This is a list of operating systems. Computer operating systems can be categorized by technology, ownership, licensing, working state, usage, and by many other characteristics. In practice, many of these groupings may overlap. Criteria for inclusion is notability, as shown either through an existing Wikipedia article or citation to a reliable source.
Unix ("Ken's new system," for its creator (Ken Thompson), officially Unics and then Unix, the prototypic operating system created in Bell Labs in 1969 that formed the basis for the Unix family of operating systems)
UNIX Time-Sharing System v7 (It is from Version 7 Unix (and, to an extent, its descendants listed below) that almost all Unix-based and Unix-like operating systems descend.)
VMS – originally by DEC (now by VMS Software Inc.) for the VAX mini-computer range; later renamed OpenVMS and ported to Alpha, and subsequently ported to Intel Itanium and then to x86-64
ChromiumOS is an open source operating system development version of ChromeOS. Both operating systems are based on the Linux kernel.
ChromeOS is designed to work exclusively with web applications, though has been updated to run Android apps with full support for Google Play Store. Announced on July 7, 2009, ChromeOS is currently publicly available and was released summer 2011. The ChromeOS source code was released on November 19, 2009, under the BSD license as ChromiumOS.
Android is an operating system for mobile devices. It consists of Android Runtime (userland) with Linux (kernel), with its Linux kernel modified to add drivers for mobile device hardware and to remove unused Vanilla Linux drivers.
gLinux, a Linux distribution that Google uses internally
Fuchsia is a capability-basedreal-time operating system (RTOS) scalable to universal devices, in early development, from the tiniest embedded hardware, wristwatches, tablets to the largest personal computers. Unlike ChromeOS and Android, it is not based on the Linux kernel, but instead began on a new microkernel called "Zircon", derived from "Little Kernel".
iRMX – real-time operating system originally created to support the Intel 8080 and 8086 processor families in embedded applications.
ISIS, ISIS-II – "Intel Systems Implementation Supervisor" was an environment for development of software within the Intel microprocessor family in the early 1980s on their Intellec Microcomputer Development System and clones. ISIS-II worked with 8 inch floppy disks and had an editor, cross-assemblers, a linker, an object locator, debugger, compilers for PL/M, a BASIC interpreter, etc. and allowed file management through a console.
iMAX 432 - an operating system for systems based on Intel's iAPX 432 architecture.
Clear Linux - an operating system optimized for Intel's microprocessors with an emphasis on performance and security.
OS/360 (first official OS targeted for the System/360 architecture)
PCP (Primary Control Program, a kernel and a ground breaking automatic space allocating file system)
MFT (original Multi-programming with a Fixed number of Tasks, replaced by MFT II)
MFT II (Multi-Programming with a Fixed number of Tasks, had up to 15 fixed size application partitions, plus partitions for system tasks, initially defined at boot time but redefinable by operator command)
MVT (Multi-Programming with a Variable number of Tasks, had up to 15 application regions defined dynamically, plus additional regions for system tasks)
M65MP (MVT with support for a multiprocessor 360/65)
OS/VS (port of OS/360 targeted for the System/370virtual memory architecture (OS/370 is not the correct name for OS/VS1 and OS/VS2.) OS/VS has the following variations:
OS/VS1 (Operating System/Virtual Storage 1, Virtual-memory version of OS/360 MFT II)
OS/VS1 Basic Programming Extensions (BPE) adds device support and VM handshaking
OS/VS2 (Operating System/Virtual Storage 2, Virtual-memory version of OS/360 MVT)
OS/VS2 R1 (Called Single Virtual Storage (SVS), Virtual-memory version of OS/360 MVT but without multiprocessing support)
BOS/360 (early interim version of DOS/360, briefly available at a few Alpha & Beta System/360 sites)
TOS/360 (similar to BOS above and more fleeting, able to boot and run from 2x00 series tape drives)
DOS/360 (Disk Operating System (DOS), multi-programming system with up to 3 partitions, first commonly available OS for System/360)
DOS/360/RJE (DOS/360 with a control program extension that provided for the monitoring of remote job entry hardware (card reader & printer) connected by dedicated phone lines)
DOS/VS (First DOS offered on System/370 systems, provided virtual storage)
DOS/VSE (also known as VSE, upgrade of DOS/VS, up to 14 fixed size processing partitions )
VSE/Advanced Functions (VSE/AF) - Additional functionality for DOS/VSE
VSE/SP (program product including DOS/VSE and VSE/AF)
VSE/ESA, replaces VSE/SP, supports ESA/370 and ESA/390 with 31-bit addresses
z/VSE (latest version of the four decades old DOS lineage, supports 64-bit addresses, multiprocessing, multiprogramming, SNA, TCP/IP, and some virtual machine features in support of Linux workloads)
CP/CMS (Control Program/Cambridge Monitor System) and successors on IBM S/360, S/370, and successor mainframes
VM/370 Basic System Extensions Program Product (VM/BSE, AKA BSEPP) is an enhancement to VM/370
VM/370 System Extensions Program Product (VM/SE, AKA SEPP) is an enhancement to VM/370 that includes the facilities of VM/BSE
Virtual Machine/System Product (VM/SP) replaces VM/370, VM/BSE and VM/SE.
