History of Operating Systems

Generations of OSes

• Before 1940s: No OS
  • Manual machine language input; limited accessibility due to expertise.
• 1940s-50s: Batch Processing
  • Introduction of punch card-based programming; sequential job processing.
• 1950s-60s: Multiprogramming
  • Simultaneous programs in memory; efficient CPU utilization during I/O.
• 1960s-70s: Time-Sharing
  • CPU time shared among programs at intervals; interactive computing.
• 1970s-80s: Introduction of GUI
  • Adoption of GUIs with icons, menus, and user-friendly interfaces.
• 1980s-90s: Networked Systems
  • Specialized OSs for computer networks; file sharing and remote access.
• Late 1990s - Early 2000s: Mobile OS
  • Emergence of mobile OSs like iOS and Android for touchscreen devices.
• 2010s-Ongoing: AI Integration
  • Integration of AI features (e.g., Siri, Google Assistant, Alexa).

Timeline

Early Computers

• Abacus
• Napier's Bones
• Jacquard's Loom
• Analytical Engine and Difference Engine

Early Pre-Modern

• EDVAC Series
• EDSAC Series
• UNIVAC Series
• IBM Series

From 1965

• MULTICS
• UNICS (for PDP-11)
  • UNIX
• Virtual VAX or Virtual UNIX (for VAX)

1971

Research Unix

• Research Unix Version 1
• Research Unix Version 2
• Research Unix Version 3
• Research Unix Version 4
• Research Unix Version 5
• Research Unix Version 6
• Research Unix Version 7
  • UNIX/32V
  • UNIX/V7M
• Research Unix Version 8 (based on 4.1cBSD)
• Research Unix Version 9
• Research Unix Version 10
• Plan 9

1981

Commercial UNIX (After Research Unix Version 7)

• UNIX System III (based on Research Unix Version 7)
• UNIX System V
  • System V Release 1
  • System V Release 2
  • System V Release 3
  • System V Release 4
  • System V Release 4.2
• UnixWare
  • UnixWare 1.1.1
• UnixWare 2.0
• UnixWare 7
• Open Unix 8 (UnixWare 7.1.2)
• SCO UnixWare 7.1.3

Other Commercial OSes

• Xenix
• Solaris
• SunOS
• HP-UX

BSDs

• 1BSD (based on Research Unix Version 6)
• 2BSD (PDP-11) (based on Research Unix Version 7)
• 3BSD (VAX) (based on UNIX/32V)
• 4BSD
• 4.1BSD
  • 4.1aBSD (BBN's TCP/IP implementation)
  • 4.1bBSD (Berkeley Fast File System)
  • 4.1cBSD
• 4.2BSD
• 4.3BSD-Tahoe
• 4.3BSD Net/1 (based on 4.3BSD-Tahoe)
• 4.3BSD-Reno
• 4.3BSD Net/2 (based on 4.3BSD-Reno)
• 4.4BSD-Alpha
• 4.4BSD-Lite
• 4.4BSD-Lite Release 2

386BSD (Pre-Lawsuit)

• 386BSD / Jolix (based on 4.3BSD Net/2)
• BSD/386 / BSD/OS / BSDi by BSDi (based on 4.3BSD Net/2)

1983

• GNU (started, during the time of 4.2BSD, Research Unix Version 8 and UNIX System III)

1992

• Linux Kernel (released)
• GNU on Linux

1993 (BSD lawsuit finished)

386BSDs

• 386BSD
• BSD/386 (BSDi) 1.0
• 386BSD 2.0
• BSD/OS (BSDi) 2.0
• 386BSD 3.0
• BSD/OS (BSDi) 3.0
• BSD/OS (BSDi) 4.0
• BSD/OS (BSDi) 4.3
• BSD/OS (BSDi) 5.0
• BSD/OS (BSDi) 5.1

Modern BSDs

• FreeBSD (From BSD386 and 4.4BSD-Lite)
• NetBSD (From BSD386 and 4.4BSD-Lite)
• OpenBSD (From BSD386 and 4.4BSD-Lite)

Apple

• Apple UA/X
• NeXTSTEP 1.0 (based on 4.3BSD-Tahoe)
• NeXTSTEP 2.0 (based on 4.3BSD-Reno)
• NeXTSTEP 3.0 (based on 4.4BSD)

2000

• Apple Darwin (From NeXTSTEP, 4.4BSD-Lite2, FreeBSD and Mac OS)
• Apple Mac OS X

2004

• DragonflyBSD (From FreeBSD)

Timeline, Longer Brief

From EDVAC (1951)

