GSLC Assignment from Binusmaya meeting 11 and 12
Storage, Operating Systems and Utility Programs
Assignment from Tri Djoko Wahjono, Ir., M.Sc.

1. Use the web to gather information or interesting fact about :

            a. Seagate Technology

Seagate Technology PLC an American data storage company was incorporated in 1978 as Shugart Technology. It is currently incorporated inDublin, Ireland and has its principal executive office in Cupertino, California

Seagate developed the first 5.25-inch hard disk drive (HDD) in 1980, the 5-megabyte ST-506. They were a major supplier in the microcomputer market during the 1980s, especially after the introduction of the IBM XT in 1983. In 1989, they finalized the purchase of Control Data Corporation's Imprimis division, makers of the Wren product line. This gave Seagate access to Wren's voicecoil-based technology. In 1991, they introduced the 7200 RPM Barracuda line, which remains their high-end offering. They purchased Maxtor in 2006 and Samsung HDD business in 2011.

On March 12, 2013 Seagate announced that it was the first disk manufacturer to have cumulatively shipped two billion HDDs.

History

1970s

On November 1, 1979, Seagate Technology (then called Shugart Technology) was incorporated by co-founders Al Shugart, Tom Mitchell, Doug Mahon, Finis Conner and Syed Iftikar. The name was changed to Seagate Technology to avoid a lawsuit from Xerox's subsidiary Shugart Associates (also founded by Shugart).^[

1980s

Their first product (released in 1980) was the 5-megabyte ST-506, the first hard disk to fit the 5.25-inch form factor of the Shugart "mini-floppy" drive. The hard disk, which used a Modified Frequency Modulation(MFM) encoding, was a hit, and was later released in a 10-megabyte version, the ST-412, with which Seagate secured a contract as a major OEM supplier for the IBM XT, IBM's first personal computer to contain a hard disk. The large volumes of units sold to IBM, the then-dominant supplier of PCs, fueled Seagate's early growth. The 20-megabyte version, the ST-225 (pictured, left), and the 30-megabyte version, the ST-238 (physically similar but using a Run Length Limited ((2,7) RLL) encoding to improve storage capacity), were popular aftermarket additions for the IBM XT and AT and compatible microcomputers. These were also made in SCSI versions.

In 1983, Al Shugart was replaced as president by then chief operating officer, Tom Mitchell. Shugart continued to oversee corporate planning.

Finis Conner left Seagate in early 1985 and founded Conner Peripherals, which originally specialized in small-form-factor drives for portable computers. Conner Peripherals also entered the tape drive business with its purchase of Archive Corporation. After ten years as an independent company, Conner Peripherals was acquired by Seagate in a 1996 merger.

In 1989 Seagate acquired Control Data's (CDC) Imprimis Technology, CDC's disk storage division, resulting in a combined market share of 43 percent. The acquisition was synergistic with little overlap in products or markets; Seagate benefited from Imprimis' head technology and quality reputation while Imprimis gained access to Seagate's lower component and manufacturing costs.

1990s

·         September 1991 - Tom Mitchell resigned under pressure from the board of directors. Al Shugart reassumed presidency of the company.

·         November 1991 - Seagate introduced the Barracuda HDDs, the industry's first hard disk with a 7200 RPM spindle speed.

·         May 1993 - Seagate was the first to ship 50 million HDDs.

·         December 1994 - Seagate Technology Inc moves from Nasdaq to New York Stock Exchange and begins trading under ticker symbol SEG.

·         February 1996 - Merges with Conner Peripherals to form world's largest independent hard-drive manufacturer.

·         October 1996 - Seagate introduced the industry's first hard disk with a 10,000-RPM spindle speed.

·         May 1997 - The High Court of Justice in England awarded Amstrad PLC $93 million in a lawsuit over reportedly faulty disk drives Seagate sold to Amstrad, a British manufacturer and marketer of personal computers.

·         October 1997 - Seagate introduced the first Fibre Channel interface hard drive.

·         March 1998 - Seagate produced its 1 billionth magnetic recording head.

·         July 1998 - Shugart resigned his positions with Seagate.^[9]

·         August 1998 - Seagate Research is established in Pittsburgh.

