Operating System Selection

[DigitalSyntax]

First i want to say im pissed off, i had a nice 7 or so page thing i was typing up with a huge amount of Links and then when i hit "submit reply" the ****ing thing asked me to sign in, i tried hitting back to see if maybe i could copy it all and then just paste after signing in and it wouldnt let me, so i signed in where it asked me to the first time and then it just showed me the damn thread and my post was gone....

Second, Thefiend your awesome, this is one of my favorite subjects in computer stuff.

First ill start REDOING my post by giving a hole lot of links to info asbout OSs.

Links :
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BSD :

http://www.freebsd.org/doc/en_US.ISO...q/funnies.html

Humor for Free BSD.

http://www.bsdcentral.com/

You should check this site out if your looking into learning BSD or already know it.

http://www.freebsd.org/

Free BSD is my Fav BSD, its amazing.

http://www.bsd.org/

BSD and UNIX info.

http://www.openbsd.org/

Free, functional and secure are understatements.

http://www.bsdtoday.com/

BSD info.

http://www.netbsd.org/

NetBSD is a nice system and can be installed on almost anything.

http://www.google.com/bsd

I know its not info about BSD but its got a BSD logo and you can FINd lots of info with it.

http://slashdot.org/bsd/

A BSD info page from slashdot, awesome!.

http://www.onlamp.com/bsd/

ALOT of BSD info, look at it alot.

http://www.daemonnews.org/

BSD news.

http://bsdvault.net/

Saying this site is awesome would be an insult...it OWNS.

http://bsd.reedmedia.net/

Have a BSD problem? well go here.

http://www.bsdmall.com/

Buy BSD Stuff, hehe.

http://www.mckusick.com/beastie/

Need a break from reading MAN pages but wanna keep it on BSD? go here and enjoy.

http://world.std.com/~jimf/papers/sockets/sockets.html

BSD sockets.

http://www.maximumbsd.com/

a rocking ass BSD site.

http://www.bsdapps.org/db/owa/bsdapps$.startup

Need help finding a BSD proggie? look here.

http://www.bsdsearch.com/

looking for a BSD server? looking for things? look here.

http://www.bsdatwork.com/

Make BSD bust its balls for you.

http://www.lemis.com/bsdpaper.html

What about BSD? learn here.

http://bsdfreak.org/

BSD freeeeks.

http://support.daemonnews.org/

BSD for people.
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Linux :


http://www.linuxworld.com/

http://www.linuxhq.com/

LinuxHQ is a great and has alot for newbies and Linux elitists alike, check it out.

http://new.linuxnow.com/

Another good Linux site.

http://www.linuxcentral.com/

The /Root for Linux.

http://www.linuxsecurity.com/

Well this being AO i think there also should be security based Links

http://www.bastille-linux.org/

This is a good site of you would like to lsecure your box more. "The Bastille Hardening System attempts to "harden" or "tighten" Unix operating systems. It currently supports the Red Hat, Debian, Mandrake, SuSE and TurboLinux Linux distributions along with HP-UX and Mac OS X. We attempt to provide the most secure, yet usable, system possible."

http://linux.box.sk/

Another good site.


http://www.linux.org/

if your a newbie or a Linux user, look at this site.

http://www.linux.com/

another good site for everyone.

http://www.tldp.org/tldp-redirect.php?url=/

RTFM

http://www.kernel.org/

Whats in Linux?

http://freshmeat.net/

Linux progs.


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V2_OS :

http://www.v2os.cx/

"Welcome to the domain of V2_OS, an operating system written in 100% in asm, whereof only a tiny, tiny bit is 16bit, and the rest is 32bit!"

"What is V2_OS?
The goal of V2_OS first started as making a stunningly fast operating system for video processing. This goal held for all versions until 0.70, where a major redesign was forced.

The 0.70 versions are completely different, still aimed for maximal performance, though. These are the major features of V2_OS 0.70:

Single addressing space (SAS), this was to avoid far jumps in the code. Far jumps means loading 8 bytes for a single jump to another position in code. Using SAS we more or less force the coders to use shorter jumps (4 bytes to load for one jump), which makes modules smaller.

It is oriented towards the Object Oriented Programming (OOP), which makes even your assembly code able to use OOP.

