Darren New <dne### [at] sanrrcom> wrote:
>  From WikiPedia:

> """
> An operating system (commonly abbreviated OS and O/S) is the infrastructure 
> software component of a computer system; it is responsible for the 
> management and coordination of activities and the sharing of the limited 
> resources of the computer. The operating system acts as a host for 
> applications that are run on the machine. As a host, one of the purposes of 
> an operating system is to handle the details of the operation of the 
> hardware. This relieves application programs from having to manage these 
> details and makes it easier to write applications.
> """

> Sure sounds like MS-DOS to me.

  MS-DOS sounds like "to handle the details of the operation of the
hardware. This relieves application programs from having to manage these
details and makes it easier to write applications." ?

  Haha.

> Unless you don't count memory, serial and parallel ports, keyboard, disk 
> space, and network connections as "limited resources".

  Yeah, MS-DOS had great support for managing memory, network connections
and the like. In your dreams maybe.

  MS-DOS was nothing but an application launcher, which kept some routines
in memory for the application to call if it wanted. After the application
launched, it had absolute control of the machine. Basically the application
became the de-facto "operating system", if we can call it that.

  Calling MS-DOS an operating system is akin to calling grub an operating
system.

-- 
                                                          - Warp

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