• [1951] EDSAC
• [1955] GMOS for IBM 701
• [1955] MIT Tape Director OS for UNIVAC 1103
• [1961] MIT CTSS for IBM 7094
• [1962] GECOS
• IBM OS/360 for IBM S/360
• IBM BOS/360 for IBM S/360
• IBM TOS/360 for IBM S/360
• MULTICS for GE-640
• IBM DOS/360
• IBM OS/360 PCP and MFT

From UNIX (1969)

• Unics for DEC
• Xerox OS
• DOS-11 for the PDP-11
• CP/M
• UNIX Version 6
• Cray

From BSD (1977)

• 1BSD
• 2BSD
• Apple DOS
• Atari DOS
• 3BSD
• UNIX Version 7
• UNIX 32/V

From MS-DOS (1981)

• MS-DOS
• Commodore DOS
• Sun UNIX (later SunOS) 0.7
• UNIX System III

From GNU (1983)

• GNU
• Novell NetWare (S-Net)
• SunOS 1.0

From Mac OS (1984)

• Mac OS (System 1.0)
• AmigaOS
• Atari TOS
• SunOS 2.0
• Unix Version 8

From Windows (1985)

• Windows 1.0
• Windows 1.01
• Xenix 2.0
• AIX 1.0
• Genera 7.0
• HP-UX
• SunOS 3.0
• Unix Version 9
• MINIX 1.0
• OS/2 1.0
• Windows 2.0
• A/UX
• Mac OS
• OS/2 1.1
• SunOS 4.0
• NeXTSTEP 1.0
• OS/2 1.2
• Unix Version 10
• Xenix 2.3.4
• AIX 3.0
• AmigaOS 2.0
• BeOS
• Novell NetWare 3
• Windows 3.0
• Linux 0.1
• Mac OS (System 7)
• MINIX 1.5
• Trusted Xenix
• 386BSD 0.1
• Amiga Unix 2.01
• AmigaOS 3.0
• BSD/386 by BSDi
• BSD/OS
• OpenVMS V1.0
• OS/2 2.0
• Plan 9 First Edition

From GNU/Linux (1992)

• SLS
• Solaris 2.0
• Windows 3.1

From FreeBSD (1993)

• FreeBSD
• NetBSD
• Novell NetWare 4
• OS/2 2.1
• Slackware 1.0 (based on SLS)
• Windows NT 3.1
• AIX 4.0
• AIX 4.1
• IBM
• NetBSD 1.0
• Red Hat
• OpenBSD
• Plan 9 Second Edition
• Windows 95
• AIX 4.2
• Debian 1.1
• OS/2 Warp 4.0
• Palm OS
• Windows NT 4.0
• Windows CE 1.0
• AIX 4.3
• Inferno
• Mac OS 8
• MINIX 2.0
• Windows CE 2.0
• Novell NetWare 5
• Solaris 7
• Windows 98
• AROS
• Inferno Second Edition
• Mac OS 9
• OS/2 Warp 4.5
• RISC OS 4
• Windows 98 (2nd edition)

Timeline Master

1950s

1951

• LEO I 'Lyons Electronic Office' was the commercial development of EDSAC computing platform, supported by British firm J. Lyons and Co.

1955

• General Motors Operating System made for IBM 701
• MIT's Tape Director operating system made for UNIVAC 1103

1956

• GM-NAA I/O for IBM 704, based on General Motors Operating System

1957

• Atlas Supervisor (Manchester University) (Atlas computer project start)
• BESYS (Bell Labs), for IBM 704, later IBM 7090 and IBM 7094

1958

• University of Michigan Executive System (UMES), for IBM 704, 709, and 7090

1959

• SHARE Operating System (SOS), based on GM-NAA I/O

1960s

1960

• IBSYS (IBM for its 7090 and 7094)

1961

• CTSS demonstration (MIT's Compatible Time-Sharing System for the IBM 7094)
• MCP (Burroughs Master Control Program)

1962

• Atlas Supervisor (Manchester University) (Atlas computer commissioned)
• BBN Time-Sharing System
• GCOS (GE's General Comprehensive Operating System, originally GECOS, General Electric Comprehensive Operating Supervisor)

1963

• AN/FSQ-32, another early time-sharing system begun
• CTSS becomes operational (MIT's Compatible Time-Sharing System for the IBM 7094)
• JOSS, an interactive time-shared system that did not distinguish between operating system and language
• Titan Supervisor, early time-sharing system begun

