Related Entries
The following all have something to do with your query:
RealPlayer
The
RealPlayer Basic will run on Windows 95 / 98, Windows
2000, Windows NT, Mac OS, Linux, Solaris, IRIX, and AIX.
See also:
http://www.real.com/player/
Acrobat Reader
Acrobat (PDF)
is the current standard in portable documents; Adobe provides a free
reader for Windows 95 / 98, Windows NT, Windows 2000,
Windows 3.1, Windows Vista, Mac OS (both classic and X), OS/2, and most
UNIX-like systems.
See also:
http://www.adobe.com/products/acrobat/readstep2.html
Microsoft Internet Explorer
One of the two most popular browsers in use today, MSIE
runs on fewer OSes than Netscape. It only supports
Windows '95 / '98, Windows NT,
Windows CE, Mac OS
(both X and classic), Solaris, and HP-UX.
See also:
http://www.microsoft.com/unix/ie/default.asp
GridSlammer
GridSlammer is an engine used to build video games. It
supports UNIX-like machines, Windows NT, and Windows '95 /
'98.
See also:
http://www.gridslammer.org/
lit
This indicates a Microsoft Reader
e-book. It is currently only known
to work with some (although not all) flavors of
MS-Windows (including Windows CE), and is
binary in nature.
emf
An MS-Windows
enhanced metafile is
like an ordinary CGM metafile but with
extensions that make it specific to MS-Windows, and it
will not work on most other machines without conversion.
AbiWord
AbiWord is a full-featured word processor that runs on
most UNIX-like systems, BeOS, Windows '95 / '98, Windows
NT / 2K / XP, Windows Vista, and Mac OS X.
See also:
http://www.abisource.com/products.phtml
Ghostscript
Ghostscript is an interpreter for both PostScript and PDF
files. Versions are available for OS/2, Windows 95 / 98,
Windows NT, Mac OS, VMS,
and most UNIX-like systems.
See also:
http://www.cs.wisc.edu/~ghost/
QuickTime
A full multimedia player that handles various types of
movies, animations, loops, still images, sounds, and
more. It's for display / playback only, not for editing.
It is currently only available for Windows 95 / 98,
Windows NT, Windows 2000, and Mac OS. Some UNIX versions
in the near future have been rumored, but have yet to
surface.
See also:
http://www.apple.com/quicktime/download/
x86
The x86 series of processors
includes the Pentium, Pentium Pro, Pentium II, Pentium
III, Celeron, and Athlon as well as the 786, 686, 586,
486, 386, 286, 8086, 8088, etc. It is an exceptionally
popular design (by far the most popular
CISC series) in spite of the fact
that even its fastest model is significantly slower than the
assorted RISC processors. Many
different OSes run on machines built
around x86 processors, including
MS-DOS,
Windows
3.1, Windows '95,
Windows '98,
Windows ME,
Windows NT,
Windows 2000,
Windows CE,
Windows XP,
GEOS,
Linux,
Solaris,
OpenBSD,
NetBSD,
FreeBSD,
Mac OS X,
OS/2,
BeOS,
CP/M, etc. A couple
different companies produce x86 processors, but the bulk of them are produced
by Intel. It is expected that this processor will
eventually be completely replaced by the
Merced, but the Merced
development schedule is somewhat behind. Also, it should be noted that the
Pentium III processor has stirred some controversy by
including a "fingerprint" that will enable individual
computer usage of web pages etc. to be accurately tracked.
Mozilla
Arguably the most feature-rich and standards-compliant of all
the browsers, Mozilla is essentially a more advanced version of
Netscape.
Mozilla will run on most OSes, including
Windows '95 /
'98,
Windows NT, Windows XP,
Windows 3.1, Mac OS
(both classic and X), Linux,
Solaris,
HP-UX,
IRIX, Digital UNIX,
FreeBSD,
NetBSD,
OpenBSD, OS/2, and more.
See also:
http://www.mozilla.org/,
http://www.mozilla.org/releases/,
http://www.mozilla.org/projects/seamonkey/,
http://www.mozilla.org/projects/calendar/,
https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/seamonkey/
HotJava
HotJava runs on Windows '95 / '98, Windows NT, Mac OS,
Solaris, and pretty much any other computer with a
Java virtual machine. Prior to being end-of-lifed, it
offered the most advanced Java support of all the
browsers.
