General Information
| Name | Creator | First public release | Predecessor | Latest stable version | Latest release date | Cost, availability | Preferred license | Target system type |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| AIX | IBM | 1986 | UNIX System V Release 3 | 7.1 | 2010 | Bundled with hardware | Proprietary | Server, NAS, workstation |
| Android | Android, Inc., Google | 2008 | Linux | 4.2 (Jelly Bean) | 2012 | Free | Apache 2.0, GNU GPLv2 | Consumer, enterprise, military, education |
| AmigaOS classic | Commodore International, Haage & Partner, Hyperion Entertainment | 1985 | TRIPOS (as the disk operating component of AmigaOS) | 3.9 | 2000, December 4 | Bundled with hardware up to version 3.0 (Amiga International Hardware came with 3.1); versions 2.1, 3.0, 3.1, 3.5, 3.9 also available as separate packages | Proprietary, open source clone available under AROS Public License | Workstation, personal computer |
| AmigaOS 4 | Hyperion Entertainment | 2004 | AmigaOS classic | 4.1 update 5 | 2012 | 4.0 bundled with hardware; 4.0 for classic and 4.1 available as standalone package at €99 | Proprietary | Workstation, personal computer |
| eComStation | Serenity Systems, Mensys BV | 2001 | OS/2 | 2.1 | 2011 | Home-student edition (max. 5 per site) $149.00 business edition $259.00 |
Proprietary | Server, workstation, personal computer |
| EPOC32 | Psion PLC | 1996 | ER5 | 1999 | Commercial | Proprietary | PDA | |
| FreeBSD | The FreeBSD Project | 1993 | 386BSD | 9 | 2012 | Free | BSD | Server, workstation, NAS, embedded |
| DragonFly BSD | Matthew Dillon | 2003 | FreeBSD | 2.10 | 2011 | Free | BSD | Server, workstation, NAS, embedded |
| Haiku | Haiku Inc. | 2009 | BeOS R5 | R1/Alpha4 | 2012 | Free | MIT | Personal computer |
| HP-UX | Hewlett-Packard | 1983 | UNIX System V | 11.31 "11i v3" | 2007 | $400 | Proprietary | Server, workstation |
| IBM i | IBM | 1988 | OS/400 | 7.1 | 2010 | Bundled with hardware | Proprietary | Server |
| Inferno | Bell Labs | 1997 | Plan 9 | Fourth Edition | 2007 | Free | MIT, GNU GPL, GNU LGPL, LPL | NAS, server, embedded |
| iOS | Apple Inc. | 2007 | OS X | 6.0.1 | 2012 | Bundled with hardware | Proprietary higher level API layers; open source core system (ARM versions): APSL, GNU GPL, others | Smartphone, music player, tablet computer |
| IRIX | SGI | 1988 | UNIX System V | 6.5.30 | 2006 | Bundled with hardware | Proprietary | Server, workstation |
| GNU/Linux | Richard Stallman, Linus Torvalds, et al. | GNU: 1983, Linux: 1992 | Unix, MINIX | Linux kernel 3.4; GNU C Library 2.13 | 2012 | Free | GNU GPL, GNU LGPL, others | See: Comparison of Linux distributions |
| Mac OS | Apple Inc. | 1984 | None | 9.2.2 | 2002 | Bundled with 68K and PowerPC Macs;
versions 7-9 sold as retail upgrades |
Proprietary | Workstation, personal computer |
| OS X | Apple Inc. | 2001 | NeXTStep | 10.8.2 | 2012 | Bundled with hardware; upgrades sold separately: Desktop $169 (one-user Mac box set), $29 (one-user Mac OS X v10.6 upgrade) Family Pack $229 (5-user Mac box set), $49 (5-user Mac OS X v10.6 upgrade) |
Proprietary higher level API layers; open source core system (Intel-PowerPC versions): APSL, GNU GPL, others | Workstation, personal computer, embedded |
| OS X Server | Apple Inc. | 2001 | BSD | 10.8.2 | 2012 | Bundled with hardware; and sold separately: $499 (unlimited clients) |
Proprietary higher level API layers; open source core system (Intel-PowerPC versions): APSL, GNU GPL, others | Server |
| MINIX 3 | Andrew S. Tanenbaum | 2005 | Minix2 | 3.1.8 | 2010 | Free | BSD | Workstation |
| NetBSD | The NetBSD Project | 1993 | 386BSD | 5.1.2 | 2012 | Free | BSD | NAS, server, workstation, embedded |
| NetWare | Novell | 1985 | S-Net | 6.5 SP8 | 2008 | $184 (one-user) | Proprietary | Server |
| NeXTStep | NeXT | 1989 | Unix | 3.3 | 1995 | Bundled with hardware, then sold separately | Proprietary | Workstation |
| OpenBSD | The OpenBSD Project | 1995 | NetBSD 1.0 | 5.1 | 2012, May 1 | Free | ISC | Server, NAS, workstation, embedded |