·         April 1999 - Seagate ships its 250 millionth hard drive.

2000s

·         2000 - Seagate incorporated in Grand Cayman.

·         February 2000 - Seagate introduced the first 15,000-RPM hard drive.

·         October 2001 - Microsoft Xbox game console shipped with Seagate HDDs.

·         December 2002 - Seagate re-entered the public market (NYSE: STX).

·         June 2003 - Seagate re-entered the HDD market for notebook computers.

·         March 2005 - Seagate shipped its 10 millionth 15,000-RPM hard drive.

·         September 2005 - Seagate acquired Mirra, Inc.

·         November 2005 - Seagate acquired ActionFront Data Recovery Labs.

·         January 2006 - Seagate named 2006 "Company of the Year" by Forbes Magazine.

·         April 2006 - Seagate announced the first professional Direct-To-Disc digital cinema professional video camera aimed at the independent filmmaking market (using their disc drives).

·         May 2006 - Seagate acquired Maxtor in an all-stock deal worth $1.9 billion. Seagate continued to market the separate Maxtor brand.

·         October 2006 - Seagate shipped the first hybrid drive.

·         2007 - Seagate acquired EVault and MetaLINCS, later rebranded i365. MetaLINCS was a leader in the Discovery space.

·         April 2008 - Seagate was the first to ship 1 billion HDDs.

·         January 2009 - Bill Watkins was released from employment as CEO.

·         December 2009 - Seagate announce their first solid-state drive, the Seagate Pulsar.

2010s

·         January 2010 - Seagate's Board of Directors approved changing the company's incorporation Seagate from the Cayman Islands to Ireland. The change was approved at a shareholders meeting on April 14, 2010 and the change of incorporation took effect on July 3, 2011.

·         June 2010 - Seagate released the world's first 3TB hard drive, in the form of an external HDD as part of their Seagate FreeAgent line of external HDDs.

·         June 24, 2010 - Seagate announced they were moving their headquarters and most of their staff from Scott's Valley to Cupertino, California.

·         September 2010 - Seagate released the world's first portable 1.5TB hard drive.

·         March 2011 - Seagate announced the first standalone version of its 3TB HDD that can be used with their desktop computers.

·         September 2011 - Seagate launched the world's first 4TB single hard disk external drive.

·         December 2011 - Seagate acquired Samsung's HDD business.

·         March 2012 - Seagate demonstrates the first 1TB/square inch density hard drive, with the possibility of scaling up to 60TB by 2030.

·         March 2013 - Seagate shipping eight drives per second.

·         May 2013 - Seagate unveils first client SSD, next-generation enterprise SSDs, and PCIe accelerator card.

·         October 2013 - Seagate launches a new class of Ethernet drives with the Seagate Kinetic Open Storage platform that includes APIs and associated libraries.

            b. SanDisk Corporation

SanDisk founders Jack Yuan, Dr. Eli Harari and current President and CEO Sanjay Mehrotra (Photo taken in 2010.)

SanDisk Corporation is a multinational corporation that designs, develops and manufactures flash memory storage solutions and software. It was founded in 1988 by Dr. Eli Harari, Jack Yuan and Sanjay Mehrotra, non-volatile memory technology experts. The Fortune 500 and S&P 500 company is based in Silicon Valley and has more than half its sales outside the United States. Its products are sold at more than 250,000 retail locations in more than 100 countries. SanDisk became a publicly traded company on NASDAQ in November 1995. As of August 2013, its market capitalization was over US$14 billion.

Description

SanDisk’s flash memory storage products include solid-state drives (SSDs) and caching software for laptop, PC and enterprise applications; memory cards for smartphones and cameras; embedded flash drives for mobile phones and tablets, USB flash drives; and other flash-based products.

The company markets its products directly to businesses, original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) and consumers, as well as through a new distribution channel that offers SanDisk SSDs to a wider set of business customers including VARs, e-tailers and system integrators.

