#Grid mac os x operating systems install#
#Grid mac os x operating systems software#
#Grid mac os x operating systems Pc#
#Grid mac os x operating systems windows#

A good OS and software development platform can catalyze network effects (see Chapter 6 вЂњUnderstanding Network EffectsвЂќ). In AppleвЂ™s case, some fifty thousand apps became available through the App Store in less than a year.

#Grid mac os x operating systems install#

Similarly, when Apple provided developers with a common set of robust, easy-to-use standards for the iPhone and (via the App Store) an easy way for users to install these applications on top of the iPhone/iPod touch OS, software development boomed, and Apple became hands-down the most versatile mobile computing device available 1. Without this, games would be a lot more difficult to write, theyвЂ™d likely look differently, be less reliable, would cost more, and there would be fewer titles available. NintendoвЂ™s Wii OS provides Wii programmers with a set of common standards to use to access the Wiimote, play sounds, draw graphics, save files, and more. Consider what an OS does for the Wii game developer. These commands make a programmerвЂ™s job easier by reducing program complexity and making it faster to write software while minimizing the possibility of errors in code. Operating systems are also designed to give programmers a common set of commands to consistently interact with the hardware.

#Grid mac os x operating systems windows#

See Figure 9.2 for similarities and differences.Дifferences between the Windows and Mac operating systems are evident throughout the user interface, particularly when a program interacts with hardware. The consistent look, feel, and functionality that operating systems enforce across various programs help make it easier for users to learn new software, which reduces training costs and operator error. The Macintosh Finder and the Windows Explorer are examples of components of these operating systems.

Most operating systems also include control panels, desktop file management, and other support programs to work directly with hardware elements like storage devices, displays, printers, and networking equipment. Files are saved to the hardware of a hard drive or other storage device. Graphical user interface (UI) items like scroll bars and menus are displayed on the hardware of the computer display. These items look and behave differently because each of these functions touches the hardware, and the team that developed Microsoft Windows created a system distinctly different from their Macintosh counterparts at Apple. So do the dialogue boxes that show up when you print or save. Screen elements like menus, scroll bars, and window borders look different on the Mac than they do in Windows. Even for programs that are otherwise identical for these two systems (like the Firefox browser), subtitle differences are visible.

#Grid mac os x operating systems Pc#

And there are a host of specialty firms, such as Wind River (purchased by Intel), that help firms develop operating systems for all sorts of devices that donвЂ™t necessarily look like a PC, including cars, video editing systems, and fighter jet control panels.ДЄnyone who has used both a PC and a Mac and has noticed differences across these platforms can get a sense of the breadth of what an operating system does. Microsoft sells operating systems to everyone from Dell to the ATM manufacturer Diebold (listen for the familiar Windows error beep on some cash machines). Some firms, like Apple and Nintendo, develop their own proprietary OS for their own hardware.

Even specialty devices like iPods, video game consoles, and television set top boxes run some form of OS. Just about every computing device has an operating system-desktops and laptops, enterprise-class server computers, your mobile phone. The operating system (sometimes called the вЂњOSвЂќ) provides a common set of controls for managing computer hardware, making it easier for users to interact with computers and for programmers to write application software. Appreciate how embedded systems extend MooreвЂ™s Law, allowing firms to create вЂњsmarterвЂќ products and servicesД¬omputing hardware needs to be controlled, and thatвЂ™s the role of the operating system.Understand what an operating system is and why computing devices require operating systems.After studying this section you should be able to do the following: