By Chris Elliott
MS-DOS, Windows and Mac OS may be the most common names users think about when they mention the well-known operating systems. However, only few people know what “Window XP” and “Windows 1.0 – NT 4.0” stand for or where “Linux” comes from. Now, let's find out how some operating systems got their names.
MS-DOS
MS-DOS, which stands for Micro Soft Disk Operating System, was originally licensed from Seattle Consumer Products’ Quick and Dirty Operating System (QDOS). Because MS-DOS had no graphical user interface (GUI), users had to input everything via a command prompt.
DOS also means “Disk Operating System”, so MS-DOS was just one of many including Apple DOS, AmigaDOS, freeDOS, and many others
Windows 1.0 – NT 4.0
The Windows got its name from the fact that the new operating system and the number or name following “Windows” mentions what version of Windows users have. The Windows 1.0 allows users to interact in the GUI.
Microsoft started to work on its New Technology (NT) branch of the operating system with the numbering scheme for 1.0-3.1. Windows NT 4.0 was the first to implement the new NT kernel and used the Windows 95 user interface.
Windows NT 4.0 was released in 1996
Windows XP, Vista, and Windows 7
Windows XP made its debut in 2001 and the XP means eXPerience
Windows Vista was released in 2007 by Microsoft. According to Microsoft, Vista got its name because it symbolized what you were trying to get to at the end of the day. However, the operating system is not as successful as its meaning
Windows 7 is the seventh version of Windows since 1995
Mac OS 8 – 10
Mac OS 8 was introduced in 1997, short time after Steve Jobs returned to work for Apple. It was initially called version 7.7 but was changed to 8 because of a legal loophole that allowed Apple to shut down the 3rd party Macintosh market. Apple then released Mac OS 9, the last of the “Classic” Mac OSs.
OS X (OS Ten) is the tenth version of the Mac operating system and the first Mac OS based on Berkeley Software Distribution (BSD)
Linux
Linux got its name from Ari Lemmke. He ran the FTP server, where the original Linux Kernel was uploaded to. Though the creator of the Linux kernel, Linus Torvalds, expected to call the kernel Freax, Ari still gave him a folder named “linux” to upload his kernel to.
“Linux” came from the Linux kernel creator, Linus Torvalds
Ubuntu
Ubuntu (oo-BOON-too) literally means “humanity towards others” in Zulu and Xhosa languages. Like many Linux distributions, Ubuntu versions have two names for every release, a development code name and a version name. The numerical name for the release is based on the year and month of the release. For example, version 10.04 was released in April of 2010.
The current long term support version is Ubuntu 10.04.2 LTS (LTS stands for long term support)
About the Author:
I am a web developer. I love technology and have a passion of writing articles about technology news, especially new products.
Articles Source: How The Operating Systems Got Their Name?
