comparison of operating systems

Name Creator First public release Predecessor Latest stable version Latest release date Cost/Availability Preferred license[g 1] Target system type
AIX IBM 1986 UNIX System V Release 3 6.1 2007 Bundled with hardware Proprietary Server, NetApp, Workstation
AmigaOS Classic Commodore International, Haage and Partner 1985 TRIPOS (as the disk operating component of AmigaOS) 3.9 2008 Bundled with hardware up to version 2.0. Versions 2.1, 3.0, 3.1, 3.5 and 3.9 also available as separate package. Proprietary, Open source clone available under AROS Public License Workstation, Personal computer
AmigaOS 4 Hyperion Entertainment 2004 AmigaOS Classic 4.1 Update 2 2010 4.0 bundled with hardware. 4.0 for classic and 4.1 available as standalone package at € 99. Proprietary Workstation, Personal computer
FreeBSD The FreeBSD Project 1993 386BSD 8.0 2010 Free BSD Server, Workstation, NetApp, Embedded system
Haiku Haiku Inc. 2009 BeOS R5 R1/Alpha2 2010 Free MIT License 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 V6R1.1 2009 Bundled with hardware Proprietary Server
IRIX SGI 1988 UNIX System V 6.5.30 2006 Bundled with hardware Proprietary Server, Workstation
Inferno Bell Labs 1997 Plan 9 Fourth Edition 2007 Free MIT/GNU GPL/GNU LGPL/LPL NetApp, Server, Embedded system
Linux Linus Torvalds, et al. 1992 Unix[g 2], Minix[g 3] Linux kernel 2.6.33; GNU C Library 2.11 2010 Comparison of Linux distributions GNU GPL, GNU LGPL and other licenses See: Comparison of Linux distributions
Mac OS Apple Inc. 1984 None[g 4][g 5] 9.2.2 2002 Bundled with 68K and PowerPC Macs;
versions 7-9 sold as retail upgrades[g 6]

Proprietary Workstation, Personal computer
Mac OS X Apple Inc. 2001 NeXTStep / OPENSTEP / Rhapsody, Mac OS, UNIX 10.6.3 2010 Bundled with hardware; upgrades sold separately:
Desktop $169 (Single User Mac Box Set), $29 (Single User Mac OS X v10.5 Upgrade)
Family Pack $229 (5 User Mac Box Set), $49 (5 uUser Mac OS X v10.5 Upgrade) Proprietary higher level API layers with Open source core system (Both Intel and PowerPC versions) (APSL, GNU GPL, others) Workstation, Personal computer, Embedded system
Mac OS X Server Apple Inc. 2001 NeXTStep / OPENSTEP / Rhapsody, Mac OS 10.6.3 2010 Bundled with hardware; also sold separately:
$499 (unlimited clients) Proprietary higher level API layers with Open source core system (Both Intel and PowerPC versions) (APSL, GNU GPL, others) Server
Minix3 Andrew S. Tanenbaum 2005 Minix2 3.1.3a 2007 Free BSD Workstation
NetBSD The NetBSD Project 1993 386BSD 5.0.1 2009 Free BSD NetApp, Server, Workstation, Embedded system
NeXTStep NeXT 1989 Unix 3.3 1995 Bundled with hardware, then sold separately Proprietary Workstation
NetWare Novell 1985 S-Net 6.5 SP7 2007 $184 (single-user) Proprietary Server
OpenBSD The OpenBSD Project 1995 NetBSD 1.0 4.6 2009 Free BSD Server, NetApp, Workstation, Embedded system
OpenVMS DEC (now HP) 1977 RSX-11M 8.3-1H1 2007 Free for 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[g 7] 7.1.1 2009 Free BSD Personal computer, Workstation, Server
Plan 9 Bell Labs 1993 Unix Fourth Edition (Daily snapshots) Free LPL Workstation, Server, Embedded system, HPC
QNX QNX Software Systems 1982 Unix 6.4.1 2009 Template:Free, but requires licence key for installation. Proprietary Workstation, Server, Embedded system
Solaris Sun 1992 SunOS 10 10/09 2008 Free CDDL Server, Workstation
OpenSolaris Sun 2008 Solaris 2009.06 2009 Free CDDL Personal computer, Workstation, Server
Windows Server (NT family) Microsoft 1993 MS-DOS, OS/2, Windows 3.x Windows Server 2008 R2 (NT 6.1.7600) 2009 $469 Web Server; other editions dependent on number of CALs purchased Proprietary Server, NetApp, Embedded system, HPC
Microsoft Windows (NT family) Microsoft 1993 MS-DOS, OS/2, Windows 3.x Windows 7 (NT 6.1.7600) 2009[g 8] Home Basic (Retail) $99.95, Home Premium (Retail) $119.95, Business (Retail) $299.95, Ultimate (Retail) $300.95[1] Proprietary Workstation, Personal computer, Media center, Tablet PC, Embedded system
Microsoft Windows (Classic family) Microsoft 1981 MS-DOS, Windows 1 and later Windows ME (Win 4.90.3000) 2000[g 8] Outdated product. No longer for sale. Proprietary Personal computer, Media center
RISC OS Acorn Computers, RISC OS Limited, Castle Technology Ltd 1989 ARTHUR, also the BBC Master OS RISC OS 6.10 Select4i4 and RISC OS 5.13" 2008 Bundled with hardware, then sold separately at $127 (£70) Proprietary Educational software, Personal computer
ZETA yellowTAB 2005 BeOS R5 1.2 2006 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 0.3.11 2009 Free GNU GPL, GNU LGPL Workstation, Personal computer
z/OS IBM 2000 OS/390 1.11 2009 Monthly License Charge (about $130 and up) Proprietary IBM mainframe
z/VM IBM 2000 VM (operating system) 6.1 2009 Monthly License Charge Proprietary IBM mainframe
Name Creator First public release Predecessor Latest stable version Latest release date Cost/Availability Preferred license[g 1] Target system type