Internet Operating System

Jeremy Vigil

POS 355

Introduction to operating systems

Instructor

John Price

April 17, 2002

 

Overview

In 1969, The United States was in the heat of the cold war.  The government was worried about communicating if there was a nuclear war or natural disaster.  How would they communicate to the various military branches if the radio station or phone company was destroyed?  Arpanet was the answer to the government’s problem.  Arpanet was comprised of several nodes connected via a web of communication links.  This allowed for multiple paths for communication.  If one node was destroyed, there was still a path for your communication to traverse.  Unix was the basis for Arpanet during its earlier stages.  It took several years for Arpanet to develop into the Internet we know today.

Internet Popularity

Why has the Internet been around for 30 years but only gained popularity over the last few years?  There are two reasons.  1. The world wide web.  2. Windows Operating System.  Before WWW, only scientists and computer enthusiasts (PC for geek) used the Internet.  WWW was a protocol that allowed multiple operating systems to connect to the Internet.  The everyday user did not know the UNIX operating system so this made the Internet an over complex environment.  For twenty years, UNIX dominated the Internet.  UNIX was developed for speed and accuracy.  This was well suited for the early stages of the Internet but this made UNIX not so user friendly.  Then came the Windows Operating System

The reason Windows has made the Internet so popular is its GUI (Graphical User Interface) interface.  This is what kept the masses from accessing the Internet.  With windows, you can just point and click.  The everyday user did not have to know any complex commands or programming.  Windows had the same attributes as the WWW.  Instead of remembering commands, you just highlighted the program you wanted to run and click away. 

Common Operating System

The question for this paper is what operating system is common on the Internet.  I believe it is the windows operating system but this will change as time goes on.  The proof is in the last 30 years.  Arpanet began as a UNIX based but today it has progressed to windows based.  Not because windows is used for the backbone for the Internet, but because the users are using windows computers.  Windows is the dominant operating system for the Internet at this time.  The Internet has evolved along with the operating systems.  What’s common today will be obsolete tomorrow.  The changing of faces is what the Internet does best. 

Business Use

            Majority of businesses today are using the windows operating system to access the Internet.  This is because the majority of the user base are windows users.  This saves time and money in training.  The Internet has become a universal interface for applications.  A universal interface is having the same interface no matter what operating system you are using.  Businesses no longer need to train users on various company specific applications because if you know how to use the Internet then you know how to use your companies' applications.  This allows for more productivity.  You spend more time using the application instead of learning it. 

Conclusion

            A combination of the WWW and the windows operating system jump started the Internet.  However, we do not want to have a common operating system on the Internet.  All operating systems have their strengths and weaknesses.  Maintaining a common operating system will stagnate the Internet.  This will lead to weaknesses that can only be overcome with varied operating system.

The everyday user now has access to the world through the Internet.  What will be the next dominant player is anyone’s guess.  If anyone did know it would make a great stock tip.

 

References:

http://questy.com/tech/netw12.htm