An Operating System, or OS, is a software program that enables the computer hardware to communicate and operate with the computer software. Without a computer Operating System, a computer would be useless.
OPERATING 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 - 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
Application software is a subclass of computer software that employs the capabilities of a computer directly to a task that the user wishes to perform. This should be contrasted with system software which is involved in integrating a computer's various capabilities, but does not directly apply them in the performance of tasks that benefit the user.
A simple, if imperfect, analogy in the world of hardware would be the relationship of an electric light - an application - to an electric power generation plant - the system. The power plant merely generates electricity, itself not really of any use until harnessed to an application like the electric light which performs a service that the user desires.
Typical examples of software application are word processors, spreadsheets and media players.
Multiple applications bundled together as a package are sometimes referred to as an application suite. Microsoft Office, which bundles together a word processor, a spreadsheet, and several other discrete applications, is a typical example. The separate applications in a suite usually have a user interface that has some commonality making it easier for the user to learn and use each application. And often they may have some capability to interact with each other in ways beneficial to the user. For example a spreadsheet might be able to be embedded in a word processor document even though it had been created in the separate word processor application.
In some types of embedded systems, the application software and the operating system software may be indistinguishable to the user, as in the case of software used to control a VCR, DVD player or Microwave oven.
List of software applications
Some examples of application software include:
Accounting packages
collaborative software
compilers and interpreters
computer games
cryptography
database
Educational Software
e-mail
graphics program
spreadsheet
text editor
web browser
web server
word processor