The “Big Two” Operating Systems

Today, most people use one of two operating systems on their phones, tablets, desktops, laptops and even their smart homes! Here they are:

Windows

Made by Microsoft, Windows is a very popular operating system that has many users on a variety of different devices made by many companies, such as Lenovo, Acer and HP(Hewlett-Packard). It is one of my operating systems of choice (see my previous post: My Favorite Operating Systems), and it is the favorite of many others too.

Pros

• Easy to use.
• Many security features (especially Windows 11, the newest version; download it here).
• Easy to install apps on.

Cons

• Stringent system requirements for upgrading to Windows 11.(If you’ve got an older computer, you’re probably out of luck.)
• Not as easy as Linux (discussed next) to program on the command line.
• Not open-source, so it has less customization features and it is hard to verify the code.

UNIX

UNIX is a very old operating system. Its name stands for UNiplexed Information Computing System. That’s UNICS, but UNIX sounds better as a brand name.

UNIX, Linux and All The Rest

If the smiling penguin in the above logo looks familiar, you’re right! It’s also the logo of Linux, a more widely used descendant of UNIX. Linux was created by Linus Torvalds in 1991 because he wanted to use UNIX, but it was too expensive. Linux is open source, meaning that anyone can download the source code to modify and use. The source code is right on this Github page. Because it is open source, many people have used it to create Linux variants, or distros (distributions) like Kali Linux, Porteus and Lubuntu. Those variants, in turn, are descendants of operating systems like Debian, Fedora and Ubuntu. macOS and iOS aren’t based on Linux, but they are based on UNIX. Android is one of the most popular Linux variants, as it is installed on many devices made by companies such as Lenovo, Acer and Google (of course; Android is made by Google). Many embedded devices like smart home devices and store kiosks also run Linux because it’s easy to modify and it can be lightweight. Embedded devices are devices that are too small to run a full operating system, so a lightweight, very specialized one is burned, or “embedded”, onto the chip.

POSIX

Some of you may have heard of POSIX (Portable Operating System Interface) before. It isn’t an operating system like all the others; it’s an operating system standard. It was created in the early days of UNIX, when there were two competing variants: the University of California’s BSD (Berkeley Software Distribution) and AT&T’s System V. Many UNIX users disliked this split, or fragmentation, of the UNIX market, so the IEEE (Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers), using UNIX as a starting point (which could be why it has an X in its name), created POSIX. Most Linux distributions aren’t officially POSIX-certified, but they usually follow most of the standard.

Pros

• Can run on almost any computer.
• The command line is more widely used, so it is easier to program on.
• It’s open-source, so it’s easier to verify and customize.

Cons

• Inexperienced users can find the command line hard to use.
• Harder to install apps on; you’ll probably need to use the command line.