Virtual Machine/Extended Architecture (VM/XA) refers to three versions of VM that support System/370 Extended Architecture (S/370-XA) with 31-bit virtual addresses
Virtual Machine/Extended architecture Migration Aid (VM/XA MA) - Intended for MVS/370 to MVS/XA migration
Virtual Machine/Extended Architecture Systems Facility (VM/XA SF) - new release of VM/XA MA with additional functionality
Virtual Machine/Extended Architecture System Product (VM/XA SP) - Replaces VM/SP, VM/SP HPO and VM/XA SF
Virtual Machine/Enterprise Systems Architecture (VM/ESA), supports S/370, ESA/370 and ESA/390 (a Unix environment was available starting with[14] Version 2.)
z/VM (z/Architecture version of the VM OS with 64-bit addressing). Starting with Version 3,[15] the Unix environment was standard.
MTS (Michigan Terminal System, developed by a group of universities in the US, Canada, and the UK for the IBM System/360 Model 67, System/370 series, and compatible mainframes)
RTOS/360 (IBM's Real Time Operating System, ran on 5 NASA custom System/360-75s)[16]
NetWare – network operating system providing high-performance network services. Has been superseded by Open Enterprise Server line, which can be based on NetWare or Linux to provide the same set of services.
Tizen is an operating system based on the Linux kernel, a project within the Linux Foundation and is governed by a Technical Steering Group (TSG) while controlled by Samsung and backed by Intel. Tizen works on a wide range of Samsung devices including smartphones, tablets, smart TVs, PCs and wearable.
Xenix, Unix System III based distribution for the Intel 8086/8088 architecture
Xenix 286, Unix System V Release 2 based distribution for the Intel 80286 architecture
Xenix 386, Unix System V Release 2 based distribution for the Intel 80386 architecture
SCO Unix, SCO UNIX System V/386 was the first volume commercial product licensed by AT&T to use the UNIX System trademark (1989). Derived from AT&T System V Release 3.2 with an infusion of Xenix device drivers and utilities plus most of the SVR4 features
SCO Open Desktop, the first 32-bit graphical user interface for UNIX Systems running on Intel processor-based computers. Based on SCO Unix
SCO OpenServer 6, SVR5 (UnixWare 7) based kernel with SCO OpenServer 5 application and binary compatibility, system administration, and user environments
UnixWare 2.x, based on AT&T System V Release 4.2MP
UnixWare 7, UnixWare 2 kernel plus parts of 3.2v5 (UnixWare 2 + OpenServer 5 = UnixWare 7). Referred to by SCO as SVR5
Silicon Laboratories (formerly Micrium Inc.)
Micrium OS - customized μC/OS-III for Silicon Laboratories's SoC products
Sinclair Research
Sinclair BASIC was used in the 8-bit home computers from Sinclair Research and Timex Sinclair. It was included in the ROM, and the computers booted to the Basic interpreter. Various versions exist, with the latter ones supporting disk drive operations.
PikeOS – a certified real time operating system for safety and security critical embedded systems
Tandem Computers, Compaq, Hewlett-Packard, Hewlett Packard Enterprise
NonStop OS - formerly Guardian (Tandem), then NonStop Kernel, then NonStop OS; runs on HPE's NonStop line of servers
Tandy Corporation
TRSDOS – A floppy-disk-oriented OS supplied by Tandy/Radio Shack for their TRS-80 Z80-based line of personal computers. Eventually renamed as LS-DOS or LDOS.
