Week # 3 Reading Notes and Muddy Point

Introduction to Linux:

A computer operating system software designed to give a computer the instructions needed to function. The Software was written in "C" a programming language closer to human communication than machine language that is binary code. One of the features of "C" is that the code can be used more than once, meaning a section of code written for program can be "plugged into" another program to add functionality. Linux now has several versions most of which are open-course operating systems such as Somba, Red Hat and Knoppix are examples of Linux which now provide GUI's (graphic user interfaces) that look and feel like Microsoft Windows.

Software developers have observed that Linux is a very stable platform and most tools for the creation of applications is included in the system software. Examples of applications for Linux are Open-Office Suite, a set of MS Office comparable programs that offer word processing, data-base management, spread sheets and browsers such as Opera, Amaya (a free browser/Web page editor), Konqueror ( a browser that looks and feels the most like Internet Explorer that I have experienced), and FireFox (which has been adapted as an platform independent application - meaning that the application is suitable to run on Windows or Unix/Linux operating systems).

Kernelthread.com- What is Mac OS?

MacIntosh operating System, (or Mac OS as it has come to be called today) was Apple computer's response to the popularity of Microsoft Windows. The Mac system is Unix-kernel based which means most of the systems is operated from the command line. From the Beginning version called Darwin to the tenth version known as OS X, the system upgrades were not compatible with it previous versions. Speaking for personal experience, the Mac was easier to navigate in terms of creating and saving documents. PC's of the save era required complicated steps like writing in an entire file path. For example to save the file "Overnight" one had to type in C://Overnight.txt. This instructed the processor to store the file "Overnight" in the C-drive as text. In contrast to save the same file to a Mac one only had to create a desk-top folder, name the older, name the document and save it to the folder.


Update on Windows Roadmap:

There is good new and bad new for Windows XP lover such as myself. According to the article, Microsoft will continue offer support the operating system due the large numbers of users who still use the system. Last week I was able to download SP#3 for my laptop which included several security patches. The bad new is that Microsoft will no longer license and sell the O after June of this year.

The article also mentioned that Windows XP will still be available to users of Vista Ultimate and Business versions as a "Downgrade right" (Vighte, B. 2008, SuperSite Blog). Backward compatibility was one of the hallmarks of Windows systems, but Vista in the areas of network compatibility, Service Pack issues and IP issues.

The mention of Windows 7 toward the end of the artical made me wonder if most customers were less than pleased with Vista. One suggestion offered by the artical as an alturnitve to Vista was continuing to use XP with SP#3 and IE 7 until Window 7 is launched.



Muddy point: For Week 3 readings and muddies are due by what time on Friday? Comments are due by what time on Monday? If the submissions are online, do we have until 9pm?