What are the main advantages and disadvantages of windows. Advantages and disadvantages of the Windows operating system. ICF under attack

Often people, having heard from friends or read on the Internet about the Linux operating system (Linux), which is probably the most popular alternative to Microsoft (Microsoft) products, try to find out about its possible advantages, and how this operating system could actually be better or worse Windows (Windows). Supporters of Linux and Windows, as a rule, praise their favorite OS, but the truth about their shortcomings remains a secret to a user ignorant of IT affairs. We, leaving our sympathies outside the scope of this article, will try to figure out what really are the disadvantages and advantages of Linux in comparison with the most popular operating system in the world.
First of all, it’s worth noting that Linux as a whole is neither better nor worse than Windows, it’s just different. Many who in one way or another tried to master this operating system may have spoken negatively about it only because they did not find the usual “C:\” drives, the “Start” menu, and so on. From this we can conclude that mastering Linux requires spending some time learning. I hope you will decide for yourself whether it is worth spending time on this after reading this article.

Strictly speaking, Linux is not one operating system, but a whole group of OSes created on the basis of the kernel of the same name. Unlike most other operating systems, and in particular Windows, Linux does not have a single “official” package, but is supplied in the form of so-called distributions, in which the Linux kernel is combined with various utilities and other application programs that make it a full-fledged multifunctional environment. An example of the most famous Linux distributions are: Debian, Fedora, Gentoo, Mandriva, openSUSE, Red Hat, Slackware, Ubuntu.

Within the framework of our material, we will not descend into particulars, but will only consider the general trends characteristic of all operating systems of this family, uniting them under the general name - Linux. So, let's look at the most common statements about this system, both from specialists and ordinary users of personal computers.

Linux is free and therefore its quality in comparison with paid products leaves much to be desired.

Yes, the bug tracking systems for projects widely used in various flavors of Linux are full of bug reports. However, Microsoft simply does not have such systems and no one except developers knows how extensive this list is in closed systems. At the same time, many Linux distributions sometimes contain annoying bugs that wait for months to be fixed. However, Windows is also not infallible, and evidence of this can be the constant release of various patches, patches and service packs designed to close system vulnerabilities and correct found errors.

Linux is an operating system for IT specialists (advanced users).

It is not true. In recent years, Linux has made huge strides towards the average user. Graphical environments KDE, GNOME, Unity are intuitive, functional products for people with completely different levels of preparedness.

Graphics environmentKDE 4

Here, again, habit plays a huge role. If you transfer a Windows person to Linux, you will hear a lot of complaints about the taskbar being located in the wrong place where it is on Windows, and the clock in the wrong corner. At the same time, you will hear exactly the same thing from those users who decided to get acquainted with a system from Microsoft for the first time, having previously only had experience with Linux.

There are no viruses in Linux.

In fact, of course there are viruses for Linux, but there are very few of them, and finding them is quite difficult. The security system of this operating system is simple and reliable: to change system settings, install and remove programs, as well as other actions that directly affect the operation of the operating system, an administrator password is required. In the user's home directory, where you can work without restrictions, each executable file is initially prohibited from execution. This way, Linux only runs programs that you have allowed to run. Well, antiviruses that exist under Linux, contrary to the opinion of many people, are not designed to catch viruses under Linux, but to scan Windows programs for viruses, so as not to infect comrades using this operating system with them.

Linux is difficult to install.

Depending on the distribution, installation can be carried out either through the console interface (such distributions are aimed at users who are already familiar with this system) or through a graphical interface, like the Windows 7 installer. Installing Linux using such graphical installers is no more difficult than installing Windows.

Distribution installation processopenSUSE 11.0

You can't play on Linux.

This is partly true, developers of AAA games (high-quality games with a high budget) do not really favor Linux with their hits. At the same time, there are many good, so-called “casual” games for this operating system. However, if you purchased your computer for modern 3D entertainment or you are an avid gamer, this operating system is not for you.

There are no professional tools in Linux.

And this is also partly true, but in this case a lot depends on what area you work in. For example, in the field of design, graphics and 3D modeling, the Blender program is a good alternative to 3ds Max, and GIMP, although with certain reservations, can become a replacement for Adobe Photoshop.

But with engineering programs for Linux, things are difficult. It is true that Linux is an excellent system for people whose work is related to IT technologies.

Linux doesn't play well with computer hardware.

Yes and no. On the one hand, Linux will save you from having to search for drivers and update them. Also, a huge amount of equipment, such as microphones, printers, scanners, cameras, and so on, work immediately after installation, without requiring the installation of additional programs. When working with regular computers that are not equipped with specific hardware, Linux picks up everything on the first boot. The situation is worse with this very “specific” equipment. Often, hardware manufacturers neglect to write drivers for operating systems other than Windows, and if you buy certain equipment for your hardware friend, you risk spending a lot of time searching for drivers for it. Perhaps even in vain.

It is also worth noting that the performance of video cards under Linux is far from the same as under Windows. And although it is believed that it is not the system developers who are to blame for this, but the graphics adapter manufacturers themselves, the fact remains.

Linux can be configured any way you want.

Indeed, one of the most important advantages of Linux, and perhaps advantages over Windows, is the widest scope for customizing the system for yourself and a huge selection of software for this. Don't like the way this panel is laid out? No problem, remove it, stop suffering! Don't like your work environment? Several dozen window managers with various options for designing your workspace are at your service! Believe me, there really is a lot to choose from here.

3D distribution desktopUbuntu

The same applies to individual programs. Almost each of them can be customized to the smallest detail. Thus, Linux automatically becomes more convenient to use, since you can configure it the way you want, and not the way the designers decided for you.

I won't be able to find my usual programs.

Many popular programs, for example, Google Chrome, Firefox, Opera and Skype, have their own versions for Linux, which are no different from their counterparts in Windows. At the same time, Linux has a huge amount of its own software that is not inferior in functionality to its Windows counterparts.

Mozila Firefox and VLC player are familiar to many Windows users

To be fair, it is worth noting that many programs for Linux are among the best in their field and are in many ways superior to their competitors written for the Microsoft system. For example, many consider the Amarok audio player one of the best programs of its kind in the world.

Installing programs on Linux is more convenient than on Windows.

The procedure for installing programs on these systems is somewhat different, and the main advantage of Linux is the use of repositories in this process. A repository is a special storage of programs with automatic updating and distribution over the network. To install the program, you just need to enter its name and click the “Install” button.

RepositoryLinux

By updating the system from the repositories, you update absolutely all programs installed in it. And all with one click. Also, repositories provide a guarantee that installed programs are safe - they are all signed with a special key.

Linux on a netbook is better than Windows.

Linux features allow you to customize power consumption in a way that Windows cannot. Also, thanks to the remarkable customizability of this system, you can save scarce screen space by organizing your workspace the way you like.