It is not using any kind of memory protection from start, which enhances the perfomance compared to other systems. This is because the CPU will not have to check for permissions.

V2_OS 0.70 uses a static call table, a table with pointer to commands. This means that you can easily replace system functions with your own system functions. You can, for example, replace the malloc command, which reserves memory for your application, with a new memory allocator which you have coded yourself - maybe with some extra features? This change then instantly takes effect for all running applications."

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SkyOS :

SkyOS is pretty cool, you can look at shots of it and dowbnload it at the site.

http://skyos.org/screenshots.php

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DOS :

http://www.freedos.org/

FreeDOS is a pretty cool DOs, check this out!

http://www.opus.co.tt/dave/

looking for DOs proggies? look here.

http://www.dosgames.com/

DOS games...a good reason to install DOS huh?

http://www.fdisk.com/doslynx/

Looking for DOS web ****? look here.

http://www.drdos.com/

This is a pretty cool site.

http://www.computerhope.com/msdos.htm

Need help or learn about MS-DOS? look here.

"ABOUT MS-DOS
Microsoft DOS (Disk Operating System) is a command line user interface. MS-DOS 1.0 was released in 1981 for IBM computers and the latest version of MS-DOS is MS-DOS 6.22 released in 1994. While MS-DOS is not commonly used by itself today, it still can be accessed from Windows 95, Windows 98 or Windows ME by clicking Start / Run and typing command or CMD in Windows NT, 2000 or XP."

http://www.computerhope.com/msdos.htm#02

DOS commands giving you hell? learn why.

http://www.computerhope.com/msdos.htm#03

"Secret" DOS commands.

http://www.computerhope.com/dosapp.htm

DOS proggies.

http://www.computerhope.com/doserror.htm

DOS giving you an error? look here and see why thats happening.

http://www.computerhope.com/xdoseror.htm

DOS being a bitch and giving errors in HEX? look here.

http://www.computerhope.com/ac.htm

"ABOUT THE AUTOEXEC / CONFIG"

http://www.computerhope.com/boot.htm

Whats a boot disk again? how do i make one? read here.

http://www.computerhope.com/batch.htm

Batch files can be fnu, learn to play with ****

http://www.computerhope.com/irqs.htm

advanced MS-DOS stuff.

http://www.computerhope.com/rdebug.htm

DOS debugging.

http://www.computerhope.com/dissues.htm

Things that can be a problem in DOS that Microsoft knows about.

http://www.computerhope.com/history/dos.htm

History of MS-DOS.

http://www.computerhope.com/dosqa.htm

Youv got questions? well for once we have more than a damn dancing paper clip.

http://www.computerhope.com/dostop10.htm

Hmm, what are the top ten DOS commands? What are the top ten command pages? look!



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Windows 3.x :

http://www.computerhope.com/win3x.htm

Windows 3.1
(enhanced mode)

REQUIREMENTS:

Released 1992

Computer: 100% IBM Compatible
Processor: 80386 or higher processor
Memory: 2MB + RAM
Drives: 8MB Hard disk drive space
3.5" / 5.25"Floppy
Sound:
Video: VGA
Controls: keyboard / Mouse
Operating System: DOS 3.1 and Higher


Windows for workgroups 3.11

REQUIREMENTS

Released 1994

Computer: 100% IBM Compatible
Processor: 386 or higher processor
Memory: 3MB + RAM
Drives: 14MB Hard disk drive space
3.5" / 5.25"Floppy
Sound:
Video: VGA
Controls: keyboard / Mouse
Operating System: DOS 3.3 and Higher

"Released in 1990 Microsoft Windows 3.0 was a revolutionary operating system for the PC as one of the most used GUI operating systems."

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Windows 95 :

http://www.computerhope.com/win95.htm


WIN 95 OSR1
REQUIREMENTS
Released 08/1995
Computer: 100% IBM Compatible
Processor: 386 DX or higher
Memory: 4MB RAM
Drives: 35MB Hard disk drive space
CD-ROM or Floppy
Sound: Sound Blaster compatible Sound Card.
Video: VGA or higher-resolution
Controls: 100% compatible Microsoft keyboard / Mouse
Operating System: DOS 5.0 and Higher
Price: $70.00 - $90.00

"The next installment of Windows from Windows 3.11. Windows 95 added major enhancements when compared to Windows 3.11.

