Operating environment: Difference between revisions

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

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

The '''operating environment''' in [[engineering]] describes the circumstances surrounding and potentially affecting something that is operating. For example electronic or mechanical equipment may be affected by high temperatures, vibration, dust, and other parameters which comprise the operating environment.

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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.

==Computing==

An operating environment is ''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.

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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.

==See also (computing)==

* [[Operating system]]

== History ==

** [[MS-DOS]] and its various versions

=== DOS operating environments ===

** [[Microsoft Windows]] and its various versions

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-and-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 after [[Windows ME]] have been based on the Windows NT kernel.

** [[Unix]] and its various versions

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== See also (computing)==

* [[Desktop environment]], the graphical user interface to the computer

* [[EnvironmentFile variablemanager]]

* [[simple:OperatingIntegrated environment]]

* [[Integrated development environment]], a type of computer software that assists computer programmers in developing software

* [[Runtime environment]], a virtual machine state which provides software services for processes or programs while a computer is running

* [[X Window System]]

== References ==

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[[Category:Computing terminology]]

[[Category:Middleware]]

* [[Category:Operating system APIs]]

[[Category:User interfaces]]

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