Special assemblyUbuntu for netbooks

Some desktop environments, such as KDE, have special interfaces for netbooks, and some, due to their extremely low resource requirements, will make work on a netbook as fast as on a powerful desktop computer and add a couple of tens of minutes to battery life. All these advantages will come at the cost of problems with supporting specific equipment, such as a fingerprint scanner or an exotic camera.

Well, now, let's start summing up and we'll start with those moments when, as they say, you can't do without Windows. Oddly enough, there are not many of them, but they are quite significant. So, Linux is not for you if:

  • Are you planning or already using your computer for modern 3D games? Unfortunately, as noted earlier, without the active support of leading developers in the gaming industry, the Linux system cannot be considered as a full-fledged platform for entertainment in this area.
  • Your work on a computer involves the use of software for which there are no ports or equivalents for Linux. Unfortunately, such cases are also not uncommon. This is especially true for professional software from leading developers, who support Linux less readily than Windows.
  • There are specific hardware or devices connected to your computer that do not have Linux drivers.

Otherwise, if you're willing to spend some time getting to grips with the operating system and are hungry for something new, Linux won't disappoint. This will be especially useful for netbook users and those who use a computer as an office work tool. In turn, on the editorial side, in the near future we will try to prepare material that will introduce you to various distributions and assemblies of this OS.

The main requirement for an operating system is the ability to perform basic functions: effective resource management and providing a convenient interface for the user and application programs, the structure and purpose of a network OS. A modern OS, as a rule, must implement multiprogram processing, virtual memory, swapping, support a multi-window interface, and also perform many other absolutely necessary functions. In addition to these functional requirements, operating systems face equally important market requirements. These requirements include:

    Performance

    Reliability and fault tolerance

    Safety

    Security and access control

    Extensibility

    Portability

    Compatibility

    Multi-user interface

    Logical organization of network resources

    File and Print Services

    Hardware platform support

    Database server

    Application Server

    Administration

    Customer support

    Cost, etc.

Various options were considered as a server operating system, but the main choice was made from 3 network operating systems: Microsoft Windows Server 2003, a UNIX-like system, for example FreeBSD 4.7, and NovellNetware 5.0. These systems were chosen because at the moment they are the most common and frequently used network operating systems and all of them correspond to the nature of the tasks being solved, that is, they are intended for corporate networks, the design of which is the goal of the work.

Selecting a specific network operating system is the most difficult task, since none of the systems fully satisfies the requirements for it. To make the final choice, you need to consider the advantages and disadvantages of each operating system.

Pros and cons of Windows

Advantages of the OSWindows:

    Convenient graphical interface

    Availability of a variety of built-in internetworking tools.

    In addition to the native NetBEUI/SMB communication protocol stack, it is capable of supporting other most popular stacks, such as TCP/IP or Novell NetWare, as well as providing the ability to easily include other stacks supplied by third parties.

    Wide selection of development tools;

    high level of developer support.

    Developers designing systems for Windows do not need to worry about different versions for a multiprocessor environment.

    The environment is developer friendly, providing them with multiple programming languages ​​and a range of compilers.

Windows integrates well with most networks, and applications can be designed to interface directly with NetWare's file management services and reliability.Windows

    OS Disadvantages

Insufficient security in the field of high-performance servers for the largest and most reliable business applications.

Advantages and Disadvantages of UnixAdvantages:

    Unix

    The power of a basic set of tools - by combining tools that support program development, management of user processes, input/output redirection based on an abstract interpretation of the concept of a file, it has become possible to dynamically create complex programs with internal asynchrony from simple and small software components.

    Interface maturity - the idea of ​​using an advanced command language as the basic user interface with the operating system

    Democracy - opens up opportunities for improvement for any qualified user or developer

    Openness - a correctly written UNIX OS kernel itself has the property of being easy to transfer to another hardware platform.

    Portability - Even if there are different UNIX implementations on different hardware platforms that follow open specifications, it is relatively easy to ensure application software portability.

    Operating system with high performance and reliability.

    Support for high performance servers.

    Almost all network services in the Unix system are implemented more flexibly and reliably than in other systems.

    Developed support for multiprocessing.

Unix performance increases almost linearly with the number of processors in SMP symmetric multiprocessor systems.Advantages

    Flaws

    Insufficiently user-friendly application interface

Introduction of the “lightweight processes” mechanism into the UNIX OS, i.e. processes that run together in shared virtual memory (LWP - Light Weight Processes). Programming using LWP creates numerous difficulties, although it is currently the only way to use the capabilities of symmetric multiprocessor architectures (SMP - Symmetric Multi Processors).

Any modern computer can function fully only thanks to the operating system - software that provides you with a graphical shell and a set of tools for performing a variety of things. Today there are a huge number of operating systems on the market: Linux, Mac OS and, of course, the famous Windows from Microsoft.

The debate about which system is better has not subsided for many decades. But in order to make the right choice, for example, an OS from Microsoft, you need to understand what the advantages and disadvantages of Windows exist. We will not be talking about any specific version, but about the product as a whole.

It’s worth starting, of course, with the positive aspects. If you are a regular user of the system, then they will outweigh the possible negative qualities. So, if we talk about the advantages of this OS, then several points need to be mentioned.

  1. Prevalence and popularity. There is no denying the fact that the system is the most widespread on the market. This is due to the ease of learning and accessibility of the software. Therefore, it will not be difficult for you to use your PC and also find software for it.
  2. Convenient graphical interface. The system menu is adapted for users of any level. Even without any OS skills, you will quickly become familiar with its basic functions and be able to use it successfully.
  3. Entertainment. If you like to play computer games, then you will undoubtedly appreciate the capabilities and advantages of Windows, since this OS is the most supported by developers. All the latest games will definitely be available on it.
  4. Availability of modern technologies. The system is actively being developed and supplemented with all sorts of functions in accordance with modern technologies. Latest software versions, antiviruses, editors - all this is supported here.

Windows Disadvantages

Of course, considering the OS from all sides, you need to touch on the pros and cons. As for the disadvantages of the system, they are as follows:

  • insufficient level of security for highly specialized work (standard anti-virus software is not able to provide the necessary security);
  • malfunctions (even the most current versions of the OS may work with errors, but they are eliminated through updates);
  • decisions regarding updating functionality and menus are not always successful.

Despite the shortcomings, Windows OS is a modern and effective software tool for solving various problems.

Written examination paper

Windows operating systems

1. Introduction………………………………………………………………………………3

2. History of creation………………………………………………………4

2. Windows 9 x/ NT………………………………………………………….5

3. Microsoft Windows operating system………………………....5

4.Advantages and disadvantagesWindows……………………………....7

5. Some keyboard shortcutsWindows 9 xAndNT…10

6. Conclusion……………………………………………………………..14

7. References…………………………………………………….15

Introduction.

Today, Microsoft's Windows operating system in all its forms is undoubtedly considered the most common operating system on PCs: there are more than 150 million IBMPC-compatible computers in the world, and Windows is installed on 100 million of them. Obviously, familiarization with a PC must begin with familiarization with Windows, because without it, working on a PC is unthinkable for most users. Knowledge of the Windows system is a necessary brick in the wall of PC knowledge.