SanDisk is headquartered in Milpitas, California, US. The company has manufacturing facilities in China. It also has sales, operations, research and development, and administration in the US, China, France, Germany, India, Ireland, Israel, Japan, Korea, Russia, Scotland, Singapore, Spain, Sweden, Taiwan, and the United Arab Emirates. The company has more than 4,600 employees worldwide.

SanDisk's product portfolio includes flash memory cards for mobile phones, digital cameras and camcorders; digital audio/video players; USB flash drives for consumers and the enterprise; embedded memory for mobile devices; and solid state drives for computers. SanDisk is a Silicon Valley-based S&P 500 company, with more than half its sales outside the United States.

History

Dr. Eli Harari developed the Floating Gate EEPROM which proved the practicality, reliability, manufacturability and endurance of semiconductor-based data storage. This pioneering work laid the foundation for the flash memory market that would significantly impact the consumer electronics industry, enabling new products across multiple categories.

In 1988, Dr. Harari launched the company that would become SanDisk with former Intel colleague Sanjay Mehrotra (now SanDisk President and Chief Executive Officer), and former Hughes Electronics colleague Jack Yuan.

Early on, SanDisk (then known as SunDisk) had recognized that digital cameras would need removable flash memory storage, and computers could become ever more mobile and light and would require a similar storage technology.

Dr. Harari offered the removable flash memory card technology to Kodak for inclusion in their cameras in 1988. Kodak offered to fund the development with the condition that SanDisk offer a three-year exclusive contract for the “digital film” under the Kodak brand. Dr. Harari and SanDisk rejected the offer because he wanted competition in the marketplace to encourage growth of the flash memory industry.

Core markets

Flash memory has an extremely small form factor, helping it fit into ultra-slim electronics devices such as tablets, smartphones and thin-and-light laptops. Because flash memory contains no moving mechanical parts, it consumes less power and is considered rugged and more reliable than hard disk drives (HDDs).

Enterprise – The explosive growth and consumption of data in cloud computing and data centers is increasingly requiring network architectures that can enable real-time analytics and low latency, providing fast and reliable access to information. SanDisk serves this market with its enterprise SSDs and enterprise software products.

Computing – Tablets and ultra-thin notebooks carry with them certain requirements from manufacturer and technology suppliers, such as “instant on” functionality, a thin form factor, durability and low-power consumption. Because of these, flash memory has become the main storage technology for these computing devices. SanDisk supplies embedded flash drives and removable memory cards to virtually every major tablet and ultra-thin laptop manufacturer.^[

Mobile – Flash memory has become an essential component in smartphones, tablets and other mobile devices due to its large capacity storage and “mass market” price points, low power consumption and ruggedness inherent with no moving parts. SanDisk provides embedded flash drives and removable memory cards to almost every major smartphone and tablet maker

Consumer Electronics – Flash technology is used in memory cards that go into digital cameras, USB storage drives, and portable music and video players. SanDisk creates and sells its own brand of USB flash drives and Sansa line of MP3 audio players.

Key product lines

Solid State Drives (SSDs)

·         SATA SSDs

·         SAS SSDs

·         PCIe SSAs

Enterprise Software

·         FlashSoft Software

·         Membrain Software

Embedded Storage

·         iNAND Embedded Flash Drives

·         iSSD

Memory Cards

·         SD Cards

·         microSD Cards

·         CompactFlash Cards

·         Memory Stick PRO Duo

·         Card Readers

·         Nintendo Game Cards

Software & Services

·         ExpressCache

·         Cloud Catcher

·         Media Manager

·         Memory Zone

·         SanDisk SecureAccess

Music & Video Players

·         Sansa MP3 Players

USB Storage

·         USB Flash Drives

Corporate acquisitions

·         SanDisk acquired SMART Storage Systems, a developer of enterprise solid state drives based on the SATA and SAS storage protocols, in 2013. 

·         SanDisk acquired Schooner Information Technology, Inc., an enterprise software company that develops flash-optimized database and data store solution in 2012.

·         SanDisk acquired FlashSoft Corporation, a provider of innovative caching software products in 2012.

·         SanDisk acquired Pliant Technology, Inc., a developer of enterprise solid state drives in 2011.

·         SanDisk acquired msystems Ltd., a developer of flash memory storage products in 2006.

