Last month, we took you on a tour of computing's most venerated classic PCs. In our classic PC hardware retrospective, we highlighted the computers that deployed the innovations we take for granted today. But just as a car without gas is just roadblock, computer hardware without software is essentially paperweight. And while it’s true that the hardware is the visually sexier component of a system, the software is equally important and often more challenging to create. Today, we take a look at the history of early computer software, from the first character-based interfaces to the last pre-32-bit OSes (yes, Mac OS included). We also spotlight the notable programs that ran on these various platforms, including the first productivity and design applications. And because we're avid gamers, we couldn't neglect video gaming's contribution to the software world -- we included the firsts of each gaming genre.
The soul of any computer is its operating system. This software component is the basic interface between the hardware and/or hardware BIOS (Basic Input/Output System) and the rest of the software. It provides the basic capabilities such as user interaction, storage management, communications and so on.
Early Operating systems were fairly primitive with text-based interfaces, limited I/O, few storage options and marginal expandability. This was appropriate for the limited hardware of their day (who wants a 32K operating system on a 48K system?) but on today’s seemingly unlimited platforms we’re looking for more power. The evolution between there and here has been fast, furious and interesting.
The Flashback botnet scare may have thrust Macs' supposed invulnerability to antiviruses claim under a microscope, but Sophos decided it wanted some numbers to go along with the heaping of hype. So the company studied feedback from 100,000 Apple computers with Sophos antivirus installed and surprisingly discovered that the Macs were fairly teeming with malware. Before you start laughing, consider this: the vast majority of the malware found didn't affect OS X at all. It targeted Windows PCs.