1964

• Berkeley Timesharing System (for Scientific Data Systems' SDS 940)
• Chippewa Operating System (for CDC 6600 supercomputer)
• Dartmouth Time Sharing System (Dartmouth College's DTSS for GE computers)
• EXEC 8 (UNIVAC)
• KDF9 Timesharing Director (English Electric) – an early, fully hardware secured, fully pre-emptive process switching, multi-programming operating system for KDF9 (originally announced in 1960)
• OS/360 (IBM's primary OS for its S/360 series) (announced)
• PDP-6 Monitor (DEC) descendant renamed TOPS-10 in 1970
• SCOPE (CDC 3000 series)

1965

• BOS/360 (IBM's Basic Operating System)
• DECsys
• TOS/360 (IBM's Tape Operating System)
• Livermore Time Sharing System (LTSS)
• Multics (MIT, GE, Bell Labs for the GE-645) (announced)
• Pick operating system
• THE multiprogramming system (Technische Hogeschool Eindhoven) development
• TSOS (later VMOS) (RCA)

1966

• DOS/360 (IBM's Disk Operating System)
• GEORGE 1 & 2 for ICT 1900 series
• MS/8 (Richard F. Lary's DEC PDP-8 system)
• OS/360 (IBM's primary OS for its S/360 series) PCP and MFT (shipped)
• RAX
• Remote Users of Shared Hardware (RUSH), a time-sharing system developed by Allen-Babcock for the 360/50
• SODA for Elwro's Odra 1204
• Universal Time-Sharing System (XDS Sigma series)

1967

• CP-40, predecessor to CP-67 on modified IBM System/360 Model 40
• CP-67 (IBM, also known as CP/CMS)
• Conversational Programming System (CPS), an IBM time-sharing system under OS/360
• Michigan Terminal System (MTS)[5] (time-sharing system for the IBM S/360-67 and successors)
• ITS (MIT's Incompatible Timesharing System for the DEC PDP-6 and PDP-10)
• OS/360 MVT
• ORVYL (Stanford University's time-sharing system for the IBM S/360-67)
• TSS/360 (IBM's Time-sharing System for the S/360-67, never officially released, canceled in 1969 and again in 1971)
• WAITS (SAIL, Stanford Artificial Intelligence Laboratory, time-sharing system for DEC PDP-6 and PDP-10, later TOPS-10)

1968

• Airline Control Program (ACP) (IBM)
• CALL/360, an IBM time-sharing system for System/360
• THE multiprogramming system (Eindhoven University of Technology) publication
• TSS/8 (DEC for the PDP-8)
• VP/CSS

1969

• GEORGE 3 For ICL 1900 series
• Multics (MIT, GE, Bell Labs for the GE-645 and later the Honeywell 6180) (opened for paying customers in October)
• RC 4000 Multiprogramming System (RC)
• TENEX (Bolt, Beranek and Newman for DEC systems, later TOPS-20)
• Unics (later Unix) (AT&T, initially on DEC computers)
• Xerox Operating System

1970s

1970

• DOS-11 (PDP-11)

1971

• EMAS
• Kronos
• RSTS-11 2A-19 (First released version; PDP-11)
• RSX-15
• OS/8

1972

• COS-300
• Data General RDOS
• Edos
• MUSIC/SP
• OS/4
• OS 1100
• Operating System/Virtual Storage 1 (OS/VS1)
• Operating System/Virtual Storage 2 R1 (OS/VS2 SVS)
• PRIMOS (written in FORTRAN IV, that didn't have pointers, while later versions, around version 18, written in a version of PL/I, called PL/P)
• Virtual Machine/Basic System Extensions Program Product (BSEPP or VM/SE)
• Virtual Machine/System Extensions Program Product (SEPP or VM/BSE)
• Virtual Machine Facility/370 (VM/370), sometimes known as VM/CMS

1973

• Эльбрус-1 (Elbrus-1) – Soviet computer – created using high-level language uЭль-76 (AL-76/ALGOL 68)
• Alto OS
• CP-V (Control Program V)
• RSX-11D
• RT-11
• VME – implementation language S3 (ALGOL 68)

1974

• ACOS-2 (NEC)
• ACOS-4
• ACOS-6
• CP/M
• DOS-11 V09-20C (Last stable release, June 1974)
• Hydra – capability-based, multiprocessing OS kernel
• MONECS
• Multi-Programming Executive (MPE) – Hewlett-Packard
• Operating System/Virtual Storage 2 R2 (MVS)
• OS/7
• OS/16
• OS/32
• Sintran III

1975

• BS2000 V2.0 (First released version)
• COS-350
• NOS (Control Data Corporation)
• OS/3 (Univac)
• VS/9 (formerly RCA's TSOS, later named VMOS)
• Version 6 Unix
• XVM/DOS
• XVM/RSX