Initially, Windows was developed not as an operating system, as we are accustomed to seeing its modern versions, but as a graphical shell for MS-DOS. It should be noted that the concept of the graphical interface was not developed by Microsoft. Already several years before the introduction of Windows, there were Apple Macintosh computers with a graphical operating system (MacOS), the interface of which was more friendly and understandable to the average user, in contrast to the MS-DOS command line. Strictly speaking, Windows is not the only attempt to rid the user of the command line on IBM-compatible computers. Very famous at one time was the pseudo-graphical (actually working in text mode) shell of Symantec Corporation's NortonCommander. It speeded up the process of navigating through disk space several times, and more naturally represented the directory hierarchy in the form of a tree. However, Windows came before Norton, although Norton was more popular, in part due to its low system requirements.

History of creation

Start

IN

back when work on Windows was just beginning, it was believed that the future belonged to integrated environments. VisiCorp, the creator of the first spreadsheet VisiCalc, was creating the Vision package, which worked in text mode with the ability to control the mouse. The package was intended to combine several applications with one multi-window shell. Quarterdesk was at the time developing the DESQ package, which later became the basis for its multitasking environment DESQView.

Microsoft's position was different. After visiting the Xerox PARC research center, company president Bill Gates decided to create a graphical environment that would serve as a standard platform for application developers. At the same time, Steve Jobb, the creator of the Macintosh computers and, later, NeXT, also visited this center. The impression that what they saw had on both young people is well known. So, Microsoft set itself the task of creating a platform for developers. It was supposed to provide developers with built-in functions for implementing the user interface and its components - windows, menus, dialog panels, which could be controlled using the keyboard or mouse.

When work on the Windows environment was just beginning, Microsoft had at its disposal a computer with an 8088 processor and a maximum memory capacity of 640 KB. It was assumed that users of this environment have about 256 KB of memory, and the hard drive is not available to them due to the high price. The best graphics adapter in those days was CGA with a resolution of 320 by 200 when working with four colors. The Hercules adapter, which provided a resolution of 720 by 348 in monochrome mode, was then a novelty. The graphics environment was insanely slow under these conditions. In 1983, the first information about the development of Windows began to leak out.

And finally, Windows 1.0

indows (“windows”) is a ubiquitous, essentially standard multitasking operating system for modern IBM compatible computers. There are two main families of it: relatively speaking, for home use (Windows versions 3.1, 3.11, 95, 98 and MillenniumEdition) and for professional applications (WindowsNT versions 3.5, 4.0, 2000 and XP). Systems of the first type are installed, of course, not only on home computers, but also in most institutions, firms, and institutes. NT is used when they want to create a local or global network of an enterprise or educational institution (however, WindowsNT has serious competitors here) or when it is necessary to ensure increased system stability, which, generally speaking, is desirable for everyone, but is simply vital for professionals.

From the point of view of operating methods, the appearance of the screen and windows, buttons and menus, the systems of both families are very similar. So if you know how to work in Windows 95, then you won’t have any problems with NT 4.0. And if you have mastered Windows 98 and Me, then in Win 2000 you may not notice any difference at all.

No, you will notice something: the 98th and Me often freeze, produce obscure failures, after which you have to reboot, and 2k and XP. they don't do anything about it.

Microsoft is going to gradually transfer all home users to a new technology (NT in translation - NewTechnology), for which Windows 2000 systems were created, and then XP. The development of “old technology” has been stopped - nothing will happen beyond the Millennium mind.

First generation systems (Windows 3.1 and 3.11, as well as NT 3.5), very popular in the mid-90s, have practically died out.

ABOUT

Microsoft Windows operating system for beginners and more

What is meant by operating system?

In general, an operating system is understood as a set of programs that allow you to manage the resources (RAM, hard drive, processor, peripherals) of a computer. Without an operating system, it is impossible to run any application program, for example, a text editor. Therefore, the operating system is the basis for which various applications are developed.

After John Sosha invented Norton Commander, the command line began to annoy millions of PC users who did not know the standard commands and parameters of the disk operating system. Soon, in the fourth version of MS-DOS, something similar to an object-oriented shell appeared - DOS Shell. But somehow this program didn’t catch on. You can say that Windows is more than just an operating system because you can work in it without typing mind-boggling commands into an annoying prompt like C:. In Windows, all information is presented in an intuitive graphical shell in such a way that the user of a personal computer can work efficiently, easily, without memorizing annoying directives and commands. All you need to do is find the desired application or document and click on the corresponding shortcut with the mouse. To simplify the search for documents and applications, Windows offers the user the so-called desktop concept. The desktop in Windows is a certain model of the surface of a regular table with documents and folders.

Advantages and disadvantages Windows .

Advantages.

U

convenience and device support . The main difference between programs for DOS and for Windows is that a DOS program can work with computer hardware (monitor, keyboard, printer, etc.) directly bypassing DOS (and, as a rule, does so), in while a Windows program must access external devices only through Windows. Therefore, after installing a driver in Windows that provides support for this device (that is, configuring Windows to the features of this device), all Windows programs can work with this device. This eliminates the very painful problem for DOS of ensuring program compatibility with specific devices.

Programs (drivers) to support the most common devices are included in Windows, and for other devices they are supplied with these devices or controllers.

Support for scalable fonts. Applications such as document editing, publishing and advertising, creating tables or presentations, etc. require the use of a large number of fonts - text, headings, decorative, pictographic and others, and the characters of these fonts may be required in a variety of sizes. Therefore, support for scalable TrueType fonts was built into Windows 3.1. Scalable fonts (unlike raster fonts) do not contain raster (point-by-point) images of characters of some fixed size, but a description of the outlines of the characters, allowing the construction of characters of any desired size. Since the images of characters on the screen and on the print are formed from the same contours contained in the font file, they naturally fully correspond to each other, which ensures the implementation of the WYSIWYG principle - both on the screen and on the print.

"Windows Operating Systems"

Content

Introduction………………………………………………………………………………………...3

Chapter 1 Basic concept of OS and history of creation……………………….........5

1.1 Operating system……………………………………………………………5

1.2 History of Windows…………………………………………………….9

Chapter 2 Features of Windows XP……………………………………………...12

2.1 Advantages and disadvantages of the operating system………………..12

2.2 Network capabilities. ……………………………………………………………….17

Chapter 3 Features of Windows Vista …………………………………………...23

3.1 Innovations………….………………………………………………………….23

3.2 Advantages of Windows Vista over Windows XP…………………..29 Conclusion………………………………………………………………………………….32 References… ………………………………………………………………34

Introduction.

The relevance of this topic is that the Microsoft Windows operating system is currently considered the most common system on PCs. Obviously, familiarization with a PC must begin with familiarization with Windows, because without it, working on a PC is unthinkable for most users. When you turn on your computer, the operating system loads into memory before other programs and then serves as a platform and environment for them to work. It is impossible to imagine working with a computer without an operating system. Knowledge of the operating system is necessary to successfully use modern computers.