See also:
http://java.sun.com/products/hotjava/
window manager
A window manager is a program
that acts as a graphical go-between for a
user and an
OS. It provides
a GUI for the OS. Some OSes
incorporate the window manager into their own internal
code, but many do not for reasons of
efficiency. Some OSes partially make the division. Some
common true window managers include CDE (Common Desktop
Environment), GNOME, KDE, Aqua, OpenWindows, Motif, FVWM, Sugar, and
Enlightenment. Some common hybrid window managers with OS
extensions include Windows ME,
Windows 98,
Windows 95,
Windows 3.1,
OS/2
and GEOS.
Amaya
Amaya runs
on Windows '95 / '98 / NT / 2K / XP / Vista, Solaris, Linux, Mac OS X, HP-UX, IRIX,
Digital UNIX, FreeBSD, NetBSD, OpenBSD, and more. It
offers the most advanced
HTML
support of all the browsers.
See also:
http://www.w3.org/Amaya/
ImageMagick
ImageMagick is similar to GraphicsMagick; it provides sophisticated image controls and
impressive special effects capabilities for computer
graphics work. It is available for pretty much every
UNIX-like OS,
Windows NT, Windows '95 / '98, and Mac OS.
See also:
http://www.imagemagick.org/
Crystal Space
Crystal Space is a 3D engine used primarily to
build games, but can be used for any application needing
3D graphic
manipulations. It supports UNIX-like machines,
Windows NT, Windows '95 / '98, Mac OS, BeOS, OS/2, and more.
See also:
http://crystal.linuxgames.com/
SDL
The Simple DirectMedia
Layer is an engine used primarily to
build games, but can be used for any application needing
portable graphic manipulations. It supports UNIX-like
machines, Windows NT, Windows '95 / '98, Mac OS, BeOS,
OS/2, and more.
See also:
http://www.devolution.com/~slouken/SDL/
Mesa 3D
Mesa 3D is
an OpenGL
work-alike used primarily to build or support
games, but can be used for any application needing
3D
graphic manipulations. It supports UNIX-like machines,
Windows NT, Windows '95 / '98, Mac OS, BeOS, OS/2, and
more.
See also:
http://www.mesa3d.org/
exe
An executable is a
program for a
CP/M,
MS-DOS,
MS-Windows, or possibly even
an x86
GEOS machine. It will probably not
work on a platform other than the one for which it was
designed (including the different variants of
MS-Windows). Similar to, but usually larger than, a com file.
Parsec
Network
space combat for Mac OS (both X and classic), Windows '95
/ '98, and x86 Linux.
See also:
http://www.parsec.org/
Quesa
Quesa is a
QuickDraw
work-alike (a high-level 3D
graphics library built to work on top
of OpenGL, and can be used for any application needing
3D graphic
manipulations. It supports UNIX-like machines, Windows NT,
Windows '95 / '98, Mac OS (both classic and X), and BeOS.
See also:
http://www.quesa.org/
com
A command file is a
program for a
CP/M,
MS-DOS,
MS-Windows, or possibly even
an x86
GEOS machine. It will probably not
work on a platform other than the one for which it was
designed (including the different variants of
MS-Windows). Similar to, but usually smaller than, an exe file.
CNET Downloads
A
large collection of software for Mac OS, Windows '95/'98,
Linux, Palm, Windows CE, and EPOC. This site is much like
a less extensive version of
Tucows
-- the downloader must be a little careful as not all
software on the site is freeware; shareware, crippleware,
nagware, and commercial software demos also abound.
See also:
http://download.cnet.com/
Java Runtime Environment
The Java Runtime Environment (JRE) for MS-Windows,
Solaris, and Linux. It'll allow the running of Java
programs.
See also:
http://java.sun.com/j2se/1.4/
workstation
Depending upon whom you ask, a workstation is either an
industrial strength desktop
computer or its own category above the desktops.
Workstations typically have some flavor of
UNIX for their
OS, but
there has been a recent trend to call high-end
Windows NT and
Windows 2000
machines workstations, too.
LessTif
LessTif
works on top of X-Windows to provide even more
capabilities; in particular it provides the same
capabilities as the commercial
Motif.
See also:
http://www.lesstif.org/
spd
The Speedo
format is used for storing
vector
fonts. It originated on the
X-Windows system and is
a creation of the Bitstream, Inc. company.
Motif
Motif is a popular commercial
window manager
that runs under
X-Windows. Free work-alike
versions are also available.