| OpenIndiana | Many, based on software developed by Sun Microsystems and many others | 2010 | OpenSolaris | 2010, December 17 | Free | CDDL mostly, and others | Server, workstation | |
| OpenVMS | DEC (now HP) | 1977 | RSX-11M | 8.4 | 2010 | Commercial, free non-commercial use | Proprietary | Server, workstation |
| OS/2 | IBM and Microsoft | 1987 | Unix, Windows 3.x | 4.52 | 2001 | $300 | Proprietary | Personal computer, server |
| PC-BSD | PC-BSD Software | 2006 | FreeBSD | 9 | 2012 | Free | BSD | Personal computer, workstation, server |
| Plan 9 | Bell Labs | 1993 | Unix | Fourth Edition | (Daily snapshots) | Free | LPL | Workstation, server, embedded, HPC |
| QNX | QNX Software Systems | 1982 | Unix, POSIX | 6.5.0 | 2012 | Commercial; an academic version exists that needs authorization code before installing | Proprietary | Workstation, server, industrial, automotive, embedded |
| Solaris | Sun | 1992 | SunOS | 11 11/11 | 2011 | Commercial; a free 90 days evaluation version exists | CDDL | Server, workstation |
| Symbian | Symbian Ltd. | 1998 | EPOC32 | 9.5 | 2009 | Commercial | Proprietary | Phones |
| Symbian platform | Symbian Foundation | 2010 | Symbian | 3.0.4 | 2010 | Free | EPL | embedded |
| Windows Server (NT family) | Microsoft | 1993 | MS-DOS, OS/2, Windows 3.x | Windows Server 2012 (NT 6.2.9200) | 2012 | $469 Web Server; other editions dependent on number of CALs purchased | Proprietary | Server, NAS, embedded, HPC |
| Microsoft Windows (NT family) | Microsoft | 1993 | MS-DOS, OS/2, Windows 3.x | Windows 8 (NT 6.2.9200) | 2012 | Home Basic retail $99.95, Home Premium retail $119.95, Business retail $299.95, Ultimate retail $300.95 | Proprietary | Workstation, personal computer, media center, Tablet PC, embedded |
| Microsoft Windows (classic family) | Microsoft | 1985 | MS-DOS, Windows 1.0 and later | Windows Me (Win 4.90.3000) | 2000 | Outdated, no longer sold | Proprietary | Personal computer, media center |
| RISC iX | Acorn Computers | 1988 | BSD 4.3 | 1.21c | 1993 | Bundled with hardware | Proprietary | Workstation |
| RISC OS | Acorn Computers | 1987 | Arthur, also the BBC Master OS | 3.71 | 1997 | Bundled with hardware | Proprietary | Education, personal computer |
| RISC OS | RISCOS Ltd, Pace plc | 1999 | RISC OS 4 | 4.39 | 2004 | Bundled with hardware, then sold separately at $127 (£70) | Proprietary | Education, personal computer |
| RISC OS | Castle Technology, RISC OS Open | 2002 | RISC OS 5 | 5.17 | 2010 | Free for non-commercial use (recent releases); formerly bundled with hardware | Shared Source | Education, personal computer |
| RISC OS | RISCOS Ltd | 2006 | RISC OS 6 | 6.20 | 2010 | Bundled with hardware, then sold separately at $127 (£70) | Proprietary | Education, personal computer |
| ZETA | yellowTAB | 2005 | BeOS R5 | 1.5 | 2007 | Discontinued | Proprietary | Personal computer, media center, workstation |
| STOP 6, XTS-400 | BAE Systems | 2003 | STOP 5, XTS-300 | 6.4.U1 | 2007 | Unknown; supplied to customers on-demand by BAE Systems | Proprietary | Server, workstation |
| ReactOS | ReactOS development team | 1996 | Windows NT | 0.3.14 | 2012 | Free | GNU GPL, GNU LGPL | Workstation, personal computer |
| VxWorks | Wind River Systems | 1987 | VRTX | 6.9 | 2011 | Paid | Proprietary | Embedded Real-time systems |
| z/OS | IBM | 2000 | OS/390 | 1.12 | 2010 | Monthly license fee, about $130 and up | Proprietary | IBM mainframe |
| z/VSE | IBM | 2007 | VSE/ESA | 4.3 | 2010, July | Monthly license fee | Proprietary | IBM mainframe |
| z/VM | IBM | 2000 | VM | 6.2 | 2011 | Monthly license fee | Proprietary | IBM mainframe |
| HP Nonstop | HP | 1974 | Guardian | H06.24/J06.13 | 2012 | Non-free | Proprietary | HP Nonstop Servers |
| Name | Creator | First public release | Predecessor | Latest stable version | Latest release date | Cost, availability | Preferred license | Target system type |
Read more about this topic: Comparison Of Operating Systems
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