Some of the new features that Windows 95 have which Windows 3.x Does not have are:

Plug and Play Allows hardware devices to be automatically installed into the computer with the proper software. Does not require jumpers to be played with.
32 Bit 32-Bit operating system allowing the computer to run faster and more efficiently.
Registry Combines the power of multiple configuration files into two files allowing the system configurations to be located easier.
Memory Windows 95 has an improved memory handling processes compared to Windows 3.11.
Right mouse click Allows you new access and text manipulation by utilizing both buttons instead of one.
CD-Player Enhanced CD-Player with improved usability and AutoPlay feature."

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Windows 98 :

http://www.computerhope.com/win98.htm

WINDOWS 98
REQUIREMENTS
Released 1998
Computer: 100% IBM Compatible
Processor: 486DX/66 MHz or Higher processor
Memory: 16 MB of RAM
Drives: Approximately 195MB; can take up to 295MB
CD-ROM or Floppy
Sound: Standard Sound card for sound capability.
Video: VGA or higher-resolution
Controls: 100% compatible Microsoft keyboard / Mouse
Operating System: Windows 3.x, 3.1x or Windows 95 to upgrade
Direct X: Includes Direct X 5.0
Price: $80.00 - $100.00

WINDOWS 98 SE
REQUIREMENTS
Computer: 100% IBM Compatible
Processor: 486DX/66 MHz or Higher processor
Memory: 24 MB of RAM
Drives: Approximately 205MB; can take up to 315MB
CD-ROM / DVD
Sound: Standard Sound card for sound capability.
Video: VGA or higher-resolution
Controls: 100% compatible Microsoft keyboard / Mouse
Operating System: Windows 3.x, 3.1x or Windows 95 to upgrade
Direct X: Includes Direct X 6.0
Price: $100.00 - $200.00

"Microsoft Windows 98 is the upgrade to Microsoft Windows 95. While this was not as big as release as Windows 95, Windows 98 has significant updates, fixes and support for new peripherals. The following is a list of some of its new features.

Protection - Windows 98 includes additional protection for important files on your computer such as backing up your registry automatically.
Improved support - Improved support for new devices such as AGP, Direct X, DVD, USB, MMX,
FAT32 - Windows 98 has the capability of converting your drive to FAT32 without loosing any information.
Interface - Users of Windows 95 and NT will enjoy the same easy interface.
PnP - Improved PnP support, to detect devices even better then Windows 95.
Internet Explorer 4.0 - Included Internet Explorer 4.0
Customizable Taskbar - Windows add many nice new features to the taskbar which 95 and NT do not have.
Includes Plus! - Includes features only found in Microsoft Plus! free.
Active Desktop - Includes Active Desktop which allows for users to customize there desktop with the look of the Internet."


"
COMPUTER SOFTWARE
Information about Windows 98

QUICK LINKS
Windows 98 Overview
Windows 98 SE Overview
Basic trouble shooting
What's new
New programs
Tips and tricks
Q&A
Device manager information
Windows versions
Registry
Msdos.sys
Other operating systems

WINDOWS 98 OVERVIEW



Microsoft Windows 98 is the upgrade to Microsoft Windows 95. While this was not as big as release as Windows 95, Windows 98 has significant updates, fixes and support for new peripherals. The following is a list of some of its new features.

Protection - Windows 98 includes additional protection for important files on your computer such as backing up your registry automatically.
Improved support - Improved support for new devices such as AGP, Direct X, DVD, USB, MMX,
FAT32 - Windows 98 has the capability of converting your drive to FAT32 without loosing any information.
Interface - Users of Windows 95 and NT will enjoy the same easy interface.
PnP - Improved PnP support, to detect devices even better then Windows 95.
Internet Explorer 4.0 - Included Internet Explorer 4.0
Customizable Taskbar - Windows add many nice new features to the taskbar which 95 and NT do not have.
Includes Plus! - Includes features only found in Microsoft Plus! free.
Active Desktop - Includes Active Desktop which allows for users to customize there desktop with the look of the Internet.

WINDOWS 98 SE



Including the same additional features as Windows 98 however includes additional fixes and all of Year 2000 patches have been included in Windows 98 Second Edition. The following is a listing of the various new features Windows 98 SE includes.

