UNIXto the desktop
Mid1970s
Late 1970s
1980s
1990s
2000s
HistoricalTimeline
1930s
1940s
Computers: IBM SSEC; Manchester SSEM
Technology: random access memory; magnetic drums; transistor
Computers: Manchester Mark 1
Technology: registers
Among theearly commercial attempts to deploy UNIX on desktop computers was AT&Tselling UNIX in an Olivetti box running a w74 680x0 assembly language isdiscussed in the assembly language section. Microsoft partnered with Xenix tosell their own version of UNIX. Apple computers offered their A/UX version ofUNIX running on Macintoshes. None of these early commercial UNIXs wassuccessful. “Unix started out too big and unfriendly for the PC. … It sold likeice cubes in the Arctic. … Wintel emerged as the only ‘safe’ business choice”,Nicholas Petreley.
“Unix had a limited PC market, almost entirelyserver-centric. SCO made money on Unix, some of it even from Microsoft.(Microsoft owns 11 percent of SCO, but Microsoft got the better deal in thelong run, as it collected money on each unit of SCO Unix sold, due to a bit ofcode in SCO Unix that made SCO somewhat compatible with Xenix. The arrangementended in 1997.)” —Nicholas Petreley, “The new Unix alters NT’s orbit”, NC World
To date,the most widely used desktop version of UNIX is Apple’s Mac OS X, combining theground breaking object oriented NeXT with some of the user interface of theMacintosh.
Mid1970s
Someoperating systems from the mid-1970s include: CP/M, Master Control Program.
In 1973the kernel of Unix was rewritten in the C programming language. This made Unixthe world’s first portable operating system, capable of being easily ported(moved) to any hardware. This was a major advantage for Unix and led to itswidespread use in the multi-platform environments of colleges and universities.
Late 1970s
Someoperating systems from the late-1970s include: EMAS 2900, General ComprehensiveOS, VMS (later renamed OpenVMS), OS/MVS.
1980s
Someoperating systems from the 1980s include: AmigaOS, DOS/VSE, HP-UX, Macintosh, MS-DOS,and ULTRIX.
The 1980ssaw the commercial release of the graphic user interface, most famously theApple Macintosh, Commodore Amiga, and Atari ST, followed by Microsoft’sWindows.
1990s
Someoperating systems from the 1990s include: BeOS, BSDi, FreeBSD, NeXT, OS/2, Windows95, Windows 98, and Windows NT.
2000s
Someoperating systems from the 2000s include: Mac OS X, Syllable, Windows 2000, WindowsServer 2003, Windows ME, and Windows XP.
HistoricalTimeline
TimelineNotes In additionto listing the years that various operating systems were introduced, thistimeline also includes information on supporting technologies to give bettercontext.
Year Year that items were introduced.
OperatingSystems Operatingsystems introduced in that year.
ProgrammingLanguagesProgramming languages introduced. While only a few programming languages areappropriate for operating system work (such as Ada, BLISS, C, FORTRAN, andPL/I, the programming languages available with an operating system greatlyinfluence the kinds of application programs available for an operating system.
Computers Computers and processorsintroduced. While a few operating systems run on a wide variety of computers(such as UNIX and Linux), most operating systems are closely or even intimatelytied to their primary computer hardware. Speed listings in parenthesis are in operationsper second (OPS), floating point operatins per second (FLOPS), or clock speed(Hz).
Software Software programs introduced. Somemajor application programs that became available. Often the choice of operatingsystem and computer was made by the need for specific programs or kinds ofprograms.
Games Games introduced. It may seemstrange to include games in the time line, but many of the advances in computerhardware and software technologies first appeared in games. As one famousexample, the roots of UNIX were the porting of an early computer game to newhardware.
Technology Major technology advances, whichinfluence the capabilities and possibilities for operating systems.
1930s
1938:
Computers: Zuse Z1 (Germany, 1 OPS, first mechanicalprogrammable binary computer, storage for a total of 64 numbers stored as 22bit floating point numbers with 7-bit exponent, 15-bit signifocana [oneimplicit bit], and sign bit)
1940s
1941:
Computers: Atanasoff-Berry Computer; Zuse Z3 (Germany,20 OPS, added floating point exceptions, plus and minus infinity, andundefined)
1942:
Computers: work started on Zuse Z4
1943:
Computers: Harvard Mark I (U.S.); Colossus 1(U.K., 5 kOPS)
1944:
Computers: Colossus 2 (U.K., single processor,25 kOPS)
1945:
Programming Languages: Planalkül (Plan Calculus)
Computers: Zuse Z4 (relay based computer,first commercial computer)
1946:
Computers: UPenn Eniac (5 kOPS); Colossus 2(parallel processor, 50 kOPS)
Technology: electrostatic memory
Technology: electrostatic memory
1948:
Computers: IBM SSEC; Manchester SSEM
Technology: random access memory; magnetic drums; transistor
1949:
Computers: Manchester Mark 1
Technology: registers