlook and Outlook Express - dominate. In the Windows world, a virus writer knows how the monoculture operates, so he can target his virus, secure in the knowledge that millions of systems have the same vulnerability. A virus targeted to a specific vulnerability in Evolution, on the other hand, might affect some people, but not everyone using Linux. The growth of the Microsoft monoculture in computing is a dangerous thing for users of Microsoft products, but also for all computing users, who suffer the consequences of disasters in that environment, such as wasted network resources, dangers to national security, and lost productivity (note: the link is to a 880 kb PDF file).

Now that we've looked at the social engineering side of things, let's examine software design for reasons why Linux (and Mac OS X) is better designed than Microsoft when it comes to email security. Microsoft continually links together its software, often not for technical reasons, but instead for marketing or business development reasons (see the previous link for corroboration). For instance, Outlook Express and Outlook both use the consistently-buggy Internet Explorer to view HTML-based emails. As a result, a hole in IE affects OE. Linux email readers don't indulge in such behavior, with two exceptions: Mozilla Mail uses the Gecko engine that powers Mozilla to view HTML-based email, while KMail relies on the KHTML engine that the Konqueror browser uses. Fortunately, both Mozilla and the KDE Project have excellent records when it comes to security.

Further, the email programs themselves are designed to act in a more secure manner. The default behavior of the email program I prefer - KMail - is to not load external references in messages, such as pictures and Web bugs, and to not display HTML. When an HTML-based email shows up in my Inbox, I see only the HTML code, and a message appears at the top of the email: "This is an HTML message. For security reasons, only the raw HTML code is shown. If you trust the sender of this message then you can activate formatted HTML display for this message by clicking here." But even after I activate the HTML, certain dynamic elements that can be introduced in an HTML-based email - like Java, Javascript, plugins and even the "refresh" META tag - do not display, and cannot even be enabled in KMail.

Finally, if there is an attachment, it does not automatically run ... ever. Instead, I have to click it, and when I do, I get a dialog box offering me three options: "Save As ..." (the default), "Open With ...", and "Cancel". If I have mapped a file type to a specific program - for instance, I have associated PDFs with the PS/PDF Viewer, then "Open With ..." instead says "Open", and if I choose "Open", then the file opens in the PS/PDF Viewer. However, in either case, the dialog box always contains a warning advising the user that attachments can compromise security. This is all good, very good.

For all these reasons, even if a few individuals got infected with a virus due to extremely foolish behavior, it's unlikely the virus would spread to other machines. Unlike Sobig.F, which is the fastest spreading virus ever, a Linux-based Virus would fizzle out quickly. Windows is an inviting petri dish for viruses and worms, while Linux is a hostile environment for such nasties.

Some caveats

There is one Linux distribution that is ignoring many years of common sense, good design, and an awareness of secure operating environments in favor of a Microsoft-like deprecation of security before the nebulous term "ease of use": Lindows. By default, Lindows runs the user of the system as root (and it even encourages the user to forgo setting up a root password during installation by labeling it as "optional"!), an unbelievably shortsighted decision that results in a Linux box with the same security as a Windows 9.x machine.

If you go to the Lindows Web site, they state that it is possible to add other, non-privileged users, but nowhere in the operating system do they advocate adding these other users. Yet they claim their distribution of Linux is secure! In an effort to emulate Microsoft and make things "easy", they have compromised the security of their users, an unforgivable action. No one in the field of security, or even IT, can recommend Lindows while such a blatant disregard for security is the norm for the OS.

Yet some Linux machines definitely need anti-virus software. Samba or NFS servers, for instance, may store documents in undocumented, vulnerable Microsoft formats, such as Word and Excel, that contain and propagate viruses. Linux mail servers should run AV software in order to neutralize viruses before they show up in the mailboxes of Outlook and Outlook Express users.

Security is, as we all know, a process, not a product. So when you use Linux, you're not using a perfectly safe OS. There is no such thing. But Linux and Mac OS X establish a more secure footing than Microsoft Windows, one that makes it far harder for viruses to take hold in the first place, but if one does take hold, harder to damage the system, but if one succeeds in damaging the system, harder to spread to other machines and repeat the process. When it comes to email-borne viruses and worms, Linux may not be completely immune - after all, nothing is immune to human gullibility and stupidity - but it is much more resistant. To mess up a Linux box, you need to work at it; to mess up your Windows box, you just need to work on it. I know which one I'll trust. How about you?

Microsoft windows 7,windows 7,windows 7,windows 7,windows 7,windows 7,windows 7,windows 7,windows 7,windows 7,windows 7,windows 7,windows 7,windows 7,windows 7,windows 7,windows 7,windows 7,windows 7,windows 7,windows 7,windows 7,windows 7,windows 7,windows 7,windows 7,windows 7,windows 7,windows 7,windows 7,windows 7,windows 7,windows 7,windows 7,windows 7,windows 7,windows 7,windows 7,windows 7,windows 7,windows 7,windows 7,windows 7,windows 7,windows 7,windows 7,windows 7,windows 7,windows 7,windows 7,windows 7,windows 7,windows 7,windows 7,windows 7,windows 7,windows 7,windows 7,windows 7,windows 7,windows 7,windows 7,windows 7,windows 7,windows 7,windows 7,windows 7,windows 7,windows 7,windows 7,windows 7,windows 7,windows 7,windows 7,windows 7,windows 7,windows 7,windows 7,windows 7,windows 7,windows 7,windows 7,windows 7,windows 7,windows 7,windows 7,windows 7,windows 7,windows 7,windows 7,windows 7,windows 7,windows 7,windows 7,windows 7,windows 7,windows 7,windows 7,windows 7,windows 7,windows 7,windows 7,