OpenOffice
OpenOffice (originally StarDivision's StarOffice but
acquired and modified by Sun Microsystems) is completely
free, offers 100% binary compatibility with MS-Office data
files, and works on far more machines than MS-Office does.
It currently runs on Windows '95 / '98, Windows NT / 2K, Windows XP, Windows Vista,
Solaris, Mac OS X, Linux,
JavaOS, OS/2, etc.
See also:
http://www.openoffice.org/,
http://www.neooffice.org/
Netscape
One of the most popular browsers in use today,
Netscape is also one of the most feature-rich and offers
the most advanced
JavaScript support of
all the browsers. Be sure to also take a peek at
Mozilla to learn
about future Netscape directions and try out upcoming
betas. Netscape will run on most OSes, including
Windows '95 /
'98,
Windows NT,
Windows 3.1, Mac OS
(both classic and X), Linux,
Solaris,
HP-UX,
IRIX, Digital UNIX,
FreeBSD,
NetBSD,
OpenBSD, OS/2, and more. It can be used for both browsing the web and gopherspace.
See also:
http://www.netscape.com/computing/download/
POV-Ray
Want to try
your hand at some complex 3D
modeling or do you just want to make some simple
3D pictures? Either way, the
"Persistence of
Vision Raytracer" is
the tool to get the job done. It is available for Windows
'95 / '98, Windows NT / 2K / XP, Windows Vista, Mac OS,
MS-DOS, Linux, Solaris,
AmigaOS, and more.
See also:
http://www.povray.org/
hdf
The hierarchical data
format supports the storage of many
different data types, including images and tables. Tools
for using HDFs are available for most higher-end
machines, including most UNIX
systems, Macs with a
PowerPC
processor, and
Windows NT &
Windows '95 systems that
possess at least a Pentium processor. There is
also a Java interface for
handling HDFs.
JDK
The Java Developer's Kit features everything required to develop Java programs under Solaris, Linux, or various flavors of MS-Windows.
See also:
http://java.sun.com/j2se/1.4/
Xmorph
Ever wonder how movies morph one image into another? Xmorph is a program
that does it on any UNIX-like system with X-Windows.
See also:
http://xmorph.sourceforge.net/
pfm
The Printer Font
Metric file is used to provide
font information on an MS-Windows
machine. It probably will not be useful anywhere else.
Yudit
The
(Y)unicode editor is
available for UNIX-like machines, Mac OS X, and some
flavors of MS-Windows. It's a text editor with full
Unicode support.
See also:
http://www.yudit.org/
KDE
The K desktop environment
is a popular free
window manager
(and much more -- as its name touts, it is more of a desktop environment) that
runs under X-Windows.
NEdit
The
Nirvana Editor is
another extremely popular text editor. NEdit is currently
available only for UNIX-like machines, Mac OS X, and
Windows NT.
See also:
http://www.nedit.org/
KDE
The
K Desktop
Environment works on top of X-Windows to
provide a friendly graphical desktop interface, going
beyond the typical window manager. Many applications require
KDE.
See also:
http://www.kde.org/
fla
A Macromedia Flash source document. Can be used with any
machine that has the commercial Macromedia Flash editor,
currently available for only
Macintosh and
MS-Windows.
OS/2
OS/2 is the OS designed by IBM to run
on x86 based machines. It is
semi-compatible with
MS-Windows. IBM's more industrial
strength OS is called AIX.
pfa
The PostScript Font
ASCII is a format
for storing vector
fonts. It is simple
ASCII and originated on the
X-Windows system. It is
a creation of Adobe and the ASCII counterpart to the less
widely recognized PFB.
bdf
The Bitmap Distribution
Format is a
format for storing
bitmapped
fonts. It is in simple
ASCII. It originated on the
X-Windows system but can
be made to work on other systems as well. It is a product
of Adobe.
hqx
This indicates a BinHex file. It is similar in theory to
a uuencoded file, but
was developed originally for the
Macintosh. Today decoders can be
found for MS-Windows,
MS-DOS, and
UNIX in addition to the Mac.
Ruby
Everything
needed to develop Ruby
applications is freely downloadable and available for
most flavors of UNIX, some flavors of MS-Windows, both
flavors of Mac OS, BeOS, Amiga, OS/2, and more.
