In a message dated 09/22/1999 11:26:19 AM Pacific Daylight Time,
[EMAIL PROTECTED] writes:
> There's nothing to get confused about, Or. He's just taken the term "OS",
> removed the "D" that is used with "DOS" and made it look like DOS is
> something "different" than an ordinary "OS". He's simply playing around
> with words. He's trying to make you feel as though a GUI is something more
> than a GUI, but it's not. A true OS should be able to stand by itself.
> NewDeal cannot stand by itself.
In my previous response to the original message, I admitted that
this is at least partly an issue of semantics and definition.
DOS is an acronym for Disk Operating System.
OS is an acronum for Operating System.
GUI is an acronym for Graphical User Interface.
A DOS must provide file system services and disk management,
by definition.
An OS must manage computer hardware and system services.
Whether an OS must be able to stand alone is debateable. Some
authorities say it must, some say not. Some say that the true OS
must include the computer's BIOS (Basic Input Output System)
which is certainly not part of DOS or Windows.
In fact, some say the BIOS is the true OS and everything else,
including DOS or Windows, is just add-on software.
An OS can include a GUI. But also a GUI can exist that has nothing
to do with an OS.
A GUI is simply a program or collection of software that lets the
user interact with the computer via pictures and usually some kind
of pointing device, instead of only via typing on a keyboard. What
the user interacts with might be an OS or it might be something else,
like a program for manipulating music or image files.
For example, PICLAB is a purely command line driven program
for manipulating image files, while Graphics Workshop is a GUI
program for doing similar work.
Whether you subscribe to the school that Windows or Geos or
even DOS are operating systems, or whether you prefer some
other definition, it makes no difference in how these softwares
perform.
Steve
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