Pos 355 - Unix®, Linux®, Mac Os®, Windows® Os Comparison Paper

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Process management

Mac OS uses a process management system very similar to UNIX. It creates processes in two ways; Foreground and Background. Foreground allows only one process to be run, however the fs command can be used to suspend a job to run another. Background allows for several process to run using & at the end of the command line. Like UNIX, PIDs are assigned unique five digit ID number and create a child Process ID (PID) and Parent Process ID (PPID). This processes management system creates the illusion and functional experience of a seamless interface. (Pearson, N.D.).

File management

In Mac OS X, the file system is broken up into domains. These domains separate files and resources based on what they are and what they will be used for. By separating by domains, it allows the user simplicity. Having the files organized by domain also allows the system distribute access privileges to files in that domain. This prevents unauthorized users from making changing files. The user domain contains files and resources to the specific users who are logged in. The user domain contains technically contains all users; however the user domain only shows the home directory of the current user at runtime. The local domain contains the files and resources to the apps that are installed on the local computer. These files and resources are shared among every user on the computer. The local domain does not have a solo directory; instead it is stores within the several directories on the local boot and or root volume. The network domain stores the files and resources that are shared with every user of a local area network (LAN). The files and resources in the network domain can be located on network file servers, under the control of the network administrator or administrators. The final one is the system domain; this domain has all the system software installed by Apple. In the system domain, all the resources are required by the system to run. In this domain, Users may not be add, remove, or changed. (Developer, 2015)

Security

Keeping the Mac OS up to date is the easiest way to keep a Mac secure. This is done by apple through automatic updates. Another security feature in the Mac OS is the Gatekeeper. Gatekeeper helps prevents the downloading and installation of malicious software onto the Mac

system. This is done by giving the user three security options within Gatekeeper. The 1st less secure option allows users to download and install apps from the any site on the internet. The 2nd and safest option allows users to only download and install apps from the Mac apps store. The 3rd and default option enables the user to download from the Mac app store and from Developers with signed IDs. Privacy controls is another way Mac increases security, these controls make sharing files and information more secure and limits the access to cookies and the access to the location services. Sandboxing is also a great feature that blocks malicious code from accessing the critical system components of a Mac (Apple, N.D.).

Windows®

Memory management

In the Windows OS, every process has its own virtual address space. On a Windows 32-bit system, 4 gigabytes of memory is enabled for virtual addressing. In a 64-bit Windows system, up to 8 terabytes is allotted for virtual addressing. The virtual address space does not contain the actual placement of memory; it uses paging tables that maintain each process which relates the virtual addresses to the corresponding physical memory. Every process can be accessed in virtual address space; however, memory that belongs to another process and not be accessed by any other process. This protects processes from being attacked and or corrupted by a malicious process. Windows memory management also uses memory pools which allow for the system to allocate to paged and non-pages pools of memory. Non-paged pool is made up of virtual memory address that resides in physical memory. The paged pool consists of virtual memory that can be paged to the hard drive and back (Microsoft, N.D.).

Process management

In Windows, the process management processes everything that contains one or more threads. Threads are scheduled on the basis of the usual factors: availability of resources such as CPUs and physical memory, priority, fairness, and so on. Windows has long supported multiprocessor systems, so threads can be allocated to separate processors within a computer. Windows supports one or more threads. It also allows virtual address space; this space is distinct from others process address spaces. DLLS can be segmented in one or more code segments. Within windows process management each thread in a process shares code, global variables, environment strings, and resources (Hart, 2010).

File management

File Manager is a file manager program bundled with releases of Microsoft Windows between 1990 and 1999 (Windows, 2015). Windows file management file object provides a representation of a resource (either a physical device or a resource located on a physical device) that can be managed by the I/O system. Like other objects, they enable sharing of the resource, they have names, they are protected by object-based security, and they support synchronization. The I/O system also enables reading from or writing to the resource.

Security

Window’s has a lot of built in features for security. Being connected to the Internet opens the door for other people access your computer, your share files and everything else. These people attack your computer by breaking into your computer through the Internet in most cases. Windows inherently grants users a certain level of rights and privileges based on the logged on user and what type of account they have. In Windows there are only three accounts types: standard, administrator, and guest. The administrator or Admin account has the most access and provides complete control over a computer. A standard user account has limited access and makes for a more secure account. Guest account is very limited and is not often used, but is the most secure. Windows also has featured built in to the OS to help prevent attacks to you system. Window’s firewalls are there to help protect windows computer by blocking hackers or malicious software from trying to gain unauthorized access to it. Antivirus software is also very important for protecting a computer against viruses, worms, and other security threats that may come from USB devices and other form of removable media.