Operating environment: Difference between revisions

Revision as of 20:56, 8 December 2011

Revision as of 16:02, 6 June 2012

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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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"Operating environment" is not the totality of the functionality and appearance of an [[operating system]].

In the mid 1980s, [[graphical user interface|GUI]] operating environments such as [[IBM TopView]], [[Microsoft Windows]], [[Digital Research]]'s [[GEM Desktop]] 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|TSR]] 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>Operating in a New Environment, ''PC Magazine'', Feb 25, 1986</ref> In later versions, Windows evolved from an operating environment into a complete operating system.

==="The environment" and environment variables===