Specific device, specific OS
💻 If you’re reading this on a laptop…
There are three dominant operating systems for non-mobile computers: Windows, MacOS, and Linux. You’re probably familiar with the first two, but not the last one (unless you’re an engineer, but then why are you here?). Can you guess which is the most popular?
About 80% of desktop computers are running Windows (!), making it by far the most popular desktop operating system out there. Microsoft originally developed it in 1985, and a little bit of business strategy and being an asshole later, Bill Gates is a really rich dude. You might hear people making fun of Windows a lot: that’s because it’s kind of clunky and harder to develop software on if you’re an engineer.
One interesting thing about Windows: most laptops that use it aren’t actually manufactured by Microsoft. Hardware companies like Dell, Lenovo, and Hewlett Packard license Windows from Microsoft (for a hefty fee). You know who doesn’t allow licensing though?
Apple’s operating system is MacOS (originally released in 2001), and it only runs on computers that Apple manufactures and sells (there’s a lesson there somewhere). It’s sleeker, and usually the development system of choice for engineers at tech companies on their laptops. MacOS has something like a 15% share of the market.
Linux is probably new to you, and it’s a tiny fraction of the computer market: but it’s the default operating system for most servers in the cloud, and it’s getting more popular on personal computers too. Linux is open source, which means it’s free to use and completely auditable (you can read its code).
If you’re reading or talking about Linux, you might hear people use two new words: distribution and kernel. What do those mean?In short, every operating system is built off of a kernel, which is the core of the OS, doing most of the hardware management. Linux is a collection of a kernel and a few other things, not necessarily organized well together like Windows or Mac would be.A distribution gathers all of those components in a specific configuration – like you’d expect from Windows or Mac – and puts them together in an easy to download and use package. The most popular Linux distribution (distro for short) is Ubuntu.
There are a couple of other operating systems out there, like Google’s ChromeOS, but don’t worry too much about them.
📱 If you’re reading this on a phone…
There are basically two big players for mobile: Android and iOS. Android is actually the most popular operating system in the world (because there are more phones than computers). It was originally released as open source in 2003, but eventually got acquired by Google. More than 2 Billion phones are running Android (!).
iOS is for iPhones, and it’s been around since the iPhone was released in 2007.
Most larger companies are committed to one specific operating system: if you work at a bank or consulting firm, chances are you’re using Windows on your computer. Tech companies tend to be more liberal with this stuff: the last place I worked gave you the option to use Windows, Mac, or Linux.
“Operating system” in conversation
“This software won’t work on your operating system”
The application you’re trying to use was developed for a different operating system, and won’t work on yours. The most popular example of this is Excel (there are different versions for Windows and Mac).
“You can run Windows on this if you use Parallels”
Nowadays, there are special applications that will allow you to run multiple operating systems on one computer: one example is Parallels, which lets you run Windows on a Mac. It used to be pretty janky, but it’s rock solid now.
“It looks like this is an OS level problem, not an application one”
The problem you’re running into is with your operating system, not the application you’re trying to run on top of it.
“_____ is the operating system for _____”
People say this a lot when they’re marketing: it usually means that something is the basic system behind something else. Try not to use this if you want me to like you.
Terms and concepts covered
Multitasking
Filesystem
Memory allocation
Windows, MacOS, Linux
Android, iOS
Open source
Kernel
Distribution, distro
Further reading