Comparison of Windows and Linux

Comparisons between the Microsoft Windows and Linux computer operating systems are a long-running discussion topic within the personal computer industry. Throughout the entire period of the Windows 9x systems through the introduction of Windows 7, Windows has retained an extremely large retail sales majority among operating systems for personal desktop use, while Linux has sustained its status as the most prominent free software operating system. After their initial clash, both operating systems moved beyond the user base of the personal computer market and share a rivalry on a variety of other devices, with offerings for the server and embedded systems markets, and mobile internet access.

The comparisons below reflect three families of Windows operating systems: Windows 9x (legacy), Windows NT, and Windows Embedded. Each family has its own code base and design. The focus of these comparisons is mainly on the NT family.

Linux is available for many types of CPUs: x86, x64, Itanium, MIPS, PowerPC, ARM, and others . The Windows NT family is available on x86, x64, and Itanium, although Itanium compatible versions of Windows are only sold as servers and x86 is being phased out[1]. Because of the diversity of supported cpu types, Linux finds applications today in routers, set-top boxes, PDAs and mobile phones as well as in servers and desktops. Windows Embedded has a long history, starting with DOS on POS terminals. Microsoft has based many embedded platforms on the core Windows CE operating system, including AutoPC, Windows Mobile, Mediaroom, Portable Media Center, and many industrial devices and embedded systems.

Microsoft Windows dominates in the desktop and personal computer markets with about 90% of the desktop market share, and in 2007, accounted for about 66% of all servers sold. In server revenue market share, as of Q4 2007, Microsoft Windows had 36.3% and Linux had 12.7%. As of June 2009, Linux powered 88.6% of the world's most powerful supercomputers. In December 2008, Linux powered five of the ten most reliable internet hosting companies, compared to Windows' one.

Linux and Microsoft Windows differ in philosophy, cost, versatility and stability, with each seeking to improve in their perceived weaker areas. Comparisons of the two operating systems tend to reflect their origins, historic user bases and distribution models. Typical perceived weaknesses regularly cited have often included poor consumer familiarity with Linux, and Microsoft Windows' susceptibility to viruses and malware.

Proponents of free software argue that the key strength of Linux is the degree of freedom allowed to the users, as embodied in The Free Software Definition: "the freedom to run the program [such as Linux]...to study...and change it...the freedom to redistribute copies...[and] improve the program, and release your improvements. "[6] Some fear that this "freedom of choice" primarily offers choices that are impertinent to the mainstream majority of computer users. Windows embedded devices are often configured without disk storage, and may be configured as a “closed” system that does not allow for end-user extension.

Windows 7 Thaems on Windows XP

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Kernal of Oparating System

The central module of an operating system. It is the part of the operating system that loads first, and it remains in main memory. Because it stays in memory, it is important for the kernel to be as small as possible while still providing all the essential services required by other parts of the operating system and applications. Typically, the kernel is responsible for memory management, process and task management, and disk management.

In computing, the kernel is the central component of most computer operating systems; it is a bridge between applications and the actual data processing done at the hardware level. The kernel's responsibilities include managing the system's resources (the communication between hardware and software components).[1] Usually as a basic component of an operating system, a kernel can provide the lowest-level abstraction layer for the resources (especially processors and I/O devices) that application software must control to perform its function. It typically makes these facilities available to application processes through inter-process communication mechanisms and system calls.

Operating system tasks are done differently by different kernels, depending on their design and implementation. While monolithic kernels execute all the operating system code in the same address space to increase the performance of the system, microkernels run most of the operating system services in user space as servers, aiming to improve maintainability and modularity of the operating system.[2] A range of possibilities exists between these two extremes.

On the definition of "kernel", Jochen Liedtke said that the word is "traditionally used to denote the part of the operating system that is mandatory and common to all other software."[3] Most operating systems rely on this concept of the kernel. The existence of a kernel is a natural consequence of designing a computer system as a series of abstraction layers,[4] each relying on the functions of layers beneath it. The kernel, from this viewpoint, is simply the name given to the lowest level of abstraction that is implemented in software. In order to avoid having a kernel, one would have to design all the software on the system not to use abstraction layers; this would increase the complexity of the design to such a point that only the simplest systems could feasibly be implemented.

While it is today mostly called the kernel, originally the same part of the operating system was also called the nucleus or core[1][5][6][7], and was originally conceived as containing only the essential support features of the operating system. However the term core has also been used to refer to the primary memory of a computer system, because some early computers used a form of memory called core memory.

In most cases, the boot loader starts executing the kernel in supervisor mode.[8] The kernel then initializes itself and starts the first process. After this, the kernel does not typically execute directly, only in response to external events (e.g., via system calls used by applications to request services from the kernel, or via interrupts used by the hardware to notify the kernel of events). Additionally, the kernel typically provides a loop that is executed whenever no processes are available to run; this is often called the idle process.