See also:
http://www.ruby-lang.org/
GNOME
The GNU network object
model environment is a popular free
window manager
(and much more -- as its name touts, it is more of a desktop environment) that
runs under X-Windows. It is a
part of the GNU project.
Perl
Everything
needed to develop Perl
applications is freely downloadable and available for
most flavors of UNIX, most flavors of MS-Windows, both
flavors of Mac OS, OS/2, DOS, Amiga, BeOS, and more.
See also:
http://www.cpan.org/
Python
Everything
needed to develop Python
applications is freely downloadable and available for
most flavors of UNIX, most flavors of MS-Windows, both
flavors of Mac OS, OS/2, DOS, Amiga, BeOS, and more.
See also:
http://www.python.org/
swf
A playable Macromedia Flash animation. Playable on any
machine with the free Macromedia Flash player, currently
available for (at least) Macintosh,
MS-Windows, and
UNIX often as a
plug-in available for Netscape
and compatible browsers.
CDE
The common desktop environment
is a popular commercial
window manager
(and much more -- as its name touts, it is more of a desktop environment) that
runs under X-Windows. Free
work-alike versions are also available.
XZip
A program that runs text adventures written in the
Infocom Z-code game format. Available for UNIX-like
machines with X-Windows and Mac OS. Note that the Mac OS
version is actually called MaxZip rather than XZip.
See also:
http://www.eblong.com/zarf/xzip.html
wmf
A Windows metafile is
like an ordinary CGM
metafile but possibly containing structures that make it specific to
MS-Windows. It is
not really more capable than the ordinary CGM
format, but less
portable and
therefore less desirable.
LyX
LyX is a WYSIWYM
document processor; with it the author focuses on the
structure of the documents, not their appearance. LyX
currently runs on most UNIX-like systems, OS/2, Mac OS X,
and Windows NT. It requires some form of TEX in order to
work.
See also:
http://www.lyx.org/
Tar
The
purpose of the tar program is to bind quantities of files
together into a single file for easier transfer or
archiving, and unbind them afterwards when needed. It will
work on all flavors of UNIX, most flavors of MS-Windows,
and both flavors of Mac OS.
See also:
http://www.gnu.org/software/tar/
nbk
Probably a Newton
backup. It is binary and not
particularly portable,
as in fact it could have been written by any one of a few different programs
(such as Newton Connection Utilities or Newton Backup Utility on either
Mac or
MS-Windows) which are not
guaranteed to work with the files generated by each other.
Tucows Downloads
A
large collection of software for Mac OS, all flavors of
MS-Windows, OS/2, BeOS, Linux, Newton, Palm, EPOC, and
more. The downloader must be a little careful though as
not all software on Tucows is freeware; shareware,
crippleware, nagware, and commercial software demos also
live on this site.
See also:
http://www.tucows.com/
PC-DOS
The DOS produced by IBM designed to
work like MS-DOS. Early versions of
it bear striking similarities to the earlier
CP/M, but it utilizes simpler
commands. It provides only a CLI,
but either Windows 3.1 or
GEOS may be run on top of it to
provide a GUI. It only runs on
x86 based machines.
PC
The term personal
computer properly refers to any
desktop,
laptop, or
notebook computer system. Its use
is inconsistent, though, and some use it to specifically
refer to x86 based systems running
MS-DOS,
MS-Windows,
GEOS,
or OS/2. This latter
use is similar to what is meant by a
WinTel system.
PostgreSQL
One
of the most advanced database applications available
today, PostgreSQL fuses the power of Postgres with
standard SQL.
PostgreSQL is currently available only for
UNIX-like machines and Mac OS X, but numerous programs
exist to help users with other machine types (MS-Windows,
etc.) connect to PostgreSQL databases.
See also:
http://www.postgresql.org/
DR-DOS
The DOS currently produced by Caldera
(originally produced by Design Research as a successor to
CP/M) designed to work like
MS-DOS. While similar to CP/M
in many ways, it utilizes simpler commands. It provides only a
CLI, but either
Windows
3.1 or GEOS may be run on top of
it to provide a GUI. It only runs on
x86 based machines.
Tcl/Tk
The Tool Command
Language and its
GUI
toolkit
(Tcl/Tk)
are widely used on all flavors of UNIX, all flavors of MS-Windows, and Mac
OS. While Tcl is particularly used for integrating other
programs, Tk is used everywhere as a general-purpose GUI
library used for building all manner of programs in all
manner of languages.