Updates - Includes all the latest updates for Windows 98 including Year 2000 updates, USB support and more.
Software - Updated versions of Internet Explorer, outlook express, windows media player, DirectX, NetMeeting and more.
Drivers / Support - Additional support for latest technology such as MMX, USB, Pentium III and more."

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Windows ME :

http://www.computerhope.com/winme.htm

I have no idea why I would put this here, but hey maybe it will come in handy for someone.

WINDOWS ME
Released 09/14/2000
Computer: 100% IBM Compatible
Processor: Intel Pentium 150 MHz or faster.
Intel Pentium 300 MHz or faster for users who wish to use the Windows Media Player
Memory: 32 MB RAM
64 MB RAM for Windows Media Player.
Drives: At least 270 MB can take up to 410MB of hard disk space
CD-ROM / DVD-ROM drive
Sound: Sound Card with Speakers recommended.
Video: Monitor with VGA or higher resolution.
Controls: Keyboard / Mouse
Operating System: Requires Windows 98 for Windows ME upgrade.
Price: Upgrade: $70.00 - $100.00
Full: $150.00 - $190.00

Now i know i went over some detail fromt he web site in this but ****, for Windows ME, if you wanna really know check the web page. The site i am using to give you this info is amazing and very useful i think.

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Windows NT :

http://www.computerhope.com/winnt.htm

WINDOWS NT 4.0
(Intel Based Systems)
REQUIREMENTS
Computer: 100% IBM Compatible
Processor: 486 33MHz / Pentium highly recommended
Memory: 16MB RAM
Drives: 110MB Hard disk drive space
CD-ROM
Sound: Optional
Video: VGA or higher-resolution
Controls: keyboard / Mouse
Operating System: Requires previous Version of NT for upgrade.
Direct X: Shipped with Direct X 2.0
Price: $150.00 - $314.00+
Prices may vary higher with additional clients


WINDOWS NT 4.0
(RISC Based Systems)
REQUIREMENTS
Computer:
Processor: Workstations with Alpha AXP, MIPS R4x00, or PowerPC
Memory: 16MB RAM
Drives: 110MB Hard disk drive space
CD-ROM
Sound: Optional
Video: VGA or higher-resolution
Controls: keyboard / Mouse
Operating System: Requires previous Version of NT for upgrade.
Price: $319.00+
Prices may vary higher with additional clients

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Windows 2,000 :

http://www.computerhope.com/win2000.htm


WINDOWS 2000 PROFESSIONAL
REQUIREMENTS
Released 2/2000
Computer: IBM or 100% compatible
Processor: Intel Pentium 133 MHz or equivalent
Memory: 32 MB
Drives: 650 MB Disk space
CD-ROM / DVD drive
Sound:
Video: VGA or higher
Controls: Microsoft mouse / keyboard or compatible
Operating System: Requires Windows 95, 98 NT 3.5 or 4.0 for upgrade.
Direct X: Direct X 7.0
Other: NIC required for network installation
Price: Upgrade: $200.00 - $220.00
Full: $300.00 - $320.00


WINDOWS 2000 SERVER
REQUIREMENTS
Released 2/2000
Computer: IBM or 100% compatible
Processor: Intel Pentium 133 MHz or equivalent
4 CPU's Supported
Memory: 256 MB
Drives: 1.0 GB Disk space
Sound:
Video: VGA or higher monitor
Controls: Mouse / keyboard or compatible
Operating System: Requires Windows NT Server 3.5 or 4.0
Price: Upgrade: $500 and higher
Full: $900 and higher
Prices are based off amount of clients beginning price is 5-client edition


WINDOWS 2000 ADVANCED SERVER
REQUIREMENTS
Released 2/2000
Computer: IBM or 100% compatible
Processor: Intel Pentium 133 MHz or equivalent
8 CPU's Supported
Memory: 256 MB
Drives: 1.0 MB Disk space
CD-ROM / DVD drive
Sound:
Video: VGA or higher
Controls: Microsoft mouse / keyboard or compatible
Price: Upgrade: $3,200.00 and higher
Full: $3,600.00 and higher
Prices are based off amount of clients beginning price is 25-client edition

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I know alot from one site huh? well think, DAMN THAT SITE ROKS.!!

