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Introduction to Mac OS X

Ever wonder why people get so attached to their Mac? Think Mac OS X. At the core of every Mac, Mac OS X is what makes your digital life more simple, more productive, and just plain fun.

It’s easy.

Mac OS X is a celebration of simplicity and common sense. No complicated menus. No obscure commands. Most tasks can be accomplished with just a click or two. And if you ever need guidance, there’s a built-in help system to light the way. Oh, one more thing: Mac OS X is simply breathtaking — and easy to personalize with desktop pictures and screen savers.

It’s advanced.

Making amazing things simple takes seriously advanced technology. Mac OS X is built on a rock-solid UNIX foundation, delivers true 64-bit performance, and incorporates industry-leading animated graphics. The beauty is, you don’t have to know what one word of that means — just start up your Mac and enjoy it.

It’s amazing.

More than an operating system, Mac OS X is a collection of very cool applications. It comes with everything you need to surf the web, send beautifully designed email, video chat, and organize your personal information.

It’s secure.

In a world where PCs constantly do battle with viruses and malware, Mac OS X is a sea of tranquility. Just go about your business and Mac OS X minds the fortress. Your documents are safe even if you share your Mac with others, and you can keep your kids safe by using a rich set of parental controls.

It’s compatible.

It’s a big world out there, and Mac OS X fits in perfectly. It runs Microsoft Office. It has built-in drivers for cameras, printers, and external drives. It plugs right into a PC network. And in case there’s a PC application you can’t live without, Mac computers can even run Windows. Mac OS X is compatible with everything — most of all, you.

Linux

Linux is an operating system that was initially created as a hobby by a young student, Linus Torvalds, at the University of Helsinki in Finland. Linus had an interest in Minix, a small UNIX system, and decided to develop a system that exceeded the Minix standards. He began his work in 1991 when he released version 0.02 and worked steadily until 1994 when version 1.0 of the Linux Kernel was released. The kernel, at the heart of all Linux systems, is developed and released under the GNU General Public License and its source code is freely available to everyone. It is this kernel that forms the base around which a Linux operating system is developed. There are now literally hundreds of companies and organizations and an equal number of individuals that have released their own versions of operating systems based on the Linux kernel. More information on the kernel can be found at our sister site, LinuxHQ and at the official Linux Kernel Archives. The current full-featured version is 2.6 (released December 2003) and development continues.

Apart from the fact that it's freely distributed, Linux's functionality, adaptability and robustness, has made it the main alternative for proprietary Unix and Microsoft operating systems. IBM, Hewlett-Packard and other giants of the computing world have embraced Linux and support its ongoing development. Well into its second decade of existence, Linux has been adopted worldwide primarily as a server platform. Its use as a home and office desktop operating system is also on the rise. The operating system can also be incorporated directly into microchips in a process called "embedding" and is increasingly being used this way in appliances and devices.

Throughout most of the 1990's, tech pundits, largely unaware of Linux's potential, dismissed it as a computer hobbyist project, unsuitable for the general public's computing needs. Through the efforts of developers of desktop management systems such as KDE and GNOME, office suite project OpenOffice.org and the Mozilla web browser project, to name only a few, there are now a wide range of applications that run on Linux and it can be used by anyone regardless of his/her knowledge of computers. Those curious to see the capabilities of Linux can download a live CD version called Knoppix . It comes with everything you might need to carry out day-to-day tasks on the computer and it needs no installation. It will run from a CD in a computer capable of booting from the CD drive. Those choosing to continue using Linux can find a variety of versions or "distributions" of Linux that are easy to install, configure and use. Information on these products is available in our distribution section and can be found by selecting the mainstream/general public category.

Microsoft Windows

Microsoft Windows is a family of operating systems by Microsoft. They can run on several types of platforms such as servers, embedded devices and, most typically, on personal computers. Microsoft first introduced an operating environment named Windows in November 1985 as an add-on to MS-DOS in response to the growing trend of graphical user interfaces (GUI) popularized by the Macintosh. Microsoft Windows eventually came to dominate the world's personal computer market.