Computers have become such a part of our world that it is hard to imagine a world without them. But the personal computer goes back only to about 1980.

Before that computers were huge installations, sometimes filling up an entire floor of a building. Thus they were the domain of governments, rich universities and large corporations. The PC changed all that. By the 1980s there were mini computers - the size of a large fridge, which challenged the big mainframes and suited small mid-sized companies. The availability trend continued, finally desktop sized and "affordable" brought about the digital revolution. That development curve has continued, consider the powerhouse multi-core, memory-laden and storage-rich slab in your hand today. Things have come a long way.

Operating systems and their interfaces have evolved from teletype, punch-cards and ticker-tapes to the full GUI (Graphical User Interface). Hand wiring gave way to assembler code, then Fortran, PL/1 and Cobol, and now more modern languages rule the roost. Operating systems went from the mainframe IBM (VMS) to Unix, then »CP/M which was adapted with some controversy to start »MS-DOS, which later got a GUI glued on top which we to this day call Windows. Apple distilled their own OS hooch but that became tangled, so when they re-hired Steve Jobs, he adopted and adapted BSD Unix and the »NeXTstep interface.

The direction of "operating systems" like Windows, Apple and Android are on a path not beneficial for the user. The great promise and potential of the digital era has been commercialised and turned into a privacy nightmare that hoovers up every click and keystroke. But people are too conditioned with the pervasive 'convenience' of 30+ years of proprietary software, so few will raise a voice. What can one do?

To run Linux seems to require a CS degree - or so the market says. Yes, it used to be like this for years, but it isn't 1996 anymore and Linux is actually very easy to use. Though getting someone to: i) install it for you, and ii) getting support as you find your way or when something goes awry - are still a bit of a problem.

Linux is the power behind almost every server, but desktop use has been growing over time. For years desktop Linux languished around 2%, but as people find their laptop will not update to the latest Windows, some discover Linux. Since 2020 the share for desktop Linux rose up past 3% and in 2024 sits at 4% and rising.

More about Linux and several other areas of interest are in the drop-down.