The history of the development of information technologies is characterized by rapid changes in conceptual ideas, technical means, methods and areas of their application. In modern realities, the ability to use industrial information technologies has become very relevant for most people. The penetration of computers into all spheres of social life convinces us that the culture of communication with a computer is becoming a common human culture.

The object of the study is the consideration of operating systems.

The subject of the research is the study of the main features of the Windows XP and Windows Vista operating systems.

The purpose of the work is to explore the concept of the Windows operating system.

This goal leads to the following tasks:

    Consideration of the basic concept of an operating system and the history of its creation.

    Studying the features of Windows XP, its advantages, disadvantages and network capabilities.

    Study of the features of Windows Vista, its advantages over Windows XP.

In the process of preparing the course work, the works of domestic and foreign researchers, professors, and programmers such as Sviridova M.Yu., Gordeev A.V., Bolshakov T.V. were used.

Chapter 1 Basic concept of OS and history of creation.

    1. Operating system.

The system boots when you turn on the computer. It carries out a dialogue with the user, manages the computer, its resources (RAM, disk space, etc.), and launches other (application) programs for execution. The operating system provides the user and application programs with a convenient way to communicate (interface) with computer devices.

The main reason for the need for an operating system is that the atomic operations for operating a computer's devices and managing computer resources are very low-level operations, so the actions required by the user and application programs consist of several hundred or thousands of such atomic operations.

For example, a magnetic disk drive “understands” only such basic operations as turning on/off the drive motor, installing read heads on a specific cylinder, selecting a specific read head, reading information from a disk track into a computer, etc. And even to perform such a simple action as copying a file from one floppy disk to another (a file is a named set of information on a disk or other machine media), it is necessary to perform thousands of operations to run disk drive commands, check their execution, search and process information in tables placing files on disks, etc. The task is further complicated by the following:

    There are about a dozen floppy disk formats, and the operating system must be able to work with all of these formats. For the user, working with floppy disks of different formats should be carried out in exactly the same way;

    a file on floppy disks occupies certain areas, and the user should not know anything about which ones. All functions for maintaining file allocation tables, searching for information in them, and allocating space for files on floppy disks are performed by the operating system, and the user may not know anything about them;

    During operation of the copying program, several dozen different special situations may arise, for example, a failure when reading or writing information, the drives are not ready for reading or writing, there is no space on the floppy disk for the copied file, etc. For all of these situations, appropriate communications and corrective actions must be provided.

The operating system hides these complex and unnecessary details from the user and provides him with a convenient interface to work with. It also performs various auxiliary actions, such as copying or printing files. The operating system loads all programs into RAM, transfers control to them at the beginning of their work, performs various actions at the request of executing programs, and frees RAM occupied by programs when they complete.

There are several types of operating systems: DOS, Windows, UNIX, Macintosh OS, Linux. Other modern operating systems, such as Linux, UNIX, OS /2, have their own advantages and disadvantages. Linux provides more advanced security than Windows and has a more sophisticated interface; UNIX is used where high system reliability is required. The big disadvantage of OS /2 and UNIX is the rather meager selection of software tools, and here Windows wins over other operating systems. The most common operating system is Windows. There are several versions of Windows: Windows -3.1, Windows -95, Windows -98, Windows -2000, Windows NT. All of them are similar in content, so in the future we will consider the DOS and Windows -9x operating systems.

MS - DOS- one of the first operating systems and one of the most famous. The popularity of this operating system peaked in the 90s; now this operating system is rarely used. The most popular operating systems in the world at the moment are Microsoft operating systems. Their share is about 90% among all operating systems. The most stable systems of this company are based on NT technology.

The DOS operating system consists of the following parts:

The basic input/output system (BIOS), located in the read-only memory (read-only memory, ROM) of the computer. This part of the operating system is "built into" the computer. Its purpose is to perform the most simple and universal operating system services related to I/O. The basic I/O system also contains a computer performance test that checks the operation of the computer's memory and devices when the computer's power is turned on. In addition, the basic input/output system contains a program that calls the operating system loader.

The operating system loader is a very short program found in the first sector of every DOS floppy disk. The function of this program is to read two more operating system modules into memory, which complete the DOS boot process.

The DOS command processor processes commands entered by the user. The command processor is in a disk file! COMMAND.COM on the disk from which the operating system boots. Some user commands, such as Type, Dir or Cop, are executed by the command processor itself. Such commands are called internal. To execute other (external) user commands, the command processor searches the disks for a program with the appropriate name and, if it finds it, loads it into memory and transfers control to it. At the end of the program, the command processor deletes the program from memory and displays a message indicating that it is ready to execute commands (DOS prompt).

External DOS commands are programs that come with the operating system as separate files. These programs perform maintenance actions, such as formatting floppy disks, checking disks, etc. Device drivers are special programs that complement the DOS input/output system and provide maintenance for new ones or non-standard use of existing ones.

Window -9 x evolved from a graphical add-on for DOS into a full-fledged operating system. At least that's what its developers said. In reality, everything was more complicated: Windows 95 still used good old DOS as its basis. Slightly modernized, of course, and not declared as a separate product. However, most consumers were happy with this option. After all, they still had the opportunity to work in the usual DOS mode without loading the Windows graphical shell - and, therefore, not to part with the usual DOS programs.

Also the operating system Window -9 x became 32-bit. All previous versions of DOS and Windows were 16-bit and, therefore, could not fully use the capabilities of even the 386 family of processors, much less the new Pentium processors. Of course, this advantage also contained some inconveniences - especially for Windows, users had to replace all their Windows programs with new, 32-bit versions. However, in practice, the transition turned out to be relatively easy - within a year new versions of all popular software products were released. But the old 16-bit versions could work with the new OS without any problems.

1.2 History of Windows.

The history of Windows dates back to 1986, when the first version of the system appeared. It was a set of programs that expanded the capabilities of existing operating systems for greater ease of use. A few years later, the second version was released, but the Windows system did not gain much popularity. However, in 1990, a new version was released - Windows 3.0, which began to be used on many personal computers. The popularity of the new version of Windows was due to several reasons. The graphical interface allows you to work with objects on your computer not with the help of commands, but with the help of visual and understandable actions on the icons representing these objects. The ability to simultaneously work with several programs has significantly increased the convenience and efficiency of work. In addition, the convenience and ease of writing programs for Windows has led to the emergence of an increasing variety of programs that run on Windows. Finally, work with a variety of computer equipment was better organized, which also determined the popularity of the system. Subsequent versions of Windows were aimed at improving reliability, as well as support for multimedia (version 3.1) and work in computer networks (version 3.11).

In parallel with the development of Windows, Microsoft began work in 1988 on a new operating system called Windows NT. The new system was tasked with significantly increasing reliability and effectively supporting network operation. At the same time, the system interface should not differ from the Windows 3.0 interface. Interestingly, the third version also became the most common version of Windows NT. In 1992, Windows NT 3.0 was released, and in 1994, Windows NT 3.5.