Kernel development is considered one of the most complex and difficult tasks in programming.[9] Its central position in an operating system implies the necessity for good performance, which defines the kernel as a critical piece of software and makes its correct design and implementation difficult. For various reasons, a kernel might not even be able to use the abstraction mechanisms it provides to other software. Such reasons include memory management concerns (for example, a user-mode function might rely on memory being subject to demand paging, but as the kernel itself provides that facility it cannot use it, because then it might not remain in memory to provide that facility) and lack of reentrancy, thus making its development even more difficult for software engineers.

A kernel will usually provide features for low-level scheduling[10] of processes (dispatching), inter-process communication, process synchronization, context switching, manipulation of process control blocks, interrupt handling, process creation and destruction, and process suspension and resumption (see process states).

Linux Distributions

What is Linux Distributions?

A Linux distribution (also called GNU/Linux distribution by some vendors and users) is a member of the family of Unix-like software distributions built on top of the Linux kernel. Such distributions (often called distros for short) consist of a large collection of software applications such as word processors, spreadsheets, media players and database applications. The operating system will consist of the Linux kernel and, usually, a set of libraries and utilities from the GNU project, with graphics support from the X Window System. Distributions optimized for size may not contain X, and tend to use more compact alternatives to the GNU utilities such as Busybox, uClibc or dietlibc. There are currently over six hundred Linux distributions. Over three hundred of those are in active development, constantly being revised and improved.

Because most of the kernel and supporting packages are free and open source software, Linux distributions have taken a wide variety of forms — from fully featured desktop and server operating systems to minimal environments (typically for use in embedded systems, or for booting from a floppy disk). Aside from certain custom software (such as installers and configuration tools), a distribution is most simply described as a particular assortment of applications installed on top of a set of libraries married with a version of the kernel, such that its "out-of-the-box" capabilities meet most of the needs of its particular end-user base.

One can distinguish between commercially backed distributions, such as Fedora (Red Hat), openSUSE (Novell), Ubuntu (Canonical Ltd.), and Mandriva Linux (Mandriva) and entirely community-driven distributions such as Debian and Gentoo, though there are other distributions that are driven neither by a corporation nor a community, perhaps most famously Slackware.
Contents

Linux distributions (605)