1976

• Cambridge CAP computer – all operating system procedures written in ALGOL 68C, with some closely associated protected procedures in BCPL
• Cray Operating System
• DX10
• FLEX
• TOPS-20
• TX990/TXDS
• Tandem Nonstop OS v1

1977

• 1BSD
• AMOS
• KERNAL
• OASIS operating system
• OS4000
• RMX-80
• OS68
• System Support Program (IBM System/34 and System/36)
• TRSDOS
• Virtual Memory System (VMS) V1.0 (Initial commercial release, October 25)

1978

• 2BSD
• Apple DOS
• Control Program Facility (IBM System/38)
• Cray Time Sharing System (CTSS)
• DPCX (IBM)
• DPPX (IBM)
• HDOS
• KSOS – secure OS design from Ford Aerospace
• KVM/370 – security retro-fit of IBM VM/370
• Lisp machine (CADR)
• MVS/System Extensions (MVS/SE)
• OS4 (Naked Mini 4)
• PTDOS
• TRIPOS
• UCSD p-System (First released version)

1979

• Atari DOS
• 3BSD
• Idris
• MP/M
• MVS/System Extensions R2 (MVS/SE2)
• NLTSS
• POS
• Sinclair BASIC
• Transaction Processing Facility (TPF) (IBM)
• UCLA Secure UNIX – an early secure UNIX OS based on security kernel
• UNIX/32V
• DOS/VSE
• Version 7 Unix

1980s

1980

• 86-DOS
• AOS/VS (Data General)
• Business Operating System
• CTOS
• MVS/System Product (MVS/SP) V1
• NewDos/80
• OS-9
• RMX-86
• RS-DOS
• SOS
• Virtual Machine/System Product (VM/SP)
• Xenix

1981

• Acorn MOS
• Aegis SR1 (First Apollo/DOMAIN systems shipped on March 27)
• CP/M-86
• iMAX – OS for Intel's iAPX 432 capability machine
• MCS (Multi-user Control System)
• MS-DOS
• PC DOS
• Pilot (Xerox Star operating system)
• UNOS
• UTS
• VRTX
• Xinu first release

1982

• Commodore DOS
• LDOS (By Logical Systems, Inc. – for the Radio Shack TRS-80 Models I, II & III)
• pSOS
• QNX
• Stratus VOS
• Sun UNIX (later SunOS) 0.7
• Ultrix
• Unix System III

1983

• Coherent
• DNIX
• EOS
• GNU (project start)
• Lisa Office System 7/7
• LOCUS – UNIX compatible, high reliability, distributed OS
• MVS/System Product V2 (MVS/Extended Architecture, MVS/XA)
• Novell NetWare (S-Net)
• PERPOS
• ProDOS
• RTU (Real-Time Unix)
• STOP – TCSEC A1-class, secure OS for SCOMP hardware
• SunOS 1.0
• VSE/System Package (VSE/SP) Version 1

1984

• AMSDOS
• CTIX (Unix variant)
• Mac OS (System 1.0)
• MSX-DOS
• PANOS
• PC/IX
• ROS
• Sinclair QDOS
• QNX
• SINIX
• UNICOS
• Venix 2.0
• Virtual Machine/Extended Architecture Migration Assistance (VM/XA MA)

1985

• AmigaOS
• Atari TOS
• DG/UX
• DOS Plus
• Graphics Environment Manager
• MIPS RISC/os
• Oberon – written in Oberon
• SunOS 2.0
• Version 8 Unix
• Virtual Machine/Extended Architecture System Facility (VM/XA SF)
• Windows 1.0
• Windows 1.01
• Xenix 2.0

1986

• AIX 1.0
• Cronus distributed OS
• GEMSOS – TCSEC A1-class, secure kernel for BLACKER VPN & GTNP
• GEOS
• GS-OS
• Genera 7.0
• HP-UX
• SunOS 3.0
• TRIX
• Version 9 Unix

1987

• Arthur (much improved version came in 1989 under the name RISC OS)
• BS2000 V9.0
• IRIX (3.0 is first SGI version)
• MDOS
• MINIX 1.0
• OS/2 (1.0)
• PC-MOS/386
• Topaz – semi-distributed OS for DEC Firefly workstation written in Modula-2+ and garbage collected
• Windows 2.0