See also:
http://www.scriptics.com/software/tcltk/
Stuffit Expander
Stuffit Expander is a program that is
capable of undoing most of the encoding / packaging done
for downloading / e-mailing. It will work on most flavors
of MS-Windows, Mac OS (both X and classic), Linux, and
Solaris. It has the ability to
unzip,
unstuff,
ungzip,
unbzip,
uncompress,
uncompact,
unarc,
unlharc,
unrar,
uudecode,
untar, and
disentangle several other processed formats besides.
See also:
http://www.stuffit.com/expander/
extension
Filename extensions originate back in the days of
CP/M and basically allow a very rough
grouping of different file types by
putting a tag at the end of the name. To further
complicate matters, the tag is sometimes separated by the
name proper by a period "." and sometimes by a tab. While
extensions are semi-enforced on CP/M,
MS-DOS, and
MS-Windows, they have no
real meaning aside from convention on other
platforms and are only optional.
Mac OS X
Mac OS X (originally called Rhapsody) is the industrial
strength OS produced by Apple to run on both PowerPC and x86 systems (replacing what is often referred to as Mac OS Classic. Mac OS X is at its heart a variant of
UNIX and possesses its underlying
power (and the ability to run many of the traditional UNIX tools,
including the GNU tools). It also was designed to mimic other OSes on demand via
what it originally refered to as "boxes" (actually high-performance
emulators); it has the built-in
capability to run programs written
for older Mac OS (via its "BlueBox", officially called Mac OS Classic) and work was started on making it also run
Windows '95 / '98 /
ME software (via what was called its "YellowBox").
There are also a few rumors going around that future versions may even be
able to run Newton software (via the
"GreenBox"). It provides a selection of two window managers built-in: Aqua and X-Windows (with Aqua being the default).
PowerPC
The PowerPC is a RISC
processor
developed in a collaborative effort between IBM, Apple, and
Motorola. It is currently produced by a few different companies, of
course including its original developers. A few different
OSes run on PowerPC based machines,
including Mac OS,
AIX,
Solaris,
Windows NT,
Linux,
Mac OS X,
BeOS, and
AmigaOS. At
any given time, the fastest processor in the world is
usually either a PowerPC or an
Alpha, but sometimes
SPARCs and
PA-RISCs
make the list, too.
Alpha
An Alpha is a RISC
processor
invented by Digital and currently produced by Digital/Compaq and
Samsung. A few different OSes
run on Alpha based machines including Digital UNIX,
Windows NT,
Linux,
NetBSD, and
AmigaOS. Historically, at
any given time, the fastest processor in the world has usually been
either an Alpha or a PowerPC
(with sometimes SPARCs and
PA-RISCs making the list),
but Compaq has recently announced that there will be no further
development of this superb processor instead banking on
the release of the somewhat suspect
Merced.
Y2K
The general class of problems resulting from the wrapping
of computers' internal date timers is given this label in
honor of the most obvious occurrence -- when the year
changes from 1999 to 2000 (abbreviated in some
programs as 99 to 00 indicating a
backwards time movement). Contrary to popular belief,
these problems will not all manifest themselves on the
first day of 2000, but will in fact happen over a range
of dates extending out beyond 2075. A computer that does
not have problems prior to the beginning of 2001 is
considered "Y2K compliant", and a computer that does not
have problems within the next ten years or so is
considered for all practical purposes to be "Y2K clean".
Whether or not a given computer is "clean" depends upon
both its OS and its
applications (and in some
unfortunate cases, its hardware).
The quick rundown on common home / small business machines (roughly
from best to worst) is that:
- All Mac OS systems are okay
until at least the year 2040. By that time a patch
should be available.
- All BeOS systems are okay until
the year 2040 (2038?). By that time a patch should be
available.
- Most UNIX versions are either
okay or currently have free fixes available (and
typically would not have major problems until 2038 or
later in any case).
- NewtonOS has a problem with
the year 2010, but has a free fix available.
- Newer AmigaOS systems are
okay; older ones have a problem with the year 2000 but
have a free fix available. They also have a year 2077
problem that does not yet have a free fix.
- Some OS/2 systems have a year
2000 problem, but free fixes are available.
- All CP/M versions have a year
2000 problem, but free fixes are available.
- PC-DOS has a year 2000
problem, but a free fix is available.
- DR-DOS has a year 2000
problem, but a free fix is available.
