Chapter 1: Comparison of Major Operating Systems

Exam Objectives

Identifying the features, functions, and hardware requirements of the Windows OS

Identifying the features, functions, and hardware requirements of the Linux OS

Identifying the features, functions, and hardware requirements of the Mac OS

Although it seems like we live in a Windows world, other operating systems (OSes) live and thrive in the world. As a CompTIA A+ Certified Professional, you will encounter these OSes from time to time. You might even find that some OSes are more capable than Windows for specific jobs that you need to do.

Of these other OSes, the ones you will see most are Linux and Mac OS. In this chapter, I briefly introduce you to these, as well as to Windows, and discuss their capabilities.

What Is an Operating System?

All OSes are responsible for managing hardware, resources, and data. Each OS discussed in this chapter can perform these tasks with ease.

The responsibility of the OS regarding user interface (UI) consists of displaying an interface that always reacts the same way and makes it easy for users to perform tasks. A GUI (graphical user interface) attempts to make tasks easy and intuitive for the user. To provide a space for applications to run and for the user to manage his work, most OSes with a GUI use a “desktop” metaphor. That is, the desktop is a work area on which you have a computer, a place to store items, and a waste bin. All these elements also exist in the GUI.

The look and feel of the GUI, such as the look of the windows that are used, also applies to the applications that run on the OS. When applications use the same look and feel as the OS, and by having the OS provide common routines and dialog boxes for opening and saving files, there is a consistent appearance for the user, which usually reduces the time required to learn new applications.

Although hardware requirements vary and installation procedures are very different, after you get into using the features of the OS, all three OSes I talk about have similar usability features that allow a user to become capable in any other OS with but a short orientation period.

32-bit (x86) versus 64-bit (x64)

Processors have changed from 16-bit to 32-bit, and now the move is on to 64-bit processors. With each change, the internal processing power of the processor greatly increases. To maximize this processing power, you require an OS that can work with data the same way that the processor can work with the data.

In addition to most current Linux distributions and Mac OSX, Windows XP, 2003, 2008, and Vista all support 32-bit and 64-bit processors, depending on the version of the OS installed. For example, if you install the 64-bit version of the OS, you need 64-bit device drivers and applications to achieve performance benefit.

Looking at the Windows OS

I start at the top of the OS hierarchy with the Windows OS. The look and feel of Windows today is very different from the look and feel of Windows 3.0 when I started using it in 1990. Windows XP and Windows Vista streamlined the UI and added features, such as Wireless Zero Configuration, to make it easier to use your computer.

Comparing versions of Windows

MS-DOS was awkward and intimidating for many people to use, as they sat there looking at the command prompt slowly blinking at them. Windows was first developed as a shell, or UI, to go on top of MS-DOS, making MS-DOS easier to user. By the time Windows hit its third iteration, it was a very usable tool. This product — Windows 3.0 — went on to become Windows 95, 95 OSR2, 98, 98 SE, and Me. Windows Me represents the end of this product line, which has always been, because of architectural limitations, a shell on top of some level of MS-DOS.

The Windows that we now know and use owes its roots to a Microsoft/IBM venture that built upon the IBM OS/2 family to produce a new, secure server OS. But in the manner of many partnerships, this one fell apart, and both parties took the fruits of their labors and went home. Microsoft took this work and created Windows NT 3.x. NT and 3.1 were chosen to be compatible with the version number of the other Windows OS. The Windows NT OS was more stable than earlier versions of Windows because of its architecture (NT; New Technology) and more secure because of its file system (NTFS; New Technology File System). In addition to creating the server OS, Microsoft created a desktop OS in the form of Windows NT 3.x Workstation, which had the same core as the Windows NT 3.x Server but also had many of the server components removed.

The drawback to the OS was that the architecture was totally different from that of the Windows 9x family. Because of this difference, many applications written for the Windows 9x family standards did not work with the Windows NT family. This limitation has slowly been overcome with each successive version of the OS albeit sometimes at the cost of some of the stability features. This family went though Windows NT 4.0 to 2000 and then to XP. Windows XP was targeted not only to the existing users of the Windows NT family but also to the users of the Windows 9x family; as such, Windows XP took large steps at backward-compatibility with older applications. This focus on security, stability, compatibility, and usability of the Windows NT family continues with Windows 7, which is the latest addition to the family.