3Anoppix
64 Studio
Absolute Linux
AbulÉdu
Adamantix
ADIOS
Adler Linux
Admelix
Admiral Linux
AGNULA
Alcolix
Alinex
aLinux
AliXe
ALT Linux
amaroK Live
Amber
andLinux
Android
Ankur
Annvix
AnNyung
Anonym.OS
ANTEMIUM
antiX
APODIO
aquamorph
Arabian
ArcheOS
Archie
Arch Linux
Ark Linux
Armed Linux
ArtistX
Arudius
AsianLinux
Asianux
ASork
ASP Linux
Astaro
AsteriskNOW
Athene
ATMission
Atomix
Augustux
Aurora
Aurox
AUSTRUMI
B2D
BabelDisc
BackTrack
Baltix
Bayanihan
BearOps Linux
BeatrIX Linux
Beehive Linux
BeleniX
Bent Linux
Berry
Berry Linux
BestLinux
BIG LINUX
BinToo
BioBrew
Bioknoppix
Black Cat Linux
blackPanther
BLAG
Blin
Blin Linux
Bloody Stupid
Blue Cat Linux
BlueLinux
Bluewall
Bonzai Linux
Bootable Cluster CD
Buffalo
BugnuX
BU Linux
Burapha
ByzantineOS
Càtix
Caixa Mágica
Caldera Linux
cAos
Carl.OS
Catix
CCux
CDlinux
cdlinux.pl
Censornet
CentOS
Chakra
Chrome OS
cl33n
ClarkConnect
ClearOS
cLIeNUX
Clonezilla Live
Clusterix
clusterKNOPPIX
Co-Create
CobaltOS
College
Condorux
Conectiva Linux
Cool Linux CD
Coreboot
Corel Linux
Coyote
Craftworks Linux
CrunchBang
CrunchEee
CRUX
Damn Small Linux
Damn Vulnerable Linux
Danix
DARKSTAR
Debian GNU/Linux
Debris Linux
Deep-Water
Deft Linux
DeLi
Delix Linux
Denix
Devil
Dizinha
DLD
DNALinux
Draco Linux
Dragon Linux
Dragora
DRBL live
Dreamlinux
Dualix
Dynabolic
dyne:bolic
Dzongkha
E/OS LX Desktop
Eadem
Eagle
eAR OS
easyLinux
Easy Peasy
easys
Edubuntu
eduKnoppix
EduLinux
Ehad
Eisfair
Elbuntu
ELE
eLearnix
ELF
Elfstone Linux
Elive
ELP
ELX
Embedix
Endian
EnGarde
ERPOSS
ESware
Euronode
EvilEntity Linux
Evinux
EzPlanet One
FAMELIX
FaunOS
Feather
Featherweight
Fedora
Fermi
ffsearch-LiveCD
Finnix
Fiubbix
Flash
FlightLinux
Flonix
Fluxbuntu
FluxFlux-Eee
Foresight
FoRK
Formilux
FoX Desktop
Freduc
free-EOS
Freedows
Freeduc
FreeNAS
Freepia
FreeSBIE
Freespire
FreevoLive
Freezy
Frugalware
FTOSX
GeeXboX
Gelecek
GenieOS
Gentoo
Gentoox
GEOLivre
Gibraltar
Ging
Giotto
Glendix
gNewSense
GNIX
Gnoppix
GNUbie Linux
gnuLinEx
GNUstep
GoblinX
GoboLinux
GoodGoat Linux
Google Chrome OS
gOS (Google OS)
GParted
Grafpup
Granular Linux
grml
Guadalinex
GuLIC-BSD
H3Knix
Haansoft
Hakin9
Halloween Linux
Hancom
Hedinux
Helix
Heretix
Hikarunix
Hiweed
Holon
HOLON Linux
Honeywall
How-Tux
Hubworx
iBox
ICE Linux
Icepack Linux
IDMS
Igelle
Ignalum
Impi
Independence
IndLinux
IPCop
JBLinux
Jolicloud
JoLinux
Julex
Jurix Linux
Juxlala
K-DEMar
K12LTSP
Kaboot
Kaella
Kaladix Linux
Kalango
KANOTIX
Karamad
KateOS
Kinneret
Kiwi Linux
Klax
Klikit-Linux
K Linux
kmLinux
knopILS
Knoppel
Knopperdisk
Knoppix
Knoppix 64
KnoppiXMAME
KnoppMyth
KnoSciences
Komodo
Kongoni
Kororaa
KRUD
Kubuntu
Kuki Linux
Kurumin
Kwort
L.A.S.
Leetnux
Lerntux
LFS
LG3D
LibraNet Linux
LIIS
Lin-X
Linare
LindowsOS
Lineox
LinEspa
LinnexOS
Linpus
Linspire
Linux+ Live
Linux-EduCD
