Her Operating System Evolution Explained
Operating systems started simple in the 1940s and 1950s. Early computers like ENIAC used plugboards or switches for direct programming with no real OS. For more on early computer history, check this source: https://www.livescience.com/20718-computer-history.html[1]. By the 1960s, things changed. IBM’s System/360 ran OS/360, a huge system with millions of lines of code that supported multiprogramming. This let the CPU work on one job while another waited for input or output[2].
In 1969, at Bell Labs, Ken Thompson and Dennis Ritchie built the first UNIX on a PDP-7 minicomputer. It began as a way to run a game called Space Travel. They rewrote it in 1973 using the new C language, which made it portable and easy to spread. UNIX treated everything as a file and kept things simple and modular[1]. This influenced many future systems. MULTICS came around the same time as a multi-user OS and inspired UNIX, even paving the way for ideas like cloud computing[2].
The 1980s brought personal computers. MS-DOS launched in 1981 for IBM PCs. It was a basic command-line system based on 86-DOS. See a video on popular OS from 1981 to 2025 here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8TFzIeD7QnU&vl=en-US[3]. Windows started in 1985 as a graphical shell on top of DOS. Apple’s Macintosh brought the first popular GUI in 1984, making computers easier with icons and a mouse[2].
Linux arrived in 1991 when Linus Torvalds made a kernel for personal use. It paired with GNU tools to become GNU/Linux. Free under GPL, it runs on everything from phones to supercomputers. Android uses a Linux base too[1][4]. Windows grew strong with versions like Windows 95, XP, and 10, focusing on stability and updates[1][3].
Mobile changed everything in the 2000s. Android started in 2003 for cameras, shifted to smartphones in 2004, and Google bought it in 2005. The first Android phone, T-Mobile G1, came in 2008. By 2012, it beat iOS and now powers most mobile devices[4]. iOS from Apple and others like Symbian and BlackBerry rose then fell. Watch how Android overtook Windows: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fMY_iRIIQ1M[5].
Today, OS mix desktops like Windows 11 and macOS, servers with Linux, and mobiles with Android leading. They evolved from batch jobs to touchscreens and AI-ready systems[3].
Sources
https://www.oreateai.com/blog/a-history-of-operating-system-development-from-eniac-to-modern-operating-systems/4c30abbfb1daea458737c392f249dcf0
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Operating_system
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8TFzIeD7QnU&vl=en-US
https://www.britannica.com/technology/Android-operating-system
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fMY_iRIIQ1M
https://www.livescience.com/20718-computer-history.html
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4tLwRu4YToo
