In June 1998, Microsoft released their next version of The Windows family of operating systems (OS). This OS was dubbed Windows 98. It had many improvements to its predecessor, Windows 95, but the prime improvement was the integration of the web browser into the Operating System. The desktop becomes a web page, able to receive updates from the Internet.

Ø Communications facilities are more closely integrated with the operating system and users can access web documents in just the same way as files on a local disk.

Ø Speed improvements include faster start up and shut down of the operating system itself, and faster launching and closing of applications.

The use of Unix has become popular across several organizations. The Unix system was designed by programmers, used by programmers and was categorized has a system that used just command line a cryptic sequences that was very difficult to operate. Unix has come a long since the first operating system, since the source code was virtually free the Unix code has changed and evolved over the years. There are now versions of Unix that feature GUIs that make it easier for non-programmers to operate, for example X windows. There are several reasons many organizations have chosen Unix. The powerful, stable, flexible, and wide variety of Unix systems available to users at attractive prices is just some of the important ones. The applications portability and system programming, has caused many hardware and software vendors to choose Unix. Some of the special features of Unix include:

Linux can have a high level of security that may be necessary for use where information may be sensitive. As part of its Information Assurance mission, the National Security Agency has developed a security-enhanced Linux operating system. This version of Linux has a strong, flexible mandatory access control architecture incorporated into the major subsystems of the kernel. The result is a mechanism to enforce the separation of information based on confidentiality and integrity requirements. This allows threats of tampering and bypassing of application security mechanisms to be addressed and enables the confinement of damage that may be caused by malicious or flawed applications.

Even with a diverse choice of operating systems available, Microsoft dominates the market. The latest research shows that 92% of all users are operating on a Microsoft product. Does that mean that Microsoft has the best product? Or does that just mean that Microsoft has the best market strategy? These are questions you have to answer yourself. As for which is the best operating system, only personal preference and experience will aid in that decision.

The Advanced Server was designed to function as a high-end network server in a Windows 2000 domain. It offers the same basic features and capabilities as the Windows 200 Server, but with more power and scalability. The Advanced Server handles support for eight-way multi-processing and offers 8GB of addressable physical RAM, Network load balancing, clustering and can be deployed as a domain controller or typical application server in a network.

Additional Windows 2000 features consist of it being built on the NT kernel instead of a 9x kernel. The differences between Windows 2000 and Windows NT 4.0 are so significant that Microsoft is referring to this transition as a migration process rather than just an upgrade. Windows 2000 offers a multi language version, plus the added bonus of a familiar Windows 98 interface. It is being said that it is “30% faster and 13 times more reliable.” The Windows 2000 Professional can serve as a client on a network server, or as a client on other networks.

· Kernel – The level of the operating system that contains the system level commands or all functions hidden from the user. The kernel has the ability to load and unload arbitrary sections of kernel code as needed.

Some topics in this essay:
Unix Unix, Kernel- Schedules, Security Unix, Windows CE, System/360 Model, System/370 MVS/SP, IIS Reducing, SP V4, Windows NT, Server Network, operating system, windows 2000, windows 98, operating systems, virtual storage, unix operating system, unix operating, control program, domain controller, root directory, · linux, windows 2000 professional, data center server, virtual storage address, addressable physical ram,