Comparing Operating Systems Essay, Research Paper

Comparing Microsoft Operating Systems : 95/98/NT

This report is centered on the similarities and differences of the three major operating systems provided by Microsoft during the previous decade. There were and will always be changes and upgrades some of the information may not be current, as these systems have had certain upgrade modules that may not covered.

Windows 95, Windows 98, and Windows NT all have related functionality but they differ in many ways. All three of these programs are Windows based, they operate by letting you issue commands by clicking or selecting an item or icon. Windows was actually developed by Xerox, not knowing the value of what they had they mistakenly sold the rough draft of the product to Microsoft. In comparing the three of these operating systems let us first go over some basic term what they mean and which operating system employs them:

Fat = File Allocation Table: This file system organizes data on hard disk and floppies alike, allowing the OS access to them. FAT runs on an eight name dot three-digit extension (Matt.txt)

Fat 16: This file system is used on computers running Win95/98 and does not allow file or folder security.

Fat 32: This file system for Win98 allows for smaller file allocation sizes, occupies less space on the hard drive, and also gives availability to large file names.

NTFS = NT file system allows for again smaller file allocation sizes, occupies less space on the hard drive, gives availability to large file names, as well as security for files and folders through the use of permissions.

USB = Universal Serial Bus: Bus specification for peripherals that can be available for use thru the use of plug and play allowing for faster transfer rates then parallel or serial connections.

Operating System Minimum Requirements Recommended Requirements

Windows 95 386DX, 4MB 486SX-25, 8MB

Windows 98 486DX, 16MB 486DX-66, 24MB

Windows NT 486DX, 12MB Pentium, 32MB