- Different versions of GEOS have
different problems ranging from minor year 2000
problems (with fixes in the works) to larger year 2080
problems (that do not have fixes yet). The only problem
that may not have a fix in time is the year 2000
problem on the Apple ][ version of GEOS; not only was
that version discontinued, unlike the other GEOS
versions it no longer has a parent company to take care
of it.
- All MS-Windows versions
(except possibly Windows 2000
and Windows ME) have multiple
problems with the year 2000 and/or 2001, most of which
have free fixes but some of which still lack free fixes
as of this writing. Even new machines off the shelf
that are labelled "Y2K Compliant" usually are not
unless additional software is purchased and installed.
Basically WinNT and
WinCE can be properly patched,
Windows '98 can be patched to work
properly through 2000 (possibly not 2001),
Windows '95 can be at least
partially patched for 2000 (but not 2001) but is not being
guaranteed by Microsoft, and Windows
3.1 cannot be fully patched.
- MS-DOS has problems with at
least the year 2000 (and probably more). None of its
problems have been addressed as of this writing.
Possible fixes are to change over to either PC-DOS or
DR-DOS.
Results vary wildly for common applications, so it is
better to be safe than sorry and check out the ones that
you use. It should also be noted that some of the biggest
expected Y2K problems will be at the two ends of the
computer spectrum with older legacy
mainframes (such as power
some large banks) and some of the various tiny
embedded computers (such
as power most burgler alarms and many assorted appliances). Finally, it
should also be mentioned that some older
WinTel boxes and
Amigas may have Y2K problems
in their hardware requiring a card addition or replacement.
Gzip
Gzip is a compression program; it will take a single file
and reduce the amount of space it requires to make for
faster transfer or more efficient archiving. It is often
used in conjunction with some flavor of
tar. It includes
software for both compressing and decompressing, and can handle its own
native gzip format in addition to the older compress
format. The gzip format is extremely popular online, and
tends to be more efficient than the zip format but less
efficient than the bzip2 format. Gzip is available for
all flavors of UNIX, both flavors of Mac OS, most flavors
of MS-Windows, and MS-DOS.
See also:
http://www.gnu.org/software/gzip/
ARM
An ARM is a RISC
processor
invented by Advanced RISC Machines, currently owned by Intel, and
currently produced by both the above and Digital/Compaq. ARMs are
different from most other processors in that they were
not designed to maximize speed but rather to maximize
speed per power consumed. Thus ARMs find most of their
use on hand-held machines and PDAs. A
few different OSes run on ARM based
machines including Newton OS,
JavaOS, and (soon)
Windows CE and
Linux. The StrongARM is a
more recent design of the original ARM, and it is both faster and more power
efficient than the original.
SCSI
Loosely speaking, a disk
format
sometimes used by MS-Windows,
Mac OS,
AmigaOS, and
(almost always) UNIX.
Generally SCSI is superior (but more expensive) to
IDE,
but it varies somewhat with system
load and the individual
SCSI and IDE components themselves. The quick rundown is that: SCSI-I
and SCSI-II will almost always outperform IDE; EIDE will
almost always outperform SCSI-I and SCSI-II; SCSI-III and
UltraSCSI will almost always outperform EIDE; and heavy
system loads give an advantage to SCSI. Note that
although loosely speaking it is just a format difference,
it is deep down a hardware
difference.
IDE
Loosely speaking, a disk
format sometimes used by
MS-Windows,
Mac
OS, AmigaOS, and (rarely)
UNIX. EIDE is enhanced IDE; it is much
faster. Generally IDE is inferior (but less expensive) to
SCSI, but it varies somewhat with
system load and the individual IDE
and SCSI components themselves. The quick rundown is
that: SCSI-I and SCSI-II will almost always outperform
IDE; EIDE will almost always outperform SCSI-I and
SCSI-II; SCSI-III and UltraSCSI will almost always
outperform EIDE; and heavy system loads give an advantage
to SCSI. Note that although loosely speaking it is just a
format difference, it is deep down a
hardware difference.
Merced
The Merced is a RISC
processor
developed by Intel with help from Hewlett-Packard and possibly Sun.
It is just starting to be released, but is intended to eventually
replace both the x86 and
PA-RISC processors. Curiously, HP is
recommending that everyone hold off using the first
release and instead wait for the second one. It is
expected some day to be roughly as fast as an
Alpha or
PowerPC. It
is expected to be supported by future versions of
Solaris,
Windows-NT,
HP-UX,
Mac OS X, and
Linux. The current
semi-available Merced processor is called the Itanium. Its overall schedule is
way behind, and some analysts predict that it never will
really be released in significant quanitities.