Linux4One
Linux Antarctica
Linux by LibraNet
LinuxConsole
Linux DA OS
LinuxMCE
Linux Mint
LINUXO
LinuxOne
LinuxPPC
LinuxTLE
Linux XP
Litrix
LiveCD Router
LiveKiosk
LiVux
LLGP
LliureX
LNX-BBC
Loco
Lormalinux
l OS
LST Linux
LTSP
LUC3M
Luit
Lunar
LuteLinux
LXDEbian
Lycoris Desktop/LX
Magic
Mandrake
Mandriva
Mangaka
MAX
MaxOS
Mayix
MCNLive
Mediainlinux
Media Lab
MEPIS
MiniKazit
Minislack
Miracle
MirOS
MkLinux
m0n0wall
Moblin
Mockup
MoLinux
Momonga
Monoppix
Monte Vista Linux
MoonOS
Morphix
MostlyLinux
MoviX
MSC
Mulimidix
muLinux
Multi Distro
Muriqui
MURIX
Musix
Mutagenix
Myah OS
myLinux
Nasgaïa
Nature's
Navyn OS
NepaLinux
NetMAX DeskTOP
NetSecL
Netstation Linux
Netwosix
Nexenta
Niigata
NimbleX
Nitix
NoMad Linux
Nonux
Nova
NST
nUbuntu
Nuclinux
NuxOne
O-Net
Ocularis
Ola Dom
Omega
Omoikane
Onebase Linux
OpenArtist
OpenLab
OpenLinux
OpenLX
OpenMamba
OpenNA
Open ProgeX
Openwall
Operator
Oralux
Overclockix
P!tux
PAIPIX
paldo
ParallelKnoppix
Pardus
Parsix
Parsix GNU/Linux
PC/OS
PCLinuxOS
Peanut Linux
PelicanHPC
Penguin Sleuth
Pentoo
Pequelin
pfSense
Phaeronix
Phantomix
Phat Linux
PHLAK
Pie Box
Pilot
Pingo
Pingwinek
Pioneer Linux
Plamo
PLD
PLoP Linux
Pocket Linux
Poseidon
POSTed
Power Desktop
Pozix Linux
pQui
Privatix
Progeny
ProTech
PUD
Puppy
Puredyne
QiLinux
Qimo
Qplus
Quantian
Raidiator
Red Flag
Red Hat
RedHawk Linux
Redmond Linux
redWall Firewall
Repairlix
RIP
ROCK
Rock Linux
Rocks Cluster
ROOT
ROSLIMS
rPath
RR4 Linux
RTLinux
Rubix
Sabayon
Sabily
Salgix
Salvare
SAM
Samhain Linux
Santa Fe
Sauver
SaxenOS
SCI.Linux
Scientific
SCO Linux
ScrudgeWare
Securepoint
Sentry Firewall
Shift Linux
Shinux
SimplyMEPIS
Skolelinux
Slack/390
Slackintosh
Slackware
Slamd64
SLAMPP
slax
SliTaz GNU/Linux
SLS
SLYNUX
SME Server
SmoothWall
Snøfrix
SnapGear Embedded Linux
SNAPPIX
SoL (Server optimized Linux)
Sorcerer
SOT Linux
Source Mage
Spectra Linux
SphinxOS
Splack
Splashtop
Stampede
StartCom
STD
Stormix
StreamBOX
StressLinux
STUX
STX
Sugar On A Stick
SuliX
Sun Linux
Sun Wah
SuperGamer
SuSE
Symphony OS
SystemRescue
T2
TA-Linux
Tablix
Tao Live
Taprobane
TechLinux
Thinstation
Tilix
Tinfoil Hat Linux
Titan LEV
tomsrtbt
Tomukas
Toophpix
Topologilinux
Toutou
Trinity
Trisquel GNU/Linux
Trixbox
Troppix
Trustix
Trustverse
Truva
TumiX
TupiServer
Tuquito
Turbolinux
Turkix
Ubuntu
UbuntuME
Ubuntu Netbook Remix
Ubuntu Privacy Remix
uClinux
Ufficio Zero
UHU-Linux
uL
Ulteo
Ultima
Underground
Unifix Linux
uOS
Urli OS
UserLinux
UTILEX
Ututo
Vector
Vidalinux
VideoLinux
Vine
VLOS
VNLinux
Voltalinux
WarLinux
Wazobia
Webfish Linux
WHAX
White Box
Whitix
WIENUX
WinLinux 2001
WinSlack
Wolvix
WOMP!
X-evian
X/OS
Xandros
Xarnoppix
Xenoppix
Xfld
Ximian Desktop
xPud
Xteam
XtreemOS
Xubuntu
Yellow Dog
YES
Yggdrasil Linux
Ylmf OS
Yoper
Zebuntu
Zenwalk
Zeroshell
ZoneCD

