Operating environment: Difference between revisions

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{{Short description|Environment in which users run application software}}

{{About|computer user's applications environments|operating system process environments|Environment variable}}

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In [[computer software]], an '''operating environment''' or '''integrated applications environment''' is the [[Deployment environment|environment]] in which users run [[application software]]. The environment consists of a [[user interface]] provided by an '''applications manager''' and usually an [[application programming interface]] (API) to the applications manager.

An operating environment is usually ''not'' a full [[operating system]], but is a form of [[middleware]] that rests between the OS and the application. For example, the first version of [[Microsoft Windows]], [[Windows 1.0]], was not a full operating system, but a [[GUI]] laid over DOS albeit with an API of its own. Similarly, the [[IBM U2]] system operates on both [[Unix]]/[[Linux]] and [[Windows NT]]. Usually the user interface is [[text-based user interface|text-based]] or [[graphical user interface|graphical]], rather than a [[command-line interface]] (e.g., [[DOS]] or the [[Unix shell]]), which is often the interface of the underlying operating system.

In the mid 1980s, [[text-based user interface|text-based]] and [[graphical user interface|graphical]] user interface operating environments surrounded [[DOS]] operating systems with a [[shell (computing)|shell]] that turned the user's [[computer monitor|display]] into a [[menu (computing)|menu]]-oriented "[[desktop metaphor|desktop]]" for selecting and running [[IBM PC compatible|PC]] applications. These operating environment systems allow users much of the convenience of [[integrated software]] without locking them into a single package.

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== History ==

=== DOS operating environments ===

In the mid 1980s, [[text-based user interface|text-based]] and [[graphical user interface|graphical]] user interface operating environments such as [[IBM TopView]], [[Microsoft Windows]], [[Digital Research]]'s [[GEM Desktop]], [[GEOS (16-bit operating system)|GEOS]] and [[Quarterdeck Office Systems]]'s [[DESQview]] surrounded [[DOS]] operating systems with a [[shell (computing)|shell]] that turned the user's [[computer monitor|display]] into a [[menu (computing)|menu]]-oriented "[[desktop metaphor|desktop]]" for selecting and running [[IBM PC compatible|PC]] applications. These programs were more than simple menu systems—as alternate operating environments they were substitutes for integrated programs such as [[Framework (office suite)|Framework]] and [[Lotus Symphony (DOS)|Symphony]], that allowed [[context switch|switching]], [[windowing system|windowing]], and [[cut-and-paste]] operations among dedicated applications. These operating environment systems gave users much of the convenience of [[integrated software]] without locking them into a single package. Alternative operating environments made [[Terminate terminate-and Stay Resident|TSR-stay-resident]] pop-up utilities such as [[Borland Sidekick]] redundant. Windows provided its own version of these utilities, and placing them under central control could eliminate memory conflicts that [[RAM]]-resident utilities create.<ref>{{cite magazine|title=Operating in a New Environment|magazine=PC Magazine|date=February 25, 1986|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=UFvuOLZA2D0C&pg=PA108}}</ref> In later versions, Windows evolved from an operating environment into a complete operating system with DOS as a bootloader ([[Windows 9x]]) and a complete operating system, [[Windows NT]], was developed at the same time. All versions sinceafter [[Windows 2000ME]] have been based on the Windows NT kernel.

== See also ==