The recent Windows OSes — XP, Vista, and Windows 7 — are based on Windows NT, and not Windows 3.0 or Windows 9x.

Windows families

Each of the current popular version of Windows, which you will encounter in your job as an A+ Certified Professional has several editions. Each of these editions has their own features which are supported. You will need to match up the needs of the user to the features in each edition.

Windows XP

For Windows XP, the major editions that exist include

Windows XP Home: The Home edition of Windows XP was designed to be a low-cost edition for Windows with a reduced set of features and included applications. This edition was not capable of joining an Active Directory domain, allowing centralized administration.

Windows XP Professional: This is the full-featured edition of Windows XP that includes all the features and components that corporate and high-end users would need.

Windows XP 64-bit Professional: As the popularity of 64-bit processors increased, Microsoft released a 64-bit version of Windows to take ­advantage of the additional processing power of the CPU. This edition lacked some compatibility for applications that do not work with 64-bit processors.

Windows XP Media Center: This edition of Windows was designed as an add-on for Windows XP Home, but included features to enable it as a home entertainment system. This version of Windows was only available with OEM systems created with multimedia hardware, such as TV tuner cards.

Windows Tablet PC: With the emergence of tablet PC hardware, Microsoft released a special version of Windows XP Professional to ­support stylus-based touch screens.

Windows XP Embedded: Small consumer electronics such as thin-client devices require an OS to drive their functions. Windows XP Embedded is an extremely small-footprint version of Windows specifically made for these devices.

Windows Vista

Windows Vista supports the following editions:

Windows Vista Home Basic: Home editions of Windows Vista are not able to join Active Directory domains. The Home Basic edition was targeted toward budget-conscious users who were willing to lack features in preference of cost. It lacked features such as the Aero Desktop and only supports one CPU.

Windows Vista Home Premium: As with the Home Basic edition, Home Premium only supports a single CPU, but includes a full-featured set of applications and components that home users would look for, such as DVD authoring and support for HDTV.

Windows Vista Business: In the same way that Windows XP Professional was designed for business users, Microsoft eliminated some of the confusion for users by naming this version Business. This version of Windows Vista was capable of joining an Active Directory domain, and came standard with most of the OS components that were considered to be beneficial to business users. This included Internet Information Services, fax support, Encrypting File System, Offline Files, and Remote Desktop. Microsoft did not issue a Table PC edition of Vista, as the Business edition provided all the necessary support.

Windows Vista Enterprise: Larger corporate customers have different needs from smaller business customers, so to answer those needs, the Enterprise edition provided all the features of the Business edition, with support for BitLocker Drive Encryption, UNIX applications, and a new licensing option in the form of Software Assurance (SA). SA is a perpetual licensing agreement for Microsoft Software, but offers the additional benefit of running multiple virtual copies of Windows Vista on the same computer.

Windows Vista Ultimate: With the previous editions covering most of the features that anyone would want in an OS, a gap still existed for the home users, who would have problems trying to purchase the Enterprise edition, which was not available to the retail market. The answer from Microsoft was the Ultimate edition, which included all the features found in the Home Premium and Enterprise editions.

Windows 7

Windows 7 supports the following editions:

Windows 7 Starter: Many devices do not require a full version of Windows to operate. With all the advanced features, a greater stress is put on the processor in your computer. To satisfy this need, Microsoft released the Starter edition, which made a home for itself on netbooks and other low-end computing environments. This edition has limited numbers of GUI features for the user to modify, including having the visual styles limited to Windows 7 Basic.

Windows 7 Home Basic: With a limited number of features, and a reduced set of Windows Aero features, this edition of Windows was aimed at price-conscious home users and emerging foreign markets.

Windows 7 Home Premium: The full-featured Home edition, again, not being able to join an AD domain, was Home Premium. This edition supported all the Home user features, including Windows Media Center ­features.

Windows 7 Professional: The Professional name was back for the ­general-purpose business edition of Windows. This edition has all the business-required features, such as Encrypting File System, Remote Desktop, and Windows XP Mode. In the business market, this edition does most of the work for most organizations.

Windows 7 Enterprise: As with Windows Vista, the Enterprise edition added support for BitLocker Drive Encryption and UNIX application support, in addition to a host of other features. As with Windows Vista, this edition was not available through retail channels.