The process of development of operating systems does not stand still, and in 1995 the Windows 95 system appeared, which became a new stage in the history of Windows. Compared to Windows 3.1, the interface has changed significantly, and the speed of programs has increased. One of the new features of Windows 95 was the ability to automatically configure additional computer hardware to work without conflicts with each other. Another important feature of the system was the ability to work with the Internet without using additional programs.

The Windows 95 interface became the main one for the entire Windows family, and in 1996 a redesigned version of Windows NT 4.0 appeared, which has the same interface as Windows 95. The development of Windows 95 continued with the operating system that appeared in 1998. While the interface remained the same, the internal structure was significantly redesigned. Much attention was paid to working with the Internet, as well as supporting modern information transfer protocols - standards that ensure the exchange of information between various devices. In addition, a feature of Windows 98 is the ability to work with multiple monitors.

The next stage in the development of Windows was the appearance of Windows 2000 and Windows Me (Millennium Edition). The Windows 2000 system was developed on the basis of Windows NT and inherited from it high reliability and security of information from outside interference. The Windows Me operating system became the successor to Windows 98, but acquired many new features. First of all, this is improved work with multimedia, the ability to record not only audio, but also video information, powerful means of recovering information after failures, and much more. Gradually, the differences between different Windows systems are being erased, and the Windows XP operating system is intended to replace both Windows 2000 and Windows Me.

In 2007, after Windows XP, a new operating system appeared. This time the operating system from Microsoft is Windows Vista. This system was created on the basis of Windows XP. The shortcomings have been fixed, the design has been improved, and a new 3D Aero Glass interface has appeared, which requires a video card that supports DirectX 9.0. Windows. Vista has become more demanding compared to Windows XP.

After some time, Windows Seven appears. Everyone knows it as Windows7. This operating system was based on Windows Vista. There were modifications to the structure. Drawbacks have been corrected and network capabilities have been expanded. In the new system, the developers clearly paid a lot of attention to working with the Internet. Windows7 is also less vulnerable than earlier releases. Today, Windows7 is the newest operating system. And most people use this system.

Chapter 2 Features of Windows XP.

2.1 Advantages and disadvantages of the operating system.

The system has become more complex - but it crashes much less often, practically does not freeze and almost does not display mysterious error messages. All this is ensured by the following innovations:

New kernelWindows . The developers of Windows XP removed the last remnants of MS-DOS compatible code used in Windows 95/98 (and, despite attempts to hide it, in Windows Me). Inside both versions of Windows XP is the robust, reliable kernel that first appeared in Windows 2000. With a fully secure memory model, integrated security, and a Hardware Abstraction Layer (HAL) that protects key system components from bad software, Windows XP has there is much less chance of failure during daily work. And if a failure does occur, you can use a set of recovery utilities that are significantly superior in their capabilities to applications available in previous versions of Windows.

Robust system protection. A common source of problems in previous versions of Windows was the replacement of vital system files with outdated or incorrect versions. Windows XP controls these substitutions by maintaining the system-correct version of the file while allowing the application to use the versions of the dynamic link libraries it needs. Additional protection is provided by recovery tools that monitor the system and, by maintaining a “snapshot” of system files and settings, allow you to “roll back” to a previous configuration if a new application or device driver causes problems.

Rollback device drivers. Experienced Windows users know that buggy device drivers can completely ruin even a carefully configured system. Windows XP protects against driver-related problems by warning you when you try to install a driver without a digital signature that verifies that it is compatible with Windows XP. The system also allows you to remove the driver and restore the previous version, and even in safe mode if necessary.

Equipment compatibility. Any user clearly understands how important it is to have good operating system support for a particular piece of equipment. In this mutual understanding between the OS and the hardware, device drivers play a significant role. They are designed for compatibility of specific equipment with a specific OS. Without exaggeration, I note that Windows is the only operating system of its kind that is capable of “correctly” working with the vast majority of modern equipment designed to work with a computer. Have you seen today, say, a printer or scanner whose accompanying drivers are written only for Linux or Mac OS? Of course not! Due to its widespread use, modern Windows today simply must support any computer equipment and peripherals. Therefore, today in the world the largest number of drivers and their versions are written specifically for Windows. Installation drivers today are usually supplied with the hardware itself on an accompanying disk or floppy disk. Moreover: for a large number of equipment, the Windows base itself today contains standard drivers installed in the operating system by its developers. So, for example, today it is not at all necessary to look for an installation disk with drivers for a SIS 6326 video card or an Epson LX printer. Windows itself will detect the new installed hardware and correctly install the driver for it from its database. However, a caveat must be made here:

Windows-based drivers are not available for all equipment, especially new ones. Most often there you can find a driver for equipment that is obsolete today. In general, a modern OS supports all modern types of devices designed to work with a computer: scanners, printers, information digitizing devices, modems, tuners, IR sensors, network cards, disks, flash drives (by the way, the same USB drives with hot plug/unplug became supported as standard Windows devices relatively recently), as well as many other Windows-compatible computer hardware and peripherals.

OS stability. In general, the stability of modern Windows can be called acceptable. However, the word “acceptable” here must be accompanied by a lot of reservations:

1. The stability of the OS becomes acceptable only after its high-quality and competent configuration - there is no point in talking about an untuned system (as well as an untuned guitar) here.

2. The stability of modern Windows also largely depends on the version of the product and the presence of installed service packs and add-ons - alas, without their presence, frequent failures occur in the operation of the OS.

3. The stability of Windows XP also depends on the applications themselves installed on the OS by the user: the more stable they are in operation and the more compatible with the Windows software shell itself, the fewer failures we will be able to observe in the operation of the main OS.

4. The stability of modern Windows is greatly influenced by the hardware itself, which is used in conjunction with the running OS. Often, some users easily attribute incompatibility or incorrect operation of this or that equipment to Windows instability.

5. Also, device drivers have a significant influence on the stable operation of modern Windows XP. These mini-programs, responsible for pairing certain software with certain equipment, truly work wonders. Today's problems arise for a lot of users - much of the operation of a particular device is decided by the version of a particular driver. If we consider drivers written for video adapters, then based on their releases we can easily build a pedigree of the most famous computer games, their additions, updates, etc. The fact is that today the release of new video drivers is most often timed to coincide with the release of a video game. Many video drivers are written specifically for a specific instance of the game and for a specific instance of the video card. There is only one goal of this trick - to maximize the performance of the video adapter. Such drivers usually come as an accompaniment to the games themselves on the same game installation discs. By and large, the release of new drivers is always the elimination of errors in old ones plus “sharpening” for the most modern computer games and popular benchmarks for testing

performance of video adapters. Therefore, the “curvature” of the drivers installed on the OS plays a significant role in the normal functioning of modern Windows XP.