List of Oparating Systems

Operating systems (582)

2K
86-DOS
A/UX
Acados
ACP (Airline Control Program)
AdaOS
ADMIRAL
Adrenaline
aerolitheOS
Aimos
AIOS
AIX
AIX/370
AIX/ESA
Allegro
AllianceOS
Alto OS
Amiga OS
Amoeba
Amstrad
AMX RTOS
AngelOS
Antarctica
AOS/VS
Aperios
Apollo Domain/OS
ApolloOS
Apostle
Archimedes OS
AROS
ARTOS
Asbestos
Athena
AtheOS
AtomsNet
Atomthreads
AuroraOS
B-Free
Bada
BAL
Banyan VINES
Basic Executive System
BeIA
BeOS
Beowulf
BKY
BlueEyedOS
BOS
BOS1810
BoxOS
BPMK
bpmk
BRiX
BS600
BS2000
BSDi
BugOS
Calmira
CCP (Computer Control Program)
CDOS
Cefarix
C Executive
Chaos
Chimera
Chippewa OS
Choices
Chorus
Cinder OS
Cisco IOS
Clicker32
CMW+ (SCO)
COBRA
Coherent
CONSENSYS
ConvexOS
Cos
Cosy
Counterpoise
CP/K
CP/M
CP/NET
CP/Z
CPF (Control Program Facility)
Cromix
Cronus
CSOC
CTOS
CTSS
CX/SX
Cyber (CDC)
Cygnus
DAC
Darwin
Data General
DC/OSx
DCP
Degenerate OS
Delitalk
Deming OS
DEMOS
DesktopBSD
DESKWORK
DG/UX
DIGITAL UNIX
dingOS
DK/DOS
DLD
DNIX
Domain OS
DOS
DOS2
DOS 50
Dosket
dr'ex
DR-DOS
Drops
Drywell OS
DS-OS
DTOS
DVIX
DYNIX Unix (Sequent)
ECL-3211
eComStation
eCos
EduOS
EGOS
ekkoBSD
Elate
ELKS
Elysium
EOS
EP/IX
EPOC
ERaMS
ERIKA
EROS
ESER
ESIX
ESKO
Eumel
EuNIX
Exopc
ExOS
Express
Famos
FDOS
Fiasco
Flamethrower
FlashOS
FlexOS
FLP-80 DOS
Flux
Flux-Fluke-Flask
FMS
Forth
FreeBSD
FreeDOS
FreeDOWS
FreeVMS
Frenzy
FullPliant
FunatixOS
FxOS
GazOS
GCOS
GECOS
GeekOS
Gemini Nucleus
Genera
GEORGE
GEOS
GM OS
GNU Hurd
GNUstep
Go
Goah
Gould OS
Grasshopper
GUIDE
Haïku
HA-MSP
Hactar
Harmony
Helios
HES
Hive
HOPE
HP-87 OS
HP-UX
HT-11
Hurd
Hurricane
HydrixOS
i5/OS
IBM PC-DOS
IBSYS
Icaros Desktop
ICL Unix
Immunix
Inferno
INMOS
INTEGRITY RTOS
Iridium OS
IRIX
iRMX
IRTS
ISC (Interactive)
ISIS
ISSL
ITRON
ITS
JAMB
JavaOS
Jbed
JeniOS
Jeo-OS
Jibbed
JOS
JTMOS
JUNOS
JxOS
KAOS
Katix
Kea
Kerberos
KeyKOS
KOS
KRONOS
KROS
KRUD
Kylin
L4
L13Plus
LainOS
LAN Manager
LDOS
LegOS
leJOS
Linux
Lisa OS
LTSS
LynxOS
Möbius
Mach
Mac OS 8
Mac OS 9
Mac OS X
MANOS
MaRTE OS
Maruti
Masix
Maverick OS
MBOS
MCP (Master Control Program)
MDOS
MenuetOS
Merlin
Micriµm
MICRODOS
MicroVMS
MikeOS
Minima
Minix
Minux
Miranda
Miray µnOS
MITE 80/IOS
MK++
ML
ModulOS
Monitor
MOPS
MorphOS
MOS
MOSIX
MPE/iX
MPE OS
MRT1700
MS-DOS
MSOS
MT809
Multics
Mungi
MUTOS
muVinix
MVS
NachOS
NCR Unix
NEC DOS
NECUX
Nemesis
NeOS
NetBSD
Netware
NewDeal
NEWDOS
NewOS
NEWS-OS
Newton OS
NexentaOS
NeXTStep
NextworksOS
Nexus
Nimbus
Node OS
NOS
NOS/BE
NOS/VE
Nova
Novell DOS
NS/GDOS
NSK
NTDIOS
Nucleus
Oaesis
Oasis
Oberon
Objex
Odin
Omega 4
OnCore
On Time RTOS-32
Opal
OpenBeOS
OpenBSD
OpenDarwin
OpenRavenscar
OpenServer
OpenVision
OpenVMS
OppcOS
OS-2
OS-9
OS-C
OS/2
OS/2 Warp
OS/9
OS/360
OS/390
OS/400
OS/ES
OS/M
OS4
osCAN
OSE
OSF/1
Osx
OZONE
PAKOS
Palm OS
PAPL
Paramecium
ParixOS
Paros
PaulOS
P BASIC
PC-BSD
PC-DOS
PC/M-System
PDOS
PEACE
Pebble
Pegasos
PETROS
Phantom OS
Phos
PIOS
PizziOS
Plan 9
Plex86
PM_SZ_OS
PocketPC 2003
PowerMAX
PowerOS
PowerSX
PowerUX
ProDOS
Prologue
Proolix
ProOSEK
PSOS
pSOSystem
PSU
PTS DOS
PublicOS
PURE
QDOS
QNX
Quadros
RadiOS
RBASIC
RCOSjava
RDOS
ReactOS
REAL-32
Realogy Real Time Architekt
REBOL-IOS
ReWin
REX-80/86
REXX/OS
RHODOS
RISC OS
RMOS
RMS 68k
Roadrunner
Rome
ROME
RSTS/E
RSX-11
RT-11
RTEL
RTEMS
RT Mach NTT
rtmk
RTMX
RTOS-32
RTOS-UH
RTS-80
RTX
RTXDOS
RxDOS
S.Ha.R.K
Sanos
SCO OpenServer
SCOPE
ScorchOS
ScottsNewOS
Scout
SCP
SCP (System Control Program)
SCP-IBE
Self-R
SeOS
Sequent
SEVMS VAX
Shark
SharpOS
ShawnOS
SIBO
Sinclair
Sinix
SINTRAN III
SkyOS
Slikware
sMultiTA
SOBS
Solaris
Solar_OS
Solbourne UNIX
SOS
SP6800
Spice
Spice/MT
SPIN
Spinix
SPOX
Spring
Squeak
SSP (System Support Program)
STAR-OS
STARCOS
Starplex II OS
Sting
StreamOS
Subsump
SUMO
SunMOS
SunOS
SunriseOS
SuperDOS
SVM
SVR
Syllable
Symbian OS
SymbOS
Symobi
Symphony OS
Synapse
System 6 (Mac OS)
System 7 (Mac OS)
System V Release
TABOS
Tabos
TalOS
TAOS
TENEX
THE
Thix
ThreadX
ThrillOS
TI-99 4A
TinyOS
TIS APL
TNIX
TOPS-10
TOPS-20
Topsy
Tornado
Torsion
TOS
TPF (Transaction Processing Facility)
TriangleOS
Tripos
TRON
TRS-DOS
Tru64 UNIX
TSX-32
TUD:OS
TUNES
TurboDOS
UberOS
UCSD-p
UDOS
Ultrix
UMDS
UMN
UNI/OS
Unicos
UNICOS/lc
Uni FLEX
Unisys U5000
Unix System
UnixWare
Unununium
USIX
UTS
UXP/V
V2 OS
Vapour
VERSAdos
Visopsys
Visual Network OS
VM/ESA
VM/VSE
VME
VMS
VRTX/8002
VRTX/OS
VSE
VSOS
VSTa
VTOS
VxWorks
WEGA
WildMagnolia
Windows 7
Windows 95
Windows 98
Windows 98 SE
Windows 2000
Windows Automotive
Windows CE
Windows ME
Windows NT
Windows Server 2003
Windows Server 2003 R2
Windows Server 2008
Windows Server 2008 R2
Windows Vista
Windows XP
WinMac
WIZRD
x-kernel
XAOS
Xenix
Xinu
xMach
XOS
XTS
Yamit
Yaxic
Yoctix
z-VM
z/OS
Z9001-OS
ZealOS
Zeta
Zeus Zilog
zeVenOS
ZMOS
ZotOS
ZRTS 8000

