Operating environment: Difference between revisions

Revision as of 06:05, 27 February 2013

Revision as of 17:39, 28 October 2013

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

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]] 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>{{cite magazine|title=Operating in a New Environment, ''|magazine=PC Magazine'', Feb|date=February 25, 1986|url=http://books.google.com/books?id=UFvuOLZA2D0C&pg=PA108}}</ref> In later versions, Windows evolved from an operating environment into a complete operating system.

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