6. Using the Internet and the number of viruses picked up as a result of surfing and living on the World Wide Web also directly affects the stability of the OS. These virtual viruses can make working on any computer hell. Sudden and frequent reboots, spontaneous shutdown of the computer, unauthorized access of the computer to the Internet and other cases of virtual life are a sure sign of a PC infection with viruses. In general, Windows XP can work for quite a long time (more than a year) without

special problems arise and the need to reinstall the OS (of course, subject to all the precautions described above).

However, a computer can become unusable, and the stability of Windows XP is, unfortunately, no exception.

New interface design. For the first time since the inceptionWindows95 the user interface was so completely overhauled only inWindowsXP. If you choose the new interfaceWindowsXP, you will notice some differences immediately:

Bright colors. The default color scheme in Windows XP is brighter and sharper than the calm color combinations of previous versions of Windows. The new operating system takes full advantage of graphics hardware that supports 24- and 32-bit color.

Volumetric windows and buttons. When you select the Windows XP style, windows and buttons become three-dimensional with rounded corners and smooth shadows. You will also notice that all objects change their colors slightly when you move the mouse cursor over them - buttons, tabs and other interface elements are highlighted, like links on web pages.

Distinct icons. The design of all system icons has been redesigned. The new icons are brighter and have a richer set of colors because they are designed for resolution up to 24 bits (true color). Each icon comes in three sizes, including a "jumbo" (48x48 pixels) that looks twice as large as the standard 32x32 option from previous versions of Windows. This feature is most useful in the Tile view mode, where several lines of description can be displayed next to the icon, providing the user with additional information.

Built-in themes. Desktop themes first appeared in the Microsoft Plus package for Windows 95. A theme is a combination of color

schemes, fonts, sounds and other properties of the dialog interface. In Windows XP, theme support is integrated into the Display utility, and you can also change the properties of controls, window borders, and menus.

Compatibility issues. Many programs originally written for Windows 95, Windows 98, and Windows Me will not run correctly under Windows XP. Moreover, some devices require drivers that are not compatible with Windows XP.

2.2 Network capabilities.

The most common multitasking operating system for PCs in the world is Microsoft Windows, which is becoming increasingly popular every year. Windows XP takes advantage of increased network performance, reliability, and efficiency.

The Windows XP operating system provides the ability to quickly switch users.

This allows you to organize the work of several users on one computer. Each computer user can create a separate password-protected account with personal settings and private files. Several accounts can be active on one computer at once, switching between them is simple and quick.

Connecting computers into a network significantly increases their capabilities. Windows XP's powerful, easy-to-use networks help you save time and money.Networked computers can share a common Internet connection, a common printer and other equipment, and common files. You can even play online computer games with other participants.

In addition, setting up a network using MS Windows XP is easier than using any previous operating system. To set up a network at home or in a small office, you don’t have to be an expert in the field of networking; the wizard will take all the steps necessary for this. All that remains is to answer a few questions about the computers that need to be connected, and the wizard will do the rest of the work.

Once your network is up and running, Windows XP helps maintain it by automatically monitoring changes and adjusting settings to ensure maximum performance with minimal user effort.

Windows XP introduces powerful new features designed to keep your network up and running no matter what. Sophisticated software protects each computer's operating system and also creates a protective barrier, or firewall, to prevent unauthorized persons and viruses from the Internet from entering the network.

Thus, the Windows operating system is the most common system. Windows XP networks have many advantages, including power and ease of use. Among the advantages of the system, reliability stands out. OS software protects your computer from viruses and unauthorized use of information by others.

Creating local networks in the OSMS WINDOWS .

A local network is usually intended for the collection, transmission, dispersed and distributed processing of information within one laboratory, department, office or company, often specialized in performing certain functions in accordance with the profile of the company and its individual divisions. In many cases, a LAN serving its local information system is connected to other computer networks, internal or external, up to regional or global networks.

When you create a home or small office network, computers running Windows XP Professional or Windows XP Home Edition are connected to a local area network (LAN). When installing Windows XP, the network adapter is detected and a local network connection is created. By default, the local network connection is always active. Only connections of this type are created and activated automatically. If you disconnect your local network connection, it will no longer be automatically activated. This information is stored in the hardware profile so that the profile can accommodate the needs of mobile users who change their location.

By creating a home network or a small organization network, you can effectively use all the resources of your computer, using it for both work and entertainment.

If you have multiple computers or other equipment, such as printers, scanners, or cameras, you can use a network to share files, folders, and Internet connections. For example, when a computer is connected to a network, a user of another computer can also access the Internet at that time. If you have multiple computers and one or more peripheral devices (printers, scanners, or cameras), these devices can be accessed from all computers.

There are several ways to connect computers into a network. For home and small office networks, the simplest model is a peer-to-peer network.

A peer-to-peer network, also called a workgroup, allows computers to communicate with each other directly and does not require a server to manage network resources. It is most suitable when placing less than ten computers in a total area. Computers in a workgroup are considered nodes because they are peers and share resources. Each user decides for himself what local computer data can be shared on the network. Resource sharing will allow users to print on the same printer, access data in shared folders, and work on a single file without transferring it to a floppy disk.

A home or small office network is similar to a telephone system. While on a network, each computer is provided with a network adapter, which performs a function similar to that of a telephone handset: like a handset used to receive and transmit conversations, the computer's network device sends and receives information to other computers on the network.

Thus, Windows XP local area network is used within one company or enterprise. The most common local network is a peer-to-peer network, which allows computers to communicate with each other directly and does not require a server to manage network resources. The local network provides the following opportunities: share access to the Internet connection, files and folders, office equipment, as well as joint games and entertainment.

Global network INTERNET

Global computer networks are those that cover large geographical areas. The most widespread global network is the Internet. The Internet is a global international computer network of digital communications that unites many servers into a single logical architecture, which contain a huge amount of information on a variety of topics. A global network always consists of many local networks connected together.

If you are using Windows XP, use the Network Connection Wizard to set up a new Internet connection. The Connection Wizard will create a connection to the Internet and display a list of Internet service providers along with information about the services they offer. All that remains is to select a suitable supplier from the list, then a new account is provided.

Windows XP includes the latest version of MSN Explorer with full Microsoft services and the latest update to Internet Explorer.

Internet information resources concentrated on World Wide Web servers allow users not only to view existing pages, moving from link to link, but also to request the necessary information.

Internet users can use the network not only as a source of information, but also as a means of communication.

Windows XP offers the following ways to help you stay safe and private while browsing the Internet:

    Use the security and privacy settings in Internet Explorer to help protect your privacy and make your computer and your personal information more secure.

    Use security zones to make your computer more secure by setting different levels of security for different areas of the Internet.

    Use Content Advisor to prevent objectionable pages from being displayed on screen, using standard ratings that have been independently determined by the Platform for Internet Content Selection (PICS) committee.