·         SanDisk acquired Matrix Semiconductor, Inc., a company that pioneers and supplied 3D-based one-time programmable chip technology in 2006.

Interesting facts

* The company was founded in 1988 by Dr. Eli Harari and Sanjay Mehrotra, non-volatile memory technology experts, and became a publicly traded company on NASDAQ in November 1995.

* SanDisk has more than 240 000 store fronts across the world, with offices or manufacturing facilities in 10 locations in Asia (including Taiwan, China and Japan), six locations in Europe (including the UK, Ireland and Spain), and three locations in Israel (Kfar Sava, Tefen and Omer).

* SanDisk currently holds more than 2100 patents, more than 1100 foreign patents and more than 1100 patent applications pending in the U.S. Every company that uses one of their patents needs to pay royalties to SanDisk, and nearly every handset vendor has embedded SanDisk technology.

* SanDisk has the rights to manufacture and sell every major flash memory card format, including CompactFlash, SD, SDHC, microSD, microSDHC, Memory Stick PRO and related Memory Stick products and USB flash drives.

* Their revenue is currently sitting at US$ 4.82 billion, with a total profit of US$ 1.30 billion for 2010. Their total equity is estimated to be around US$ 5.78 billion.

* SanDisk designs, develops, manufactures and markets their own products, and doesn’t make use of any third-party parts or equipment. However, SanDisk licenses its technology to a number of other industry-leading companies.

* One of the manufacturing plants in Shanghai, China is about the size of five football fields, and since it needs to be sterile environment, only around 400 employees actually work there. Making use of robots and automated machines, the factory has the capacity to push out around a million units a day.

* According to Peta Pixel, a third of the SanDisk memory cards on the international market are actually fake. The brand has become so popular that counterfeiters target SanDisk in their illegal activities.

* Although they have nothing to do with Apple, SanDisk actually benefits from the success of the iPod and iPad, as it drives up the market price for flash memory.

* SanDisk has been operating in South Africa for the last 10 years, and is currently breaking into the Nigerian and Kenyan markets. They are currently selling about 35 000 flash memory units a month.

            c. Samsung Storage devices

Samsung’s storage devices span the spectrum of solutions for saving your data, images, audio, and video files. We have a broad line of energy saving Hard Disk Drives, fast and efficient Optical Disc Drives, and leading-edge Solid State Drives ready for your application. Our drives support OEMs and consumers in desktop/notebook PCs, consumer electronics, enterprise storage and more.

Hard Disk Drives

High-Capacity Internal Mobile Disk Drives

Find out how Spinpoint MT2 Internal 2.5” Mobile Disk Drives are smashing capacity and performance boundaries. Imagine the possibilities with 43% higher capacity, 20% faster read/write speeds, utilizing 4% lower power.

Spinpoint MT2 Internal 2.5” Disk Drives

Samsung’s Spinpoint MT2 offers the largest capacity, exceptional performance and value for today’s portable digital devices including digital TVs, home media systems and set-top boxes, where quiet and cool operations are important.

Innovative Technology

The new Spinpoint MT2 employs the industry-leading 333GB per-platter technology and offers up to an enormous 1TB for personal digital collections such as photos, music, video and work files. Running at 5400rpm speed, the MT2 has a 12.5mm form factor and utilizes Samsung’s proprietary SilentSeek™ and NoiseGuard™ technologies to minimize noise levels during drive operation.

Premium Performance and Reliability

The performance and reliability features of the Spinpoint MT2 have been enhanced with an optimized design and improved suspension for multidisc. The new MT2 drive delivers about 20% increased read/write performance and 4% lower power consumption compared with competitive drives, and it features shock resistance levels of 400G (2ms) in operation mode and 800G (1ms) when the power is off. With Samsung’s dynamic balancing technology, the Spinpoint drive’s overall stability and reliability is optimized as a high-performing solution.

Optical Disc Drive Selections

Samsung offers a variety of Optical Drives that support CD, DVD, and Blu-Ray formats. Our drives include models that can be internally mounted or externally attached depending on the application. These fast and low power drives are designed and manufactured to be Eco-friendly as well.