SymbolicsGenera written in a systems dialect of the Lisp programming language called ZetaLisp and Symbolics Common Lisp. Genera was ported to a virtual machine for the DEC Alpha line of computers.
Michigan Terminal System – Developed by a group of universities in the US, Canada, and the UK for use on the IBM System/360 Model 67, the System/370 series, and compatible mainframes
MUSIC/SP – an operating system developed for the S/370, running normally under VM
UniFLEX (Unix-like OS from TSC for DMA-capable, extended addresses, Motorola 6809 based computers; e.g. SWTPC, Gimix and others)
Unicos (the version of Unix designed for Cray Supercomputers, mainly geared to vector calculations)
UTX-32 (Developed by Gould CSD (Computer System Division), a Unix-based OS that included both BSD and System V characteristics. It was one of the first Unix based systems to receive NSA's C2 security level certification.)[citation needed]
Zenix, Zenith corporations Unix (a popular USA electronics maker at the time)[citation needed]
illumos, contains original Unix (SVR4) code derived from the OpenSolaris (discontinued by Oracle in favor of Solaris 11 Express)
OpenIndiana, operates under the illumos Foundation. Uses the illumos kernel, which is a derivative of OS/Net, which is basically an OpenSolaris/Solaris kernel with the bulk of the drivers, core libraries, and basic utilities.
Nexenta OS, based on the illumos kernel with Ubuntu packages
Xv6 - a simple Unix-like teaching operating system from MIT
SerenityOS - aims to be a modern Unix-like operating system, yet with a look and feel that emulates 1990s operating systems such as Microsoft Windows and the classic Mac OS.
OpenHarmony - LiteOS kernel and kernel add-ons side of the kernel tree under Kernel Abstract Layer (KAL) structure
Uniproton real-time operating system for ultra-low latency and adaptable mixed-critical deployment capabilities contributed by openEuler community and also part of OpenHarmony add-on kernel
Visopsys – written in C and assembly by Andy McLaughlin
Research
Unix or Unix-like
Plan 9 from Bell Labs – distributed OS developed at Bell Labs, based on original Unix design principles yet functionally different and going much further
Inferno – distributed OS derived from Plan 9, originally from Bell Labs
9front, a derivative open-source project[29] made to resurrect Plan 9[30] to passionate developers
THE multiprogramming system – by Dijkstra in 1968, at the Eindhoven University of Technology in the Netherlands, introduced the first form of software-based memory segmentation, freeing programmers from being forced to use actual physical locations
86-DOS (developed at Seattle Computer Products by Tim Paterson for the new Intel 808x CPUs; licensed to Microsoft, became PC DOS/MS-DOS. Also known by its working title QDOS.)
PC DOS (IBM's DOS variant, developed jointly with Microsoft, versions 1.0–7.0, 2000, 7.10)
MS-DOS (Microsoft's DOS variant for OEM, developed jointly with IBM, versions 1.x–6.22 Microsoft's now abandoned DOS variant)
JNode (Java New Operating System Design Effort), written 99% in Java (native compiled), provides own JVM and JIT compiler. Based on GNU Classpath.[36][37]
JX Java operating system that focuses on a flexible and robust operating system architecture developed as an open source system by the University of Erlangen.
UCSD p-System (portable complete programming environment/operating system/virtual machine developed by a long running student project at UCSD; directed by Prof Kenneth Bowles; written in Pascal)
Cambridge CAP computer – operating system demonstrated the use of security capabilities, both in hardware and software, also a useful fileserver, implemented in ALGOL 68C
Flex machine – Custom microprogrammable hardware, with an operating system, (modular) compiler, editor, * garbage collector and filing system all written in ALGOL 68.
^{{cite web
} title = Availability: VM/ESA Version 2 Release 1.0 with OpenEdition for VM/ESA
| id = 295-240
| date = June 12, 1995
| series = Announcement letters
| url = https://www.ibm.com/docs/en/announcements/archive/ENUS295-240
| publisher = IBM
| access-date = March 29, 2024
}}
^"Despite its name suggesting some similarity to Unix, Xinu is a different type of operating system, written with no knowledge of the Unix source code, or compatibility goals. It uses different abstractions, and system calls, some with names matching those of Unix, but different semantics."
Garfinkel, Simson; Spafford, Gene; Schwartz, Alan (2003). Practical UNIX and Internet Security. O'Reilly. p. 19.