Common Operating systems

As of the time of this writing, there are two (2) major kinds of operating systems for mobile devices, the Android Operating system and the iOS. However, we won't be discussing them because our focus is on the computer environment encompassing desktops and laptops.

In the computer environment, we have a three major Operating Systems namely;

There are also some relatively unpopular ones, like Google's Chrome OS, nixOS, Redox OS, and numerous others.

Linux

Linux isn't a specific operating system, rather, it is a family of operating systems.

Think of it as a fruit basket, the content of this basket is called distro, a fancy word for distribution. Popular Linux distros include Ubuntu, Kali, ParrotOS, Cent, Suse, and Fedora.

They all have their strengths and preferred use cases.

For instance, Ubuntu is often used to run servers, robots, and Software development, while ParrotOS and Kali are used for penetration testing otherwise known as hacking. Explaining these distros in detail is beyond the scope of this book, however, you can surf the internet for more information about them.

The mac Operating system

macOS is an Apple-owned open source software that powers all apple computers.

Windows Operating system

The Windows operating system is a closed source --- proprietary software, owned, managed and distributed by Microsoft.

Last change: 2025-09-03, commit: 6636d47