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An operating system is the fundamental element , or the host application that handles the operations of hardware devices and software resources to provide common services for a computer system. The Operating Systems today have evolved the hard way with vendors learning and improving with each phase of development. These operating systems have evolved from the bottom(the machine :processor, memory, hardware) upwards towards the user. However , the OS of the future needs to grow downwards from the top with the user requirements as the basic criteria underlying the design of system architecture.
Coming from humble beginnings like DOS the Operating Systems have come a long way. Microsoft’s breathtakingly ambitious Windows Operating Systems were considered the best model from a business perspective in the 1990’s ,designed to run the widest possible range of software on the widest possible range of hardware .This achievement of bringing diverse systems on a single platform is an amazing feat which has not been paralleled by any other company over the years thus making it the world’s most widely sold software platform as it reduces training and maintenance costs for businesses. However , with changing trends of simplifying machines Microsoft’s platform is quickly becoming obsolete losing its appeal but some of its application suites are still considered industry standards.
Another popular operating system is Apple’s iOS, where the hardware has been developed from the ground up for the software, and the software has been developed from the ground up for the hardware. The whole iOS experience revolves around the user and how to make the user-experience simpler and better. A major disadvantage of using this system is locking out third-party application developers and the system compatibility issues with products from other vendors specially without any user discretion. Their exclusivity achieved through unmatched user experience and as a luxury standard in tech world Apple products continue to grow their market.
Another software is the Google’s “radically free and open model,” Android. This is the fastest and the most dynamic software model that resembles the Windows model, but it’s even more extreme — and a lot cheaper. The apps provided by the android platform are extremely diverse as anyone can grab the code and modify it to place it on any hardware they want. Not only can anyone write apps for Android, but they can even build and maintain their own app store. After the barely average performance of the Chrome OS ,Google plans to extends the Android features to PC’s in the form of a full-fledged Operating System.
These two models pose serious competition to the Windows’ market share in the coming decade while the underdog of the open-ended software market Linux still continues to thrive as a favorite among many developers.