Microsoft Windows

* Microsoft Windows * Microsoft Windows is the most commonly used operating system in personal computers and is installed, distributed, and sold by most successful businesses in the United States. A discussion of what makes Windows the best choice for an operating system for a personal computer is included here. This discussion will examine the points why Windows is a popular operating system and compare it to other operating systems. With discussion points of memory management, process management, file management, and security. * * Security * For Windows to function without outside interference it needs security, and initially Windows was not designed with Internet security. In 1990 Windows was building graphical user interface (GUI) designs for upgraded versions of MS-DOS and not worried with multi-user and Internet access. For this reason Windows has been targeted with viruses, Trojans, and many other malicious programs. It may be said that Apple’s operating system cannot get any of these malicious programs that would be incorrect. In the late 1990’s hackers were making malicious programs for Macintosh just as much as Windows. I used these hacks on Macintosh computers at my high school and exploiting their networks and bypassing passwords, and installing Trojans into their computers and networks. * Windows evolved into Windows NT in 1993, and this operating system was mainly for network users, but the technology was based on network security. Microsoft tried many other options for security with Windows 98 and Windows ME, but they were not as stable as Windows 2000. Windows 2000 used the NT kernel for their file system and security, and because of this it was secure for network use and stable for the single user. Windows 2000 was hacked and the source code released to the public. Microsoft had to make a push to bring out another operating system with better security, and in 2001 Microsoft introduced Windows XP. Based on the NT kernel for

References: * Published by Prentice Hall. Pearson Education, Inc. William Stallings. (2012). Operating Systems: Internals and Design Principles, Seventh Edition. Retrieved from Operating Systems_7e_entire ebook.pdf Johnson M. Hart. Pearson Education, Inc. Informit. (February 25, 2010) Windows System Programming: Process Management. Retrieved from http://www.informit.com/articles/article.aspx?p=1564827 Microsoft. (2012). Windows Memory Management. Retrieved from http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/windows/hardware/gg463005.aspx