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Misc OS Info :

http://www.500mhz.net/ndx.html

Some of the links dont work but knowing that these OSs exist is cool too.
Well, it took a while to type this **** again because of me having to RE DO it all, but oh well, OSs are one of my favorite subjects in computers so anyway, i hope this post has helped someone who was searching for some OS links, i enjoyed making this post for you all and Thanks again to TheFiend for welcoming more info, you rock man!.

[gore]

Holy ****! Digital Syntax man that post is great dude! so much info! and thankd everyone for some links, i collect OSs and its cool to get fresh info

[TheFiend]

I think i dont have to add anything about DOS for a bit, by the way Digital man, that site is awesome i looked at it for like 3 hours, VERY nice. And thanks alot for adding so much to my post, i appreciate it man, you rock!

[techtech]

Great posts everyone! The links will take me forever to get through! I agree with TheFiend about SuSE for us Linux Newbies, but one thing that I haven't seen mentioned here. What about the Mac OS's...Personally, I am definetly a PC person, but learning the Mac OS's definetly helps with being an admin type. They are out there. Anyone have any comments on the Mac family of OS's?

[vescovono]

Acch. I just got back from a sales presentation (actually a clubbing) from a *nix vendor and this raised a question for me that I hope will fit me'ah.

Basically between the 'big' players of *nix (HP, IBM, Sun) or just commerical *nix in general:

1) Are there any 'good' tutorial sites for people who want to learn more about those?

2) In comparing how these OSs' perform, has anyone found some good benchmarking data that is neutral of the vendor who sells that *nix? Why am I asking? Because after the sales pitch I and others just went through, I am really questioning their data and their 'superior performance' over their competitors.

Last - just wanted to mention that this is a great thread, so thanks to everyone for the great information, especially TheFiend and DigitalSyntax. Great info!

[wyverspur]

Also as a side note... Windows 3.x was not an OS, just a DOS shell...... It ran on top of DOS.

If we want to quibble over details like this, then perhaps we should add Windows 9x since they too run over DOS.

[gore]

Hmm, hopefully this answers your question or points you in the right direction at least.

For HP-UX, iv seen a thread or two about this and also you may wanna check HPs website and also IBM has a few things about theres on the ibm.com site, as for sun they to have a website with information but i think what you mean is a non biased opinion.

HP-UX:

http://www.hp.com/products1/unix/operating/

this has a good amount of info including what playforms and things it runs on and also some good info to read about.

Sun's website should have something similar and also me supporting IBM (hey they made the first PC and allowed others to use the idea so we have mroe than one brand name of PC) and i go to IBM.com once ina while and they have a lot of info, id just check there websites and google the three types you were curiouse about and see what pops up, also if i find some better sites to go over it ill list them here and more info if i can find it, hope it helps

[catch]

If the goal with this is operating systems for hackers to study, you left out a huge class of systems. Multi-level secure systems. These are the systems that actually have any worthwhile information on them at banks, tech companies, and the military (and anywhere else with higher security requirements) Many of these systems looks like various flavors of UN*X but are in fact profoundly different.
Most of these systems are very expensive (and XTS-300 system running STOP will set you back over $80k for example and it is just a P3.) However a recent uprising of crappy MLS systems like SELinux and the TrustedBSD project which is being even further debased in FBSD 5.x are free. Give them a try, because until you understand labeled security you're just playing in the minors.

For more resources, you can go here: http://www.radium.ncsc.mil/tpep/ or check out the TCSEC ratings B1+, ITSEC E3+, "Mandatory Access Controls", "Domain Based Access Controls", and "Bell-LaPadula" should get you started. After a quick review of the TCSEC and ITSEC criteria you will see how OpenBSD does not differ in security from oh... Mandrake Linux. If you disagree, don't flame me, i am just telling you what those criteria say... go flame the NCSC or the NSA etc. cause they wrote it, not me.

catch

[FrameWork]

Great post's guys, you put a lot of hard work into that. to both of you and the thread. Id pat you on the back, but then it would get too personal. Ha! Very good.

[TheFiend]

Try reading the whole post, no where did i say this is what every hacker should know, i made this thread because i got tired of people posting asking which OS they should use, i was pointing out its a philosophy not an answer and i gve some info about some iv used and other things and then DigitalSyntax kicked some ass with his post.



EDIT: I just realised, Im now a Jr member! w00t.