Windows 7 Ultimate: Containing all the Enterprise and Home Premium features, this is the most feature-complete edition of Windows 7 and is available to everyone through standard retail channels.

Typical system requirements

Although Windows started out with its roots in MS-DOS, current versions of Windows are based on Windows NT. For the most part, you will work with systems running on Windows XP, Windows Vista, or Windows 7.

Microsoft continually develops Windows. A new version may be announced or released, but you will not be tested on it for this version of the A+ exam.

Table 1-1 lists the system requirements for each version of Windows that you will likely encounter.

Expect to get a question related to the hardware requirements for these Windows OSes.

The biggest differences between the different Windows OSes are hardware requirements and some advancements in application compatibility. If you have a computer that is lower than or just meets the hardware requirements of an OS, you might want to consider using an older OS for that particular computer.

For instance, although a computer with 1GB of RAM and a 1-GHz processor meets the requirements for Windows 7, you might compare that with the base model of a car, without all possible options. For any OS, if you choose hardware at the minimum level, you will get minimum performance. Using hardware above that level is like buying an options package for you car. With 1GB of RAM and a 1-GHz processor, you will likely find that Windows Vista will offer somewhat better performance than Windows 7 because it has less convenience and less overhead. With the same specs, Windows XP would likely offer even more performance. However, in both cases, your cost would be losing Windows 7 features.

As you move backward in the Windows NT family (the base OS that the ­current Windows versions are based on), each version of the OS was designed to work with a lower level of resources. It then becomes a trade-off of features versus speed. There is a minimum level of the OS that you will be able to work with because of minimum requirements, such as security or USB compatibility.

You are the only person who can determine which OS is right for you, and that decision depends on what features you actually feel are important and the hardware that you have available.

Identifying GUI elements

The Windows GUI follows the desktop metaphor I describe earlier, with your files, active applications, and a virtual trash can all within easy reach onscreen. A taskbar at the bottom of the screen allows you to quickly switch between open applications; it also holds a Start menu, from which you can quickly launch applications. See the Windows XP GUI in Figure 1-1.

The Windows interface introduced with Windows 95 “borrowed” (ahem) the features that were working in the other major graphical OS of the time (the Mac OS). Although there have been some functional and cosmetic changes to the GUI, there have not been any major changes to how the GUI functions or operates.

Special Windows Vista features

Windows Vista supports three main user interface features or enhancements over Windows XP:

Sidebar: The Sidebar interface (see Figure 1-2) is located by default on the right of the Windows Vista screen. The Sidebar supports components called gadgets, which are all small Windows apps, typically used to display some sort of data.

Aero desktop: This high-performance desktop offers great graphic eye candy (such as glass windows, which appear to be translucent) as well as Windows Flip 3D (which allows you quickly see all open application windows).

User Access Control (UAC): UAC adds a layer of authentication or security to the execution of tasks that could damage the OS. In Windows XP, a user needs to be given Administrator rights for certain tasks. Vista, though, allows a user to run most tasks with less privilege, and asks for permissions prior to executing critical tasks.

Special Windows 7 features

Windows 7 supports five main user interface features or enhancements over Windows Vista:

Gadgets: Unlike the Sidebar interface, gadgets are now no longer limited to the Sidebar area, but rather can be placed anywhere on the desktop. These can be seen in Figure 1-3.

Libraries: Libraries combine files in various locations into what appears to be a single location. Documents is an example of a library, which can combine your personal files from multiple drives, so to you it appears that they are in a single location.

Virtual Hard Disk (VHD) support: Support for mounting and reading data from Microsoft Virtual PC and HyperV virtual disk files. OS support for this disk format is so high that a Windows 7 installation can even be booted from a VHD file.

XP Mode: To improve compatibility with older applications, XP Mode allows you to run applications in an integrated Virtual PC installation, but your applications will look like they are running on Windows 7.

ReadyBoost: Big reasons for performance issues on disks are the rotation of drives and the movement of disk heads. To reduce the effect of these delays, Windows 7 allows you to use flash memory (in the form of USB flash drives, SD cards, or CompactFlash) as a system cache for the standard hard drives in your computer.