Most Popular oparating Systems

AIX (Advanced Interactive eXecutive) - a proprietary (i.e., commercial) flavor (i.e., variant) of UNIX launched by IBM in 1990 for use on its mainframe computers.

Amiga - launched with the pioneering Amiga personal computer in 1985 and continues to be developed today for the PowerPC processor. Amiga features an elegant GUI (graphical user interface) together with some of the flexibility of Unix-like operating systems.

BeOS - developed by Be Incorporated in 1990 as a media operating system that was optimized for digital media (e.g., digital audio, digital video and three-dimensional graphics). BeOS has some Unix-like characteristics, including its use of the bash (the default on Linux) command shell and its directory structure, but it was written in entirely new code. The loyal user base was very disappointed when the company failed commercially, and thus several open source projects, including beunited.org, are under way that are aimed at recreating and updating (e.g., new video drivers) BeOS.

Darwin - an open source derivative of 4.4BSD1 (Berkeley Software Distribution Version 4.4) that serves as the core for the Macintosh OS X. It was originally released in March 1999. There is also a GNU version of Darwin, which is called GNU-Darwin.

FreeBSD - the most popular of the BSD operating systems, accounting for approximately 80 percent of BSD installations (at least until Darwin came onto the scene). FreeBSD was begun in early 1993 based on 4.3BSD, and the first version, 1.0, was released in December of that year.

FreeDOS - begun in 1994 by Jim Hall with the goal of becoming a complete, free and fully MS-DOS compatible operating system for x86 (i.e., Intel-compatible) CPUs (i.e., central processing units).

GNU/Hurd - has been under development by Richard Stallman and his Free Software Foundation (FSF) since 1990. The core component, the Hurd (Hird of Unix-replacing daemons) kernel (i.e., the core of the operating system), is still not completed because of its very ambitious goal: to surpass Unix-like kernels in functionality, security and stability while remaining largely compatible with them.

HP-UX - a proprietary flavor of UNIX developed by Hewlett-Packard for its HP 9000 series of business servers. HP-UX 1.0 was released in 1986.

IRIX - a proprietary flavor of UNIX introduced by Silicon Graphics, Incorporated (SGI) in 1982 for applications that use three dimensional visualization and virtual reality.

JavaOS - developed by Sun Microsystems in 1996 for use in embedded systems (i.e., combinations of circuitry and software built into other products). JavaOS is written primarily in the Java programming language and includes a Java virtual machine (which allows running of any Java program regardless of the type of CPU used) as a fundamental component.

Linux - a high performance, yet completely free, Unix-like operating system launched by Linus Torvalds in 1991. GNU/Linux, as it is also called (because it makes extensive use of utilities and other software developed by the GNU project) is suitable for use on a wide range of platforms and is compatible with both 32 bit and 64 bit processors. More than 200 distributions (i.e., versions) of Linux have been introduced, among the most popular of which are Red Hat, SuSE, Mandrake, Debian and Ubuntu. Although its overall market share is still small, Linux is the most rapidly growing of any major operating system.

Mac OS X - was released by Apple Computer, Inc. in 2001 as a replacement for its aging Mac OS operating system. Now commonly referred to as Mac Classic, the pioneering Mac OS was introduced with the first Macintosh computers in 1984, and it was the first commercial operating system to include a GUI. Mac OS X was developed as an entirely new, BSD-based operating system that runs on a more advanced processor (the PowerPC) but which maintains backward compatibility with the Mac OS (which runs on the Motorola m68k). The Mac OS X consists of Darwin and the Mach microkernel (an advanced kernel developed at Carnegie-Mellon University) together with Apple's proprietary Aqua GUI (which is widely regarded as the best in the industry). Apple is currently completing a transition of its hardware and OS X from the PowerPC to x86 processors.

Microsoft Windows - the successors to the very popular MS-DOS, it was announced in 1983, and the first version, Windows 1.0, was finally released in 1985. Microsoft Windows encompasses two groups of operating systems (i.e., Windows 95/98/ME/CE and Windows NT/2000/XP) which resemble each other superficially and share compatibility with many of the same application programs but which have very different internal structures.

MINIX - a small, open source UNIX clone that was first released in January 1987. It was written for use in computer science education by Professor Andrew S. Tanenbaum of Vrije Universiteit in Amsterdam, and it is now best known for its role in inspiring Linus Torvalds to develop Linux.

MS-DOS - a single-user, single-tasking operating system that uses a command line (i.e., text only) user interface. It was launched by Microsoft in 1981 and used on the first personal computers, which were introduced by IBM in the same year. In spite of its very small size and relative simplicity, MS-DOS is one of the most successful operating systems that has been developed to date.

NetBSD - a derivative of 4.3BSD and launched in 1993, as was the case with FreeBSD. It is possibly the most portable of all operating systems, with the ability to run on more than 50 processors, ranging from the acorn26 to the x86.

OpenBSD - spun off from NetBSD in 1996 by Theo de Raadt in Calgary, Alberta because of a desire to place even more emphasis on security. OpenBSD has a goal of becoming the most secure operating system, and it claims to have had only one remote hole in the default install in more than eight years.

Palm OS - developed by PalmSource, Inc. for personal digital assistants (PDAs). Palm OS features flexibility and ease of use. It is the leading PDA operating system, used in more than 36 million mobile devices, and there are more than 20,000 software titles for it, far more than for any other handheld platform.

QNX - a Unix-like, POSIX-compliant2, real time operating system developed in 1982 that is widely used for mission- and life-critical embedded applications. QNX can also be used as a desktop operating system and features a unique and attractive GUI. Although it is a commercial operating system owned by QNX Software Systems in Ontario, Canada, it is free for personal use.

SkyOS - a commercial hobbyist operating system developed by Robert Szeleney from 1996. SkyOS has some features that resemble BeOS. It is mostly POSIX compliant, and comes with many of the GNU utilities, including the very highly rated GCC (GNU Compiler Collection).

Solaris - developed by Sun Microsystems for its SPARC processor and the most widely used proprietary flavor of UNIX. Solaris was introduced as SunOS in 1989, and it was based on BSD Unix. A version for x86 processors is also available.

TRON (The Real-time Operating system Nucleus) - started by Professor Ken Sakamura of the University of Tokyo in 1984 with the goal of creating an ideal computer architecture. TRON claims to be the world's most widely used operating system because it is embedded in a vast number and variety of electronic products. The TRON specifications are open, but there is no requirement to make source code (i.e., the human-readable form in which the software is originally written) freely available, in contrast to the GPL3.

