History of Computers - Operating System

This page was created by Geoff Dunn.

The operating system, or OS, is a software bridge between application programs and the hardware of the computer. The OS manages and coordinates the actions and information shared within the computer. It provides an environment for the execution of programs by providing services needed by those programs

Overview

The first OS, the CP/M, was invented by Dr. Gary A. Kildall of Digital Research, Inc. in 1974, as a private project, for the Intel 8080/85 based microcomputer (PC). The CP/M was, in a sense, a "software bus" that allowed different programs and hardware to interact in standardized ways. CP/M was originally used with 8-bit processors, but later on, versions were created for 16-bit processors. CP/M became popular through the 1970s and early 1980s. However, this growth caught Microsoft's attention; Microsoft procured an unauthorized clone of CP/M and modified it to create its own OS, PC-DOS, for the first IBM PC in 1981. The new operating systems resulted in upgraded versions such as MS-DOS, Windows 95, and Windows 98, all of which have the same basic core as CP/M. In the 1990s all the way to 2000, Digital Research Inc., which had been acquired by Caldera Inc., held a lawsuit against Microsoft for illegal activities and unfair practices in the marketing of MS-DOS and its successors, as they were all based upon CP/M. Microsoft conceded to certain terms and paid an agreed number of funds.

Significance

The significance of the operating system is that it provides an environment for programs to run in, allowing them to communicate with the hardware. It contributed to the growth and development of computers by giving computers a virtual place to run programs, often multiple at a time (especially in modern operating systems), a place for which programs are written. With a given set of standards, many different programs can be written and operated the same way from computer to computer as long as the operating system on each is the same. This allowed companies and people to use the same programs and not have to configure each computer separately and uniquely, opening up computers for mass production. The great number of programs that can be written for an OS increases the computer's versatility, efficiency and performance, user-friendliness, etc.