Welcome to the Linux World

The Unix OS was originally designed to control telephone switches for the Bell telephone network. It was designed to be highly stable and configurable. As it grew to maturity, it became popular for its stability and processing power. Over the years, Unix went from solely a command line environment to having a GUI. Its popularity led to a young university student’s creation, during the early 1990s, of a Unix-like shell that would work on Intel-based systems. This student was Linus Torvalds, and he created Linus’ Unix, or Linux.

Comparing versions of Linux

Since the creation of Linux, it has been a worldwide group project, with Linus Torvalds controlling what components go into the Linux kernel, or the core components that make up the brains of the Linux OS. Many individuals and groups have contributed programming code to the Linux kernel, usually as completed drivers for hardware. The only thing that is common to all versions of Linux is the OS kernel. Beyond the kernel, there are applications that are used with the kernel to give you a system that you can actually use to accomplish tasks. You can literally download the kernel source from http://kernel.org, compile the applications that you want to use, put them together, and have a Linux system. Because it is that easy to make your own Linux system, there are currently just about as many Linux systems as there are tasks you want to accomplish with them.

When a group or company takes the Linux kernel, combines it with a UI (shell), and then bundles in a variety of applications, a distribution is created. All Linux distributions are cousins and have been created with the same core components. Where distributions differ are in the mix of tools that are bundled in the distribution, and any customization the creator of the distribution decides to include.

There are a few major distributions of Linux, which have changed over the years. The current major distributions include

Debian — GNU/Linux

Fedora Core — Red Hat

Arch Linux

Knoppix

Slackware

SUSE — openSUSE

Linux Mint

Ubuntu

The main difference among these distributions is packaging. They all run the same kernel (or core), and most applications they run are the same as well because the applications are written to the kernel specifications. The real difference is the wrapping material that ties these elements together. In most cases, this wrapping includes an OS installation tool and a packaging tool, which are used to prepare applications for installation and removal.

All distributions have a command line interface, and most also include a variety of GUIs. Common Linux-based GUIs include XWindows with several Window Managers, such as AfterStep, Black Box, Enlightenment, IceWM, and Window Maker to name a few. In addition to these standard Window Managers, GNOME and KDE are two complete desktop interfaces that are popular.

Most distributions have packaging tools based on one of two standards — Red Hat Package Manager (RPM) or Advanced Packaging Tool (APT) — both of which offer the ability to install dependent packages and resolve applications that conflict with each other. Both tools can also be configured to work with one or many networks or Internet package sources.

Applications written to Linux standards don’t work on Windows-based systems but might work in the Macintosh OS X environment. Some developers write Linux applications to common standards, such as Java or GTK+, which both have components that can be installed on Windows systems.

Each Linux distribution has its own set of revision numbers to identify the distribution version. What matters more than the revision number is the version of the kernel that is used, as well as revision levels on the shared libraries, which are common routines that are used by many applications. Typically, when you install a new application, it has specific requirements for revisions of both the kernel and shared libraries but does not usually care about the distribution revision level.

In addition to the Linux distributions I mention earlier, BSD Unix is making several new inroads into the market. BSD started in the 1970s and has spawned many child distributions, such as FreeBSD, OpenBSD, and PC-BSD.

Typical system requirements

Different Linux distributions have different system requirements. To take a distribution at random, openSUSE Linux requires the following:

500 MHz modern processor or better

512MB of RAM or better

3GB of hard drive space

800 x 600 display

Most distributions have similar installation requirements and can install on substantially less hardware, depending on the purpose of the installation. For instance, some Linux distributions are designed to run routers and firewalls, and these single-purpose distributions require substantially less hardware to function.

Linux runs on all the same hardware on which Windows runs, as well as several hardware platforms on which Windows does not run. If you would like to test Linux, you can find several Live CDs that allow you to boot the distribution directly from the CD without installing any files on your hard drive. These Live CD versions can be downloaded from the distribution’s web page, but you will find helpful information to help you choose a distribution from either www.linux.org or http://distrowatch.com.

If you really want to get started with Linux, a great place to begin is Linux Bible, Eighth Edition, by Christopher Negus (published by John Wiley & Sons, Inc.). It covers the major Linux distributions.

A wide variety of file systems are supported by Linux; some are journal based (such as ext3 and reiser) and others are not (such as ext2). Journal-based file systems keep track of writes to the file system, and thereby provide better and faster recoverability in the event of a system crash or power loss. Most Linux distributions will install onto one of these file systems. Like with Windows NT–based systems that support NTFS–based security, most Linux-based file systems support per user or per group security on files and folders.

