Operating Systems

chewbacca · 10-27-06, 09:55 AM

How do they build/create operating systems?

Windows and Mac for instance.

Howard2k · 10-27-06, 09:57 AM

Using a bunch of programmers.

Not sure I understand the question.

10-27-06, 10:57 AM

seems like one hell of a question there.

10-27-06, 11:45 AM

Originally Posted by chewbacca

How do they build/create operating systems?

Windows and Mac for instance.

An operating system is nothing more than a very specialized computer program.
So, your question really should be "how do they build/create computer programs?"

Here is a decent overview of how computers work, including programming them...

http://tldp.org/HOWTO/Unix-and-Inter...WTO/intro.html

aximbigfan · 10-27-06, 12:02 PM

They write it from scratch...

with windows they get thousands of undepaid programs who, in fact have no programming skills what so ever after 10 years, an extremly buggy os is made. and then a monthlater a patch comes out wich acuses everyone whom it comes in contact wit that their os is pirated, basing that guess on absulutly nothing.

with mac they get as many uptight and smug programmers together and in 5 years a smug os is born, which is then marketed to all of the peopel who think they are "sophisticated" for using the apple os.

chris

chewbacca · 10-27-06, 12:22 PM

Originally Posted by aximbigfan

They write it from scratch...

with windows they get thousands of undepaid programs who, in fact have no programming skills what so ever after 10 years, an extremly buggy os is made. and then a monthlater a patch comes out wich acuses everyone whom it comes in contact wit that their os is pirated, basing that guess on absulutly nothing.

with mac they get as many uptight and smug programmers together and in 5 years a smug os is born, which is then marketed to all of the peopel who think they are "sophisticated" for using the apple os.

chris

Ha Ha. Funny.

My question is what tools (please don't say "They use a computer"), or programming languages they use to make the operating systems? and how they compile that operating system into one big CD (or DVD)?

benots4 · 10-27-06, 12:36 PM

Originally Posted by aximbigfan

They write it from scratch...

chris

Cakes are built from scratch. Operating systems are built from existing operating systems. The process of porting (modifying existing to work on new hardware) or extending (adding features to a new one).

There were others before it but less start with Unix in 1972. That was written for Main Frames and what were called Mini computers of the day. My favorite being the Dec PDP 11 series...... The earliest had to be loaded using paper tape, a strip of paper about 1 inch wide with holes in it. Then the removable disk was developed. Imagine a disk the size of a dinner plate that could hold 500K of data. Now who would need all that space!!!!! That evolved DOS. Which stands for Disk Operating System. This was not a microsoft product, we had DEC DOS before Microsoft..... When IBM saw that microprocessors could be used as business machines and could replace type writers they contracted Microsoft to create a stripped down Unix that could fit on a 5.25inch paper floppy. This was all beloved command line stuff....

Then some dude at Zerox decided he wanted a wysiwyg interface for his copy machine. (wysiwyg - what you see is what you get) He took his Idea to IBM and microsoft. IBM never saw that feature on a type writer so they passed on the Idea. The guys over at Apple bit at the concept.

Later Microsoft saw the error in their way and came out with Windows 3.0, which did surely suk.

Unix is still around in solars and linux and such but is long in the tooth and not considered as the way to go. For new development here. Here in the Mega Corp we are busy porting all our Unix code to work on XP.......

10-27-06, 12:44 PM

Originally Posted by chewbacca

My question is what tools?

Text editor, and C or C++ compiler, for the most part. Sometimes bits are done using assembly language and a macroassember (e.g. MASM), but that fairly rare.

Every other tool (e.g. keywork colouring in the text editor, source code management etc.) are just there to increase productivity / collaboration.

(Note: regarding source code management: I count losing stuff as a productivity hit - albeit potentially a huge one!)

benots4 · 10-27-06, 12:53 PM

Originally Posted by chewbacca

My question is what tools (please don't say "They use a computer"), or programming languages they use to make the operating systems? and how they compile that operating system into one big CD (or DVD)?

Its just code, Unix is almost all written in C. Most development environments now you can write and debug on one hardware platform and compile to a different hardware platform. Inbetween you would run in an emulator.

Lets say you wanted to develop an operating system for your axim. The processor in the axim has a different instrucitons set than your intel box. So you would develop on your Intel box using some language. You would write the OS commands and such and test on an emulator on the intel box. Once you think it works you would compile to axim instruciton set and load it into the axim and test it.

Tankman · 10-28-06, 10:10 AM

Originally Posted by chewbacca

How do they build/create operating systems?

Windows and Mac for instance.

From scratch?

AKAJohnDoe · 10-28-06, 11:38 AM

Originally Posted by Tankman

From scratch?

Yes. From nothing. In the very early days the operating system was written in machine code. Some parts of the OS still resembles that (microcode, the chip level code). However, whether you are talking about the most sophisticated mainframes of today or the relatively simple OS in your PC the task is the same: Writing code to control the environment and provide a basis for running other code.

aximbigfan · 10-28-06, 11:44 AM

oh yeah, i forgot to put linux in my post...

linux is made by thouands of programmers who work in tandum to make a pretty much bug free os which just works....

chris

AKAJohnDoe · 10-28-06, 11:47 AM

Yes, Linux can be fairly platform agnostic, running on mainframes or PDAs or anything in between.
:)