Operating environment: Difference between revisions

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{{Hatnote|This page is about software operating environments. Wikipedia has no articles about hardware, oil and gas recovery, military or other operating environments.}}

{{distinguish|Programming environment}}

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In [[computer software]], an '''operating environment''' is the environment in which users run [[application software]]. The environment consists of a [[user interface]] and an [[application programming interface]] (API).

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.

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.

==Computing==

In a computer the operating environment includes temperature and so on affecting circuitry; but in particular the term is often used to describe the non-physical environment in which [[software]] runs. This may apply to [[application software]] with which users interact, comprising the "[[look and feel]]" of the system, its appearance and the things that have to be done to achieve desired results. The term may also apply to [[system software]]; e.g., software designed for a [[Unix]] environment will do things differently than in a [[Microsoft Windows]] environment. Some operating environments for programming purposes are referred as programming environments; e.g., the "UNIX programming environment" for a [[Unix shell]] with its look and feel and functionality.

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

==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]] 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|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===

{{Main|environmentEnvironment variable}}

Some operating systems have an area of memory called "the environment" which can contain [[environment variable]]s which tell processes about such matters as where the particular [[computer system]] expects temporary files to be stored, i.e., some details of the operating environment.

==See also (computing)==

* [[Operating system]]

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

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

** [[Unix]] and its various versions

<br>

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

* [[Environment variable]]

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==References==

{{reflist|2}}

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