Identifying GUI elements

Although many people use command line systems exclusively when using Linux, many GUIs can be used as well. The GUI loads as a separate element on top of the core command line OS. Even when you are using a GUI, you will likely find occasions when you need to go back to the command line or a command line window (a terminal window) to accomplish your tasks. Figure 1-4 shows the GNOME desktop environment, which is one of the popular GUI environments for Linux. KDE is the other major desktop environment; and then there are several other Window Managers that may be used, such as Window Maker, IceWM, and FVWM with XP Theme (which looks like Windows XP), each giving you a different interface for window management on your Linux system.

All GUI environments available for Linux have the same basic features for window management and work in conjunction with a file management application. The major differences between these systems are in the implementation and extra features, such as auto-mounting CDs as they are inserted into the drive. You should note that the GNOME desktop features and layout are similar to those used by Windows XP.

Understanding the Macintosh OS

The Macintosh OS has gone through some major changes over the last few years. The original version, Mac OS 1.0, remained essentially unchanged up through version 9.0. The last version of the Classic Mac OS was 9.x, which was replaced with a totally different OS, Mac OS X, which was based on the BSD OS. Versions of OS X are all named after wildcats, with the latest, version 10.8, being called Mountain Lion.

The first nine revisions of the Mac OS were proprietary, built entirely by Apple. Mac OS X and later are based on a BSD Unix core with Apple proprietary enhancements.

Comparing versions of Mac OS

The Mac OS originally hit the scene in 1984, running on a hardware platform that was very different from the hardware that was used by Windows PCs. It was standardized on the Motorola 68000 processor, and PCs were using Intel processors. The Macintosh also used Small Computer System Interface (SCSI) hard drives, and Windows PCs were using Integrated Drive Electronics (IDE) drives.

Through most of the 1990s, Mac OS 7.x was the main Macintosh OS. Shortly after the release of Mac OS 9.1 in 2001, Apple also released Mac OS X, with the goal of allowing capable computers to dual boot these two OSes. Unlike Windows, Apple allowed you to dual boot the old OS to run any applications that did not work with Mac OS X rather than having to support legacy Mac OS 9 applications in Mac OS X. Mac OS X also offered to run old applications in an emulator called the Classic environment, which can be slow and requires that you have a Mac OS 9.1 system folder on your hard drive. Most Mac users were forced to quickly upgrade their applications to new versions or new applications that worked with the new OS.

This change in OSes and the break with the previous OS allowed Apple to create a new, stable OS platform for the Macintosh product line.

Typical system requirements

Unlike Windows, Linux, and Unix — which can run on a wide variety of hardware, as long as it is IBM PC–compatible — Macintosh has always run on proprietary hardware with carefully managed BIOS and system ROMs. Until recently, these systems had always been powered by Motorola and IBM CPUs, starting with the 68000 family and more recently the Power PC G5 chip. Because of the processing requirements, Mac OS X requires at least a G3 processor to function.

Apple switched to using Intel-based 32-bit and 64-bit CPUs in its product line, which is yet another standard component PC hardware platform, blurring the line between the Macintosh and the PC hardware platforms.

Identifying GUI elements

Prior to Mac OS X, the Macintosh desktop environment was referred to as the Finder — the place where you would find all the items that you needed to work with. There were no command line interfaces for the OS because unlike other OSes, the Mac OS was developed from the beginning as a graphical OS.

With the adoption of the BSD-like kernel, the system added a powerful command line interface based on Unix to a powerful Apple-developed GUI, which is still referred to as the Finder.

As shown in Figure 1-5, the same features present on the Windows and Linux OS user interfaces are present on the Mac OS. One difference (or as a Mac user would think, one thing that is the same) is the Apple menu and the context-sensitive menu bar across the top of the screen. Unlike other OSes, which keep application menus with the application, Macintosh has always had a menu bar across the top of the screen. The Apple menu (the equivalent of the Windows Start menu) is always there, and the remaining menu items change based on which application has the current focus.

Choosing an Optimal System

A computing system can have many different roles, and depending on the role, you will want to choose your hardware appropriately. In this section, you take a look at the most common types of systems that you will likely encounter, and the types of hardware that will best suit those roles.