Thus, the Internet is the most widespread global network. MSN Explorer is a new, all-in-one program that lets you take advantage of the Internet more fully. It allows you to access various Internet resources (text, images, files) at a given address. For communication in the Windows XP operating system, programs such as E-mail, Outlook Express, and Windows Messenger are used. Windows XP uses powerful features to keep your network safe and secure.

Chapter 3 Features of Windows Vista.

3.1 Innovations.

One of the most touted innovations in Windows Vista was the three-dimensional Aero Glass interface. If your video card is compatible with DirectX 9.0, get ready to spend the first two hours of getting to know the new system looking at the local beauty. Needless to say, Aero looks unnatural. After the flat, 2D "world" of all previous Windows, the 3D icons, alpha transparency, and colorful special effects are somewhat stunning. In the first minutes, the spectacle seems somewhat implausible, as if this is not a Windows interface, but a skillfully drawn flash movie. This feeling, of course, disappears after some time spent in Vista. Absolutely all windows in Windows Vista have a translucent frame that resembles glass. Through the title bar and the Collapse/Maximize/Close buttons, you can see the blurred content of the underlying window or the Desktop wallpaper. I can’t say that this effect is in demand, but it looks great. The Start panel is also made translucent, which again does not carry a functional load. The animation of all windows and moving elements has been completely redone. Windows pop up gracefully, unfolding and changing transparency on the fly. There are no sharp changes between colors at all - only smooth gradient transitions. The main color scheme of the entire system interface is shades of blue. However, the settings panel allows you to change it at your discretion, even halftones are available. It is difficult to imagine the beauty of the system based on words or illustrations. It's worth looking at Vista in dynamics.

The desktop area in Vista remains the same. The developers have once again redrawn all the icons and embellished them. Previously, pictures on the Desktop could not be viewed without opening them. In Vista, even here the picture icon is converted into a miniature copy of the content. When selected, a square with cut corners appears around the icon (instead of overlaying a blue translucent layer, as was the case before). The bottom panel has been slightly modified. All that remains of the Start button is a glass sphere with the Windows logo. A little to the right is the quick launch panel. As before, shortcuts to frequently used programs are placed there. There's also a button to "rotate" windows, one of Vista's main advertised features. Once you click on it, all open windows will slightly change perspective and line up on top of each other. In essence, this function was supposed to make navigation easier, because maximized windows remain “alive”, loading indicators crawl on them, and special effects blink. However, the Alt+Tab key combination is faster and more convenient to use. The All Programs subcategory no longer opens in a new layer to fill the entire screen. A list with all installed programs has been built into the Start menu. Of course, the entire list would not fit into such a limited space, so the developers implemented a scroll bar. Folders with programs now open “downwards”, forming a tree structure. Live Search is also available here - right below the list of programs there is a field for entering a search query. The list of all found data replaces the list of programs. In this case, the found files are divided into categories depending on the type. The contents of applications minimized in the Start bar can be found out by simply moving the cursor over them - a small square window will pop up with a reduced copy of the content and title. But the innovations in the Desktop area do not end with changes to the Start panel. With Windows Vista, Microsoft begins to promote gadgets - mini-applications that are located on the right side of the Desktop, in the Sidepanel. Most gadgets are Internet applications. Exchange rates, weather forecasts, quotes - these programs communicate with the server and receive the necessary information.

Let's explain the operation of some mini-applications.

The News Headlines gadget is an RSS client that gets all the information from the feeds you subscribe to. RSS makes it easier to check news - the gadget changes its content in real time when a new headline arrives. You can expand the title (for more information) and double-click to go to the full news on the site. This is the first time that an RSS client has been built into Windows at this level. The Slideshow app is an alternative to a full photo gallery slideshow, but works in Sidepanel. The “CPU Load” gadget displays two sensors on the side panel that display processor load and RAM usage as a percentage. Microsoft has allowed everyone to develop their own gadgets. The sidebar opens up quite wide opportunities for expanding the functionality of the Desktop. Companies such as Yandex or Google have already developed a working gadget for the sidebar. The application contains a line for entering a search request through the system and - you do not have to go to the site. Once you enter your query and press Enter, the internet browser will open and take you to the search results.

Live Search, which is what advanced search is called, is used throughout Vista. For example, the search bar located next to the address bar in Explorer allows you to quickly search a selected folder. Go to the folder and enter, say, the letter “a” in the search bar. Windows will process the request and leave only files starting with the letter “a” on the screen. Live Search can be accessed from the Start panel. Windows Vista offers rigorous content cataloging. If in Windows XP the “My Pictures” and “My Music” folders were more optional, then in Vista it is these folders that open when “Explorer” opens, and first of all index built-in programs to create their libraries. This is where Live Search comes into its own. Live Search was introduced because the number of files on the average user's computer is growing every year. This trend will continue for a long time. It is not so easy to sort through and quickly find the necessary file in a huge dump of all kinds of documents, drawings, and music. Vista solved this problem by indexing information.

Internet Explorer 7.0. The Internet browser built into Windows is unloved by most advanced users and deservedly so, because it has practically not changed since the first versions (except cosmetically). Third-party developers quickly caught up with the wave, understood people's desires and presented their own versions of browsers for Windows. By far the most popular of them are Opera and Mozilla FireFox. With Internet Explorer 7.0, Microsoft promised to completely redesign its interface. Having tested the new product, we can say with confidence that Microsoft has carefully studied the popular browsers of our time. An experienced user will immediately notice the similarities primarily with Opera. Internet Explorer finally has support for bookmarks, meaning all pages open in one window without cluttering the Start bar.

Secondly, a page preview function has appeared - click on the button with four squares and you will see miniature copies of all open windows. In the new Internet Explorer, Microsoft has implemented full support for RSS feeds - from now on you can subscribe to them without using third-party software. All navigation and control elements are minimized and distributed across the screen, so that the work area is greatly expanded. In general, no special fine-tuning options have appeared in Internet Explorer. Yes, it has become more convenient and practical, but Mozilla FireFox and Opera are still far superior to Internet Explorer in functionality. In an attempt to simplify the browser as much as possible, Microsoft produced far from the best program for full-fledged work on the Internet.

Microsoft has improved the Windows Vista protection system - it is still the same firewall, but it is organized somewhat differently. The new firewall, in addition to activity on the Internet, also controls all local programs. Try to launch some EXE file - and you will immediately receive a warning and a request to confirm the launch. This system is more effective than the previously used one, as it allows you to control the installation of all programs. This, in theory, should protect your computer from the automatic installation of various advertising modules, which are abundant on the Internet. But the fatal flaw of the new firewall is that it is too intrusive. Half of users will turn it off at the first opportunity. The other half will get used to “giving the go-ahead” to all processes, which will reduce the level of protection to zero.

Windows Backup. Backing up and restoring data has been a feature since Windows 2000, but Vista has new backup capabilities and a noticeably improved user interface. It takes advantage of Volume Shadow Copy Service (VSS) and has the ability to back up data to media such as CDs and flash cards. In general, with the release of Windows Vista, sales of flash memory will creep up, because the new system really loves this type of storage media. Microsoft has developed SuperFetch technology. If the amount of RAM is large enough, then SuperFetch uses unused memory. Files of frequently called programs are located there, which speeds up their launch.

