This post is a quick overview of the operating systems powered by Microsoft at a high level.
Introduced in 1985 by Microsoft, this operating system holds almost 90% of the operating system market share. Windows is commonly references with PC’s. You can usually find Windows in home computers, industrial facilities and commercial buildings. By a show of hands, how many of you had at least one computer in your lifetime that had Windows running it? As mentioned it had been out since 1985 and has established itself as very reliable and a mature operating system. However, it does have its flaws and disadvantages. Let’s go through some advantages of Windows and some disadvantages of it as well.
Let’s start with the positives first. Most of these seem to be due to its high market share. First of all, Windows is compatible with almost every application, driver or game. This is due to their high market share. Think about it, if you are an application that is being developed, you would want to be compatible with the OS system that most people have. Another advantage is that technical support is widely available. As mentioned above, when most people have your OS, there are many people that are able to help you with it. Lastly, there is a huge quantity of function that allow you to do almost anything quite easily. Essentially, this means that you can accomplish almost anything you want to do using a PC.
In terms of disadvantages, they are also caused by Windows large market share. For instance, PC’s are more prone to viruses and other attacks. As well, PC’s can be slow because it requires a lot of computer resources (memory, processor, disk space). Lastly, compared to other OS systems with less market share, some versions of Windows can cost over hundreds of dollars. While it is not the most expensive, it can be considered pricey.