1988

• A/UX (Apple Computer)
• AOS/VS II (Data General)
• CP/M rebranded as DR-DOS
• Flex machine – tagged, capability machine with OS and other software written in ALGOL 68RS
• HeliOS 1.0
• KeyKOS – capability-based microkernel for IBM mainframes with automated persistence of app data
• LynxOS
• Mac OS (System 6)
• MVS/System Product V3 (MVS/Enterprise Systems Architecture, MVS/ESA)
• OS/2 (1.1)
• OS/400
• RISC iX
• SpartaDOS X
• SunOS 4.0
• TOPS-10 7.04 (Last stable release, July 1988)
• Virtual Machine/Extended Architecture System Product (VM/XA SP)
• VAX VMM – TCSEC A1-class, VMM for VAX computers (limited use before cancellation)

1989

• Army Secure Operating System (ASOS) – TCSEC A1-class secure, real-time OS for Ada applications
• EPOC (EPOC16)
• NeXTSTEP (1.0)
• OS/2 (1.2)
• RISC OS (First release was to be called Arthur 2, but was renamed to RISC OS 2, and was first sold as RISC OS 2.00 in April 1989)
• SCO UNIX (Release 3)
• TSX-32
• Version 10 Unix
• Xenix 2.3.4 (Last stable release)

1990s

1990

• AIX 3.0
• AmigaOS 2.0
• BeOS (v1)
• DOS/V
• Genera 8.0
• iS-DOS
• LOCK – TCSEC A1-class secure system with kernel & hardware support for type enforcement
• MVS/ESA SP Version 4
• Novell NetWare 3
• OS/2 1.3
• OSF/1
• PC/GEOS
• Windows 3.0
• Virtual Machine/Enterprise Systems Architecture (VM/XA ESA)
• VSE/Enterprise Systems Architecture (VSE/ESA) Version 1[28]

1991

• Amoeba – microkernel-based, POSIX-compliant, distributed OS
• Linux 0.01-0.1
• Mac OS (System 7)
• MINIX 1.5
• PenPoint OS
• RISC OS 3
• SUNMOS
• Trusted Xenix – rewritten & security enhanced Xenix evaluated at TCSEC B2-class

1992

• 386BSD 0.1
• Amiga Unix 2.01 (Latest stable release)
• AmigaOS 3.0
• BSD/386, by BSDi and later known as BSD/OS.
• LGX
• OpenVMS V1.0 (First OpenVMS AXP (Alpha) specific version, November 1992)
• OS/2 2.0 (First i386 32-bit based version)
• Plan 9 First Edition (First public release was made available to universities)
• RSTS/E 10.1 (Last stable release, September 1992)
• SLS
• Solaris 2.0 (Successor to SunOS 4.x; based on SVR4 instead of BSD)
• Windows 3.1

1993

• IBM 4690 Operating System
• FreeBSD
• NetBSD
• Novell NetWare 4
• Newton OS
• Nucleus RTOS
• Open Genera 1.0
• OS 2200 (Unisys)
• OS/2 2.1
• PTS-DOS
• Slackware 1.0
• Spring
• Windows NT 3.1 (First Windows NT kernel public release)

1994

• AIX 4.0, 4.1
• IBM MVS/ESA SP Version 5
• NetBSD 1.0 (First multi-platform release, October 1994)
• OS/2 Warp 3.0
• Red Hat
• RISC OS 3.5
• SPIN – extensible OS written in Modula-3

1995

• Digital UNIX (aka Tru64 UNIX)
• OpenBSD
• OS/390
• Plan 9 Second Edition (Commercial second release version was made available to the general public.)
• Ultrix 4.5 (Last major release)
• Windows 95

1996

• AIX 4.2
• Debian 1.1
• JN – microkernel OS for embedded, Java apps
• Mac OS 7.6 (First officially-named Mac OS)
• OS/2 Warp 4.0
• Palm OS
• RISC OS 3.6
• Windows NT 4.0
• Windows CE 1.0

1997

• AIX 4.3
• DR-WebSpyder 1.0
• EPOC (EPOC32)
• Inferno
• Mac OS 8
• MINIX 2.0
• Nemesis
• RISC OS 3.7
• SkyOS
• Windows CE 2.0

1998

• DR-WebSpyder 2.0
• Junos
• Novell NetWare 5
• RT-11 5.7 (Last stable release, October 1998)
• Solaris 7 (first 64-bit Solaris release – names from this point drop "2.", otherwise would've been Solaris 2.7)
• Windows 98

1999

• AROS (Boot for the first time in Stand Alone version)
• Inferno Second Edition (Last distribution (Release 2.3, c. July 1999) from Lucent's Inferno Business Unit)
• Mac OS 9
• OS/2 Warp 4.5
• RISC OS 4
• Windows 98 (2nd edition)