During the operation of Windows Vista, no deviations from normal behavior or slowdowns were noticed. The system never froze or had to reboot. Among the noticed shortcomings is the blocking of some outdated applications. For example, Nero Burning ROM 6 and Outpost Firewall 3 refused to work (it’s worth noting here that the seventh version of Nero works completely fine in Vista). Almost all programs created for Windows XP work great in Windows Vista. Vista installed everything that was often used in XP - GOM Player, all Adobe and Macromedia products, Winamp, various office packages, archivers. No problems were found with them. All the work we did in Windows XP can be done just as effectively in Vista. The only exception is programs under DOS, here everything is very rough. There are few programs left for DOS, but it’s still worth keeping this in mind.

There are still problems with the drivers. NVIDIA and ATI have already presented working and fully finished drivers for Windows Vista; Motherboard manufacturers are not lagging behind. There are still complaints about the work of Creative programmers. At the moment, only beta versions of drivers for sound cards from this manufacturer are still available. Vista doesn't even come with drivers for SB Live! 5.1 - owners of these and older models should consider purchasing a more modern card.

Needless to say, Vista is very demanding on your computer. To enjoy the beauty of the Aero interface, you will need a video card that supports DirectX 9.0. As a minimum configuration for Vista, Microsoft recommends a computer with an 800 MHz processor and 512 MB of RAM - only enough for Vista Home Basic with half the features disabled. The system itself eats up about 500 MB of RAM for its needs. A gigabyte of memory, of course, is not enough. Enough to get the job done, but not enough for Vista to spread its wings. One of the creators said that the system feels best on a system with 4 GB of RAM. But 4 GB is only recognized by the 64-bit version of Vista. Vista Home Premium looks the most optimal for the home.

3.2 Advantages of Windows Vista over Windows XP.

The first users to appreciate the merits of Windows Vista say that it is ready to sweep away any operating system from its path. It's hard to argue, but the transition to Windows Vista is only a matter of time. Now it's time to find out how you can painlessly migrate to a new OS. Over the next couple of years, Windows Vista will take a leading position in the OS market, gradually displacing Windows XP, which at one time also displaced Windows 98 and Windows Me.

Since the early days of DOS and even Mac OS, there has been a slow shift in operating system concepts toward greater functionality and more new features that were not necessarily needed. This has led to a strange situation where the cult of Microsoft Windows has made the computing industry stagnant and dangerous. So unless computer architecture is redesigned from the start, which won't happen for another hundred years, we'll be on a path of never-ending misery, and Windows Vista proves it.

Update your Internet Explorer. Use the power of Internet Explorer 7 for a more comfortable and secure Internet experience: tabbed browsing, enhanced printing capabilities, simple search, support for RSS feeds, and greater security.

Windows SuperFetch is a new intelligent system memory management technology. Briefly, the principle of its operation is as follows: Windows Vista monitors which applications the user uses most often and loads them into memory in advance to improve system performance. Intelligence is achieved due to the fact that usage is recorded not only by individual users (each of them is optimized in their own way), but also by time of use - it is no secret that many people use different applications on the weekend than during the work week. Another innovation is the priority of user applications over system services that run in the background. Now the service, having completed its work, is unloaded from memory, and its place is taken by the user application.

Windows Vista - the ability to turn off the PC called Sleep. In this mode, all user data, such as open documents and running applications, is saved to both the hard drive and RAM, and the computer is placed in a low-power state. It truly allows you to get back to work in seconds! Moreover, even when completely shutting down or rebooting your PC (which can now be done very rarely thanks to increased system stability), you can start working faster, since most boot tasks are performed in the background.

Ensuring compatibility with previously written programs is one of the main tasks set before the developers of Windows Vista.

Windows Vista will use the NTFS file system, already familiar to us from Windows XP. Previously, it was planned to release Windows Vista with support for the latest WinFS file system, but due to the enormous volume of other improvements in Windows Vista, this idea had to be abandoned. WinFS will be released later as a separate add-on. That said, the file system hasn't changed: BitLocker drive encryption is a significant leap forward in security that will especially appeal to business and laptop users.

The main feature of the new Windows Aero user interface is to provide the user with the easiest access to his documents stored on the computer, making working with information more efficient and simple.

One of the “new” features of Windows Vista is Windows Firewall, which is available in all editions of the new OS. Windows Firewall is certainly not new; it was already available to Windows XP SP2 users, but it could only block incoming connections. According to Microsoft, in Windows Vista the firewall will work both ways, providing the ability to block both incoming and outgoing connections... But upon closer inspection, it turned out that this was nothing more than a marketing ploy. With Windows Vista you get half a firewall that needs some serious work.

Windows Media Center is a control panel that allows you to watch and record television shows, listen to music, view photos and video files, and also use many other Internet features.

Conclusion.

In this course work “Windows operating systems”, taking as a basis the works of scientists, professors, and programmers, the concept of Windows operating systems was studied.

Our course work provides some characteristics of operating systems. The main characteristics and features of such systems as Windows XP and Windows Vista are also considered.

In the process of preparing the work, the set goal was achieved - to explore the concept of the Windows operating system.

The tasks required by this goal have been completed. The basic concept of an operating system and the history of its creation are considered. The features of Windows XP, its advantages, disadvantages and network capabilities have been studied. The features of Windows Vista and its advantages over Windows XP have been studied.

Based on the tasks set, the following conclusions can be drawn:

An operating system is a set of interconnected system programs, the functions of which are to control the use and distribution of computer system resources and organize user interaction with the computer.

The first version of Windows appeared in 1986. From this time until the present day, the operating system has not stopped developing. Based on outdated versions, new, more refined versions are created. Taking into account new user needs, more modern versions of Windows are being released. The organization of Windows operation is changing, its reliability and basic capabilities are increasing.

With the advent of Windows XP, the system has become more complex, but it malfunctions much less often. All this is ensured by new ideas in creating the Windows XP operating system. The Windows operating system is the most common system. The networking capabilities of Windows XP have many advantages, including power and ease of use. Among the advantages of the system, reliability stands out. OS software protects your computer from viruses and unauthorized use of information by others.

In 2007, a new version of Windows was released - Windows Vista. It is distinguished by its innovations such as: three-dimensional interface AeroGlass, mini-applications “gadgets”, new Live Search, etc.

Overall, the system is much more responsive than Windows XP. Priority is given to user applications over services running in the background when accessing devices such as a hard drive. In Windows Vista, there is virtually no situation in which a user's loading of data from a hard drive will be slowed down if, for example, disk defragmentation or antivirus software is running at the same time.

Thus, having studied the Windows operating systems, we can conclude that the Windows operating system is the most popular and widespread operating system all over the world, and for most users it is the most suitable due to its simplicity, good interface, acceptable performance and a huge number of application programs for it.

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