Graphics/CAD/CAM workstation

• This type of system is used for graphic design work and requires high-performance components.

• Powerful processor, dual or quad core.

• High-end video card.

• Maximum supported RAM for the motherboard.

Audio/video-editing system

• Similar to graphics-based systems, these systems also require high-performance components, but specifically focus on A/V components.

• Specialized audio and video card to support capture and editing.

• Large, fast hard drive to store content and manage processing.

• Dual monitors.

Virtualization workstation

• To virtualize and run multiple instances of the Windows OS, your computer requires the equivalent of multiple computers worth of processing speed and memory.

• Maximum RAM supported by the motherboard.

• Multiple processor cores and multiple processors.

Gaming system

• Similar to graphics systems, a gaming system requires specific components to support graphics-intensive gaming applications.

• Powerful processor, multiple cores if games benefit from them.

• High-end video system, including specialized GPU to support fast-paced screen presentation.

• High-end sound card.

• High-end cooling.

Home theater system

• Theater systems need graphics power to drive large monitors and audio support to provide surround sound.

• Surround-sound audio for movie playback.

• HDMI output for integration with home theater components.

• HTPC compact form factor to have integrated appearance with other home theater components.

• TV tuner for TV viewing and recording.

Standard thick client

• The standard office computer designed to run desktop applications.

• Meets recommended requirements for running Windows.

Thin client

• Thin-client computers are not designed to run major applications, but rather to run applications through a remote session on a server. Locally, they only need to support basic applications.

• Meets minimum requirements for running Windows

Home server PC

• Home servers do not require high-end audio and video components, but rather serve data stored on hard drives to other computers over the network.

• Media-streaming, file-sharing, and print-sharing OS components.

• Gigabit networking to provide access for multiple client devices.

• RAID array and disk system provides reliable storage for files.

Getting an A+

This chapter shows the differences between the major operating systems on the market — Windows, Linux, and Macintosh. Things to remember include

The major operating systems are Windows, Linux, and Mac OS.

Windows and Linux hardware is compatible, but applications are not.

Linux comes in subvarieties called distributions.

All three OSes have similar GUI environments.

Prep Test

1 Mary works for a temporary placement agency and uses primarily Windows on her jobs. She is going to be sent to an office that uses Mac OS X. Should Mary expect to have large problems getting used to the new OS?

A Mary should expect to find the layout of the screen and the method of accessing applications to be completely different.

B Mary should refuse to visit the client site because the differences are so great.

C Mary should expect to find the layout of the screen and the method of accessing applications fairly similar to what she is familiar with.

D This is a moot point because the GUIs on both operating systems are identical.

2 You have been called by a client to give a recommendation on which OS should be installed on several new computers being added to the office. The other computers in the office use Windows-based clients (Windows 2000) and Windows-based servers (Windows NT 4.0). What OS should you suggest?

A Red Hat Linux

B FreeBSD Unix

C Mac OS X

D Windows 7

3 Which of the following operating systems are direct ancestors of Windows XP? (Choose all that apply.)

A Windows 2000

B SUSE Linux

C Windows NT

D Windows Me

4 What is the variety of packaging of the Linux kernel and applications called?

A Flavor

B RPM

C Revision

D Distribution

Answers

1 C. Mary should find that the interface is different, but not so different that she cannot accomplish her tasks. If she wants to develop as high a level of competency as she possibly has with the Windows OS, training would be beneficial but not required. See the “Identifying GUI elements” section of “Understanding the Macintosh OS.”

2 D. Because the office is already Windows based and the users likely have a higher degree of proficiency with the new version of the Windows OS, a change to a more different OS should not be implemented unless the client has some specific goal that he wants to achieve by switching the OS. Even though, with the changes that have occurred with Windows 7, when compared with Windows 2000, the user might be able to pick up any of the suggested OSes with the same level of difficulty. Review “What Is an Operating System?”

3 A, C. Windows NT and Windows 2000 have a common heritage with Windows XP in that they all use NT technology. Windows 9x operating systems, such as Windows Me, followed a different development path going back to Windows 3.0. Check out “Comparing versions of Windows.”

4 D. A distribution includes packaging of the Linux kernel, and applications. It ­usually also includes a package of management tools and a system installation program. Peruse “Comparing versions of Linux.”