The computer's master control program. When a computer is turned on, a small "boot program" loads the operating system. Although additional system modules may be loaded as needed, the main part, known ...

Embedded system developers have a wide range of operating systems available to them today. Of course, the most straightforward operating system is to have no operating system! However, many systems ...

The list of inspirations for both Windows and Linux is rather long and it goes as far back as the 1960s.

Various versions of Microsoft's Windows operating system have existed since the 1980s. While the operating system got its start on personal computers, today, versions of Windows are available for a ...

What are open-source operating systems? Underpinning an operating system, for example Windows on your PC or Android on your phone, is many, many lines of code. Allowing anyone to inspect the source ...

What is a network operating system (NOS)? A network operating system (NOS) is a computer operating system (OS) that's designed primarily to support workstations, PCs and, in some instances, older ...

Sydney Butler is a technology writer with over 20 years of experience as a freelance PC technician and system builder and over a decade as a professional writer. He's worked for more than a decade in ...

One problem with building things using state-of-the-art techniques is that sometimes those that look like they will be “the next big thing” turn out to be dead ends. Next thing you know, that hot new ...

Android and iOS are more alike than ever, but important differences remain. After a fresh iOS drop, we place Apple and Google's mobile operating systems head-to-head across 14 key factors to see which ...