Tru64 - a proprietary flavor of UNIX offered by Hewlett-Packard for the 64-bit Alpha processor. It is unusual among Unix-like operating systems in that it is built on the Mach kernel, which is also used in Mac OS X. Tru64 was originally developed by Digital Equipment Corporation (DEC) and called Digital UNIX.

________
1BSD (Berkeley Software Distribution) is a version of UNIX that was developed at the University of California at Berkeley (UCB) in the 1970s. It is the ancestor of the modern BSDs (i.e., FreeBSD, NetBSD, OpenBSD and Darwin) and its technology was also incorporated into the other Unix-like operating systems as well as into other operating systems, including Microsoft Windows. The final version was 4.4BSD.

2POSIX (Portable Operating System Interface for uniX) is a set of programming interface standards governing how to write source code so that the applications are portable between operating systems. POSIX support was at one time adopted by the U.S. government as a standard requirement for its purchases. Linux and other Unix-like operating systems are POSIX compliant.

3The GPL (GNU General Public License), the most popular of the many free software licenses, requires that the source code of any GPL-licensed work, or of any work based on a GPL-licensed work, be made freely available.

Oparating system Developers

* Microsoft
* Unix
* Sun
* Apple
* IBM
* Commodore
* BSD
* SCO
* Corel
* GNU
* Digital
* SGI
* Kondara
* Linus Trovalds
* Mandrake
* OSF
* QNX
* Red Hat
* Suse
* Bell Labs
* UnixWare

Microsoft Windows

* Microsoft Windows Vista (aka Windows NT 6.0) (codename: Longhorn)
* Windows Server 2003 (aka Windows NT 5.2)
* Microsoft Windows XP (aka Windows NT 5.1) (codename: Whistler)
* Microsoft Windows 2000 (aka Windows NT 5.0)
* Windows NT 4.0, 3.51, 3.5, 3.1
* Windows Me (aka Windows 4.9)
* Windows 98 SE (Second Edition) (aka Windows 4.2)
* Windows 98 (aka Windows 4.1)
* Windows 95 (aka Windows 4.0)

MacOS (Apple Macintosh)

* Mac OS X v10.5 (Leopard) (planned for release in late 2006/early 2007)
* Mac OS X v10.4 (Tiger)
* Mac OS X v10.3 (Panther)
* Mac OS X v10.2 (Jaguar)
* Mac OS X v10.1 (Puma)
* Mac OS X v10.0 (Cheetah)
* Mac OS 9
* Mac OS 8
* Mac OS 7.6 (first officially-named Mac OS)
* System 7 (code-named "Big Bang")
* System Software 6 and earlier

Linux is an Open Source Operating system

* Ubuntu
* Debian
* MEPIS
* openSUSE
* SUSE Enterprise Linux
* Fedora
* Red Hat Enterprise Linux
* CentOS
* Mandriva
* Xandros
* Linspire (previously known as "LindowsOS")
* Gentoo
* Slackware

BSD

* DragonFly BSD
* FreeBSD
* PC-BSD
* NetBSD
* OpenBSD

Solaris

* Nexenta
* Solaris

Other

Other operating systems currently in use, and appropriate for specifically targeted web applications and testing, but not considered to be in mainstream use.

* Inferno
* SkyOS
* Digital UNIX (aka Tru64)

Oparating 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

* Multi-User

* Multiprocessing

* Multitasking

* Multithreading

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.

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

Oparating System

What is an oparating system?

An operating system (OS) is the software on a computer that manages the way different programs use its hardware, and regulates the ways that a user controls the computer. Operating Systems is also a field of study within Applied Computer Science. Operating systems are found on almost any device that contains a computer with multiple programs—from cellular phones and video game consoles to supercomputers and web servers. Some popular modern operating systems for personal computers include Microsoft Windows, Mac OS X, and Linux

Because early computers were often built for only a single task, like a calculator, operating systems did not exist in their modern and more complex forms until the 1960s.[4] As computers evolved into being devices that could run different programs in succession, programmers began putting libraries of common programs (in the form of computer code) onto the computer in order to avoid duplication and speed up the process. Eventually, computers began being built to automatically switch from one task to the next. The creation of runtime libraries to manage processing and printing speed came next, which evolved into programs that could interpret different types of programming languages into machine code. When personal computers by companies such as Apple Inc., Atari, IBM and Amiga became popular in the 1980s, vendors began adding features such as software scheduling and hardware maintenance.

An operating system can be divided into many different parts. One of the most important parts is the kernel, which controls low-level processes that the average user usually cannot see: it controls how memory is read and written, the order in which processes are executed, how information is received and sent by devices like the monitor, keyboard and mouse, and deciding how to interpret information received by networks. The user interface is the part of the operating system that interacts with the computer user directly, allowing them to control and use programs. The user interface may be graphical with icons and a desktop, or textual, with a command line. Another similar feature is an Application programming interface, which is a set of services and code libraries that let applications interact with one another, as well as the operating system itself. Depending on the operating system, many of these components may not be considered an actual part. For example, Windows considers its user interface to be part of the operating system, while many versions of Linux do not.

Microsoft Windows Family windows 7 Oparating System ,Technology of 7 windows 7

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