Mac OS Classic
The OS created by Apple and originally used by
Macs is frequently (albeit slightly incorrectly) referred to as Mac OS Classic (officially Mac OS Classic is this original OS running under the modern Mac OS X in emulation. Mac OS combines the functionality of both an OS and
a window manager and is
often considered to be the easiest OS to use. It is
partially multitasking but
will still sometimes crash when dealing with a
buggy
program. It is
probably the second most popular OS, next only to
Windows 'XP (although it is quickly losing ground to Mac OS X) and has excellent
driver support and boasts a fair
selection of games. Mac OS will run on
PowerPC and
68xx based
machines.
UNIX
UNIX is a family of OSes,
each being made by a different company or organization but all
offering a very similar look and feel. It can not quite
be considered non-proprietary,
however, as the differences between different vendor's
versions can be significant (it is still generally
possible to switch from one vendor's UNIX to another
without too much effort; today the differences between
different UNIXes are similar to the differences between
the different MS-Windows;
historically there were two different UNIX camps,
Berkeley / BSD and AT&T / System V, but the assorted
vendors have worked together to minimalize the
differences). The free variant Linux
is one of the closest things to a current,
non-proprietary OS; its development is controlled by a
non-profit organization and its distribution is provided
by several companies. UNIX is powerful; it is fully
multitasking and
can do pretty much anything that any OS can do (look to the
Hurd if you need a more powerful
OS). With power comes complexity, however, and UNIX tends not to be
overly friendly to beginners (although those who think
UNIX is difficult or cryptic apparently have not used
CP/M).
Window
managers are available for UNIX (running under
X-Windows) and once properly
configured common operations will be almost as simple on
a UNIX machine as on a Mac. Out of all
the OSes in current use, UNIX has the greatest range of
hardware support. It will run on
machines built around many different
processors.
Lightweight versions of
UNIX have been made to run on PDAs,
and in the other direction, full featured versions make full advantage of
all the resources on large, multi-processor machines.
Some different UNIX versions include
Solaris,
Linux,
IRIX,
AIX,
SunOS,
FreeBSD,
Digital UNIX, HP-UX,
NetBSD,
OpenBSD,
etc.
GEOS
The graphic environment
operating system is a
lightweight
OS
with a GUI. It runs on
several different processors, including the
65xx (different versions for
different machines -- there are versions for the C64, the C128, and
the Apple ][, each utilizing the relevant custom chip
sets), the x86 (although the x86
version is made to run on top of
MS-DOS (or
PC-DOS or
DR-DOS) and is not strictly a full
OS or a window manager,
rather it is somewhat in between, like
Windows 3.1) and
numerous different PDAs,
embedded
devices, and hand-held machines. It was originally
designed by Berkeley Softworks (no real relation to the
Berkeley of UNIX fame) but is
currently in a more interesting state: the company
GeoWorks develops and promotes development of GEOS for
hand-held devices, PDAs, & and embedded devices and
owns (but has ceased further development on) the x86
version. The other versions are owned (and possibly still
being developed) by the company CMD.
PDA
A personal digital
assistant is a small battery-powered
computer intended to be carried around by the
user rather than left on a desk. This means
that the processor used ought to
be power-efficient as well as fast, and the
OS ought to be optimized for hand-held use.
PDAs typically have an instant-on feature (they would be
useless without it) and most are grayscale rather than
color because of battery life issues. Most have a pen
interface and come with a detachable stylus. None use
mouses. All have some ability to
exchange data with desktop
systems. In terms of raw capabilities, a PDA is more
capable than an organizer and
less capable than a laptop
(although some high-end PDAs beat out some low-end
laptops). By far the most popular PDA is the
Pilot, but other common types include
Newtons,
Psions,
Zauri,
Zoomers, and
Windows
CE hand-helds. By far the fastest current PDA is the
Newton (based around a StrongARM
RISC
processor).
Other PDAs are optimized for other tasks; few computers are as
personal as PDAs and care must be taken in their purchase.
Feneric's PDA /
Handheld Comparison Page is perhaps the most detailed
comparison of PDAs and handheld computers to be found
anywhere on the web.
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