Should Operating Systems Be Compatible

[Diva]

Do you think that computer Operating Systems should stay the same or work to be 100% compatible with eachthother and the internet?

[SysLord]

I am not sure what the point of this question is. OS's have always been different in larger or lesser degree. 'Internet compatibility' does not exist. Personally I advocate competition because otherwise we will all be filling M$ pockets running Windoze on all PC's around the globe. Long live LINUX!

[Andie]

If it looks like an Imac and dont have any eject button for the cd-rom throw it away..

[Sterling]

Operating System covers a wide range of stuff. There are operating systems for embedded systems, portable devices, desktop computers, special purpose systems and 'big-iron' supercomputers and servers. While there has been some convergence (e.g. the same OSes that desktop computers now run, are increasingly used in 'big-iron' applications), I think there will always necessarily be some differences.

Plus, the definition of operating system has changed quite a lot. What counts as the operating system? Some people say it's just the kernel, but a kernel on it's own is useless. At the very least there are some basic programs which most reasonable people consider to be part of the system (for example, commands like 'dir' or 'ls' are programs). But then where do you stop? Are window managers and GUI toolkits part of an operating system? Arguably yes. What about printer drivers and font management? Almost certainly. Ten years ago, you had to buy a 3rd party TCP/IP stack for Windows, now nobody would consider an operating system complete without one. How about web browsers? There was a lot of bleating about MS including one with Windows, but honestly, it's a pretty basic thing that a modern computer isn't complete without.

In short, I think the question "should operating systems be compatible" presupposes many things which I either think are false or hazily defined.

[Sterling]

Oh, and you already can get Word for your Mac. Microsoft Office has been the top selling Mac application for years.