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Hardware Supported

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     The more processors an operating system runs on, the more variety of choices of vendors and the greater the scale (large to small systems) available. LINUX is the “king” of variety, running on almost every processor made.

     “NetBSD will run on practically anything: DEC Alpha, Motorola 68k (Amiga, Atari, Mac, MVME, Sharp, Sun3), PowerPC, Intel, DEC VAX, Acorn RISC, MIPS (Sony NEWS, DECstation), etc. Linux is most popular and will run on a wide range hardware: Sun, Intel, DEC Alpha, PowerPC, PowerMac, etc.” —“Microsoft Windows NT Server 4.0 versus UNIX”^w51

     Note that just because an operating system runs on a particular processor, it does not necessarily mean that it runs on every computer model that uses that processor. The “devil is in the details”. Not all operating systems run well on multiple platforms. As an example, Microsoft ported their Windows NT operating system to several different processors in a highly publicized move to demonstrate their cross-platform capabilities, but then quietly dropped some platforms and has poorly supported any platform other than the Intel Pentium (I won’t get into debates about the criticism that Windows NT doesn’t run well on its main platform either).

    The main advantage of using just one operating system throughout an organization is increased compatibility and increased uniformity. This should (but doesn’t always) reduce training costs, reduce support costs, and increase group productivity.

    In practice, the same operating system does not always work the same on different hardware platforms. Often there is a great variance in the quality of the implementation across different hardware and sometimes different feature sets are available. Also, software written for a particular operating system is not always available on every hardware platform that OS runs on.

     “Most potential customers feel better about running their Windows applications on 100 percent Wintel-compatible machines, even if it means running them slower than they might run on an Alpha, MIPS, or some other platform.

    “As a result, non-Intel platforms fell away as Windows NT progressed, leaving only the Alpha version of Windows NT as an emotionally viable non-Intel platform (though even interest in the Alpha remains limited, despite its superior performance). By promoting cross-platform support, Microsoft was competing with the very concept that led to its widespread success.” —Nicholas Petreley, “The new Unix alters NT’s orbit”, NC World^w74

    Some organizations thrive on a mixed operating system environment. Each operating system/hardware combination has its own unique set of advantages and disadvantages. There is no such thing as a universal “best” for all applications.

     A classic example is that many Windows-only organizations make an exception for content creation machines, which are usually Macintoshes.

     Another classic example is high end animation and motion picture special effects, where a combination of Windows/Intel, Apple Macintosh, SGI IRIX/MIPS, Sun Solaris/SPARC, and DEC Alpha machines is common, each doing key parts of the total job.

    In a mixed operating system environment, connectivity becomes extremely important.

    It does not matter if an operating system runs on processors you never intend to use. The most common desktop processors are the Pentium and the PowerPC. The most common high end server processors are the SPARC, Alpha, HP-RISC, and MIPS.

processors

     Operating systems that run on Intel/Cyrix/AMD Pentium: BeOS, BSDi Internet Super Server, FreeBSD, LINUX, NetBSD, NetWare, NeXT, NeXTSTEP, OpenBSD, OpenSTEP, OS/2, Rhapsody, Solaris, Windows 2000, Windows NT Server Enterprise Edition, Windows NT Server 4.0, Windows 98, and Windows 95

    “Unix is now growing rapidly on Intel platforms. And these Intel-based versions of Unix have a remarkable amount of free and commercial software support.” —Nicholas Petreley, “The new Unix alters NT’s orbit”, NC World^w74

     Operating systems that run on Motorola/IBM PowerPC: AIX, Amiga, BeOS, BSDi Internet Super Server, LINUX, Macintosh OS X, Macintosh OS X Server, Macintosh System 6, 7, 8, and 9, NetBSD, and Rhapsody

     Operating systems that run on Sun SPARC: BSDi Internet Super Server, LINUX, NetBSD, NeXTSTEP, OpenBSD, OpenSTEP, and Solaris

     Operating systems that run on Sun SPARC64 (UltraSPARC): BSDi Internet Super Server, LINUX, NetBSD, and Solaris

     Operating systems that run on DEC Alpha: Digital UNIX, FreeBSD, LINUX, NetBSD, OpenBSD, OpenVMS, and Windows NT Server Enterprise Edition

     Operating systems that run on HP PA-RISC: HP-UX, LINUX, NetBSD, NeXTSTEP, and OpenBSD

