May 2002
Beginner to intermediate
448 pages
13h 18m
English
Content preview from Geographic Information Systems: An Introduction, 3rd Edition
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8.2 Operating Systems
An operating system is a basic program that administers the internal data processing in a computer. Important elements of an operating system are the file manager and disk manager, which deal with the file structure and page structure of the computer, respectively (Figure 8.1). Different operating systems, such as Windows 98 and 2000, Windows NT, OS/2 for PCs and UNIX (Linux, BSD) for workstations, are used in different types and makes of computer and for different GIS software. As application programs cannot be moved from one operating system to another without extensive modification, the choice of application program is often determined by the choice of computer.
Windows NT is platform independent by taking advantage of the 32-bit addressing technique of 486-, Pentium-, and RISC-based processors. There are no technical reasons today that Windows NT cannot be ported to run on any computer platform; the system is capable of carrying out more than one task at a time (multitasking).
Current trends are providing more options, and many suppliers of GIS programs now offer versions matched to different operating systems. Computer manufacturers are increasingly offering wider ranges of equipment, such as UNIX in workstations and Windows NT in PCs. There appears to be a clear trend toward increased adoption of Windows NT as the standard operative system for GIS software.
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