     Operating systems that run on SGI or DEC pmax MIPS: IRIX, LINUX, NetBSD, OpenBSD, Pyramid, and ULTRIX

note: This table will not display until the entire table has been downloaded to your computer. Please be patient.

operating system	Intel Pentium	Intel 80x86	Motorola/IBM PowerPC	Motorola 680x0	Sun SPARC	Sun SPARC64 ULTRA	(SGI) MIPS	DEC Alpha	HP PA-RISC	DEC VAX	ARM	API 1000+	CL-PS7110	HP Focus
Rhapsody	yes		yes
AIX			yesw67
AmigaOS			yese95	68060 68040 68030 68020 68000
BeOS	yesw14		yesw14
BSDi Internet Server	yesw15	80486w15 80386w40	yesw40		yesw40	yesw40
Digital UNIX								yes
FreeBSD	yesw16	80486w16 80386e104						yese104
HP-UX				yese105					yes					yese105
IRIX							yes
LINUX	yesw17	80486w17 80386w17 80286w17 8086w17	yesw17	68060w17 68040w17 68030w17 68020w17 68000w17	yesw17	yese90	yesw17	yesw17	yesw17	yesw17	yesw17	yesw17	yesw17
Macintosh OS X (ten)			G3
Macintosh OS X Server			G3
Macintosh System 9			yesw13
Macintosh System 8.5 and 8.6			yesw13
Macintosh System 8.1			yesw13	68040w13
Macintosh System 7.6			yes	68040 68030
Macintosh System 7.5.5			yes	68040 68030 68020
Macintosh System 6.07				68040 68030 68020 68000
MS-DOS		yes
NetBSD	yesw19	80486 80386w19	yesw19	yesw19	yesw19	yese113	DEC pmaxw19	yesw19	yesw19	yesw19	yesw19
NetWare	yese16	80486e16 80386e16 80286e97		68000e97
NeXT	yes	80486		68030, 68040
NeXTSTEP	yes	80486		68040	yes				yes
OpenBSD	yesw20	80486w20 80386w20		yesw20	yesw20		yesw20	yesw20	yesw20
OpenSTEP	yes	80486		68040	yes
OpenVMS								yese53		yese53
OS/2	yesw23	80486 80386w23
PC-DOS-2000		yes
Pyramid							yese50
SCO	yesw36	80486 80386w36
Solaris	yesw28	486DXw28			yes	yes
Sun-OS					yes	yes
ULTRIX							yese53			yese53
VMS										yes
Windows 2000 Advanced Server	yesw50
Windows 2000 Server	yesw50
Windows 2000 Professional	yesw50
Windows NT Server Enterprise Edition	yesw3							yesw3
Windows NT Server 4.0	yesw6		yese2				yese2	yese2
Windows 98	yesw9	486DXw9
Windows 95	yesw12	yesw12
Windows 3.1

geek humor

Hardware

    n, “The parts of a computer system that can be kicked.” —Henri Karrenbeld

    “Where a calculator on the ENIAC is equipped with 18,000 vacuum tubes and weighs 30 tons, computers in the future may have only 1,000 vacuum tubes and weigh only 1-1/2 tons.” —Popular Mechanics, March, 1949

    “I am Pentium of Borg, Division is futile, You will be Approximated.” —Ananda M. Kar

    “My God! That computer is full of Pentium! It’s a wonder that you haven’t been turned into mutants!” —Roger Ivie

    “Intel: putting the ‘backward’ in ‘backward compatible’.” —Randal L. Schwartz

    A web site on dozens of operating systems simply can’t be maintained by one person. This is a cooperative effort. If you spot an error in fact, grammar, syntax, or spelling, or a broken link, or have additional information, commentary, or constructive criticism, please e-mail Milo. If you have any extra copies of docs, manuals, or other materials that can assist in accuracy and completeness, please send them to Milo, PO Box 1361, Tustin, CA, USA, 92781.

    Click here for our privacy policy.

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holistic issues

peer level

• Cost
• Hardware-Software Integration
• Installation and Set-up
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• Scalability
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• Reliability
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• Security
• Speed
• Sophistication
• Ease of Use
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    This web site handcrafted on Macintosh computers using Tom Bender’s Tex-Edit Plus and served using FreeBSD .

    Copyright © 1998, 1999, 2000, 2001, 2004 Milo

    Last Updated: May 1, 2004

    Created: June 4, 1998

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