Internal Half Height & Slim

DVD-Writers
DVD-ROM
DVD/CD Combo
Slim DVD

External Portable

External DVD

Blu-Ray Combo

Blu-Ray/DVD/CD Combo

Store it in a Flash (drive)

Samsung is the leading supplier of NAND-based Solid State Drives. We offer various form factors and technology to support enterprise, desktop PC, and notebook PC applications. Samsung SSDs are available direct to OEMs or to consumers through select PC manufacturers. This informative site will provide the information you need to help you decide to design-in or select a Samsung SSD in your next computer.

Samsung NAND-Flash Solid State Drives

Enterprise

25-100GB
SLC NAND
2.5” SATA

Desktop/Notebook PC

64-256GB
MLC NAND
2.5” SATA

64-256GB
MLC NAND
2.5” SATA

64-256GB
MLC NAND
2.5” SATA

            d. Hitachi

Hitachi

Hitachi, Ltd. (株式会社日立製作所 Kabushiki-gaisha Hitachi Seisakusho^?) (Japanese pronunciation: [çiꜜtatɕi]) is a Japanese multinational engineering and electronics conglomerate company headquartered in Chiyoda, Tokyo, Japan. It is the parent of the Hitachi Group (Hitachi Gurūpu) and forms part of the DKB Group of companies. Hitachi is a highly diversified company that operates eleven business segments: Information & Telecommunication Systems, Social Infrastructure, High Functional Materials & Components, Financial Services, Power Systems, Electronic Systems & Equipment, Automotive Systems, Railway & Urban Systems, Digital Media & Consumer Products, Construction Machinery and Other Components & Systems.

Hitachi is listed on the Tokyo Stock Exchange and is a constituent of the Nikkei 225 and TOPIX indices. It is ranked 38th in the 2012 Fortune Global 500 and 129th in the 2012 Forbes Global 2000.

History

Former Hitachi logo

Hitachi was founded in 1910 by electrical engineer Namihei Odaira. The company's first product was Japan's first 5-horsepower electric induction motor, initially developed for use in copper mining. Odaira's company soon became the domestic leader in electric motors and electric power industryinfrastructure.

The company began as an in-house venture of Fusanosuke Kuhara's mining company in Hitachi, Ibaraki prefecture. Odaira moved headquarters to Tokyo in 1918. Long before that, he coined the company’s toponymic name by superimposing two kanji characters: hi meaning “sun” and tachi meaning “rise”. The young company's national aspirations were conveyed by its original brand mark, which evoked Japan's imperial rising sun flag.

Hitachi America, Ltd. was established in 1959. Hitachi Europe, Ltd. was established in 1982.

In March 2011, Hitachi agreed to sell its hard disk drive subsidiary, Hitachi Global Storage Technologies, to Western Digital for a combination of cash and shares worth US$4.3 billion. Due to concerns of a duopoly of WD and Seagate by the EU Commission and the FTC, Hitachi's 3.5" HDD division was sold to Toshiba. The transaction was completed in March 2012.

Hitachi entered talks with Mitsubishi Heavy Industries in August 2011 about a potential merger of the two companies, in what would have been the largest merger between two Japanese companies in history.The talks subsequently broke down and were suspended.

In October 2012, Hitachi agreed to acquire the United Kingdom-based nuclear energy company Horizon Nuclear Power, which plans to construct up to six nuclear power plants in the UK, fromE.ON and RWE for £700 million.

In November 2012, Hitachi and Mitsubishi Heavy Industries agreed to merge their thermal power generation businesses into a joint venture to be owned 65% by Mitsubishi Heavy Industries and 35% by Hitachi.The joint venture is planned to begin operations in 2014.

Products and services

Information and telecommunication systems

The Hitachi factory in Toyokawa, Japan

·         ATMs

·         Disk array subsystems

·         Mainframe computers

·         Outsourcing services

·         Servers

·         Software

·         System integration

·         Telecommunications equipment

Power systems

·         Nuclear, thermal and hydroelectric power plants

·         Wind Power Generation Systems

Social infrastructure and industrial systems

·         Elevators

·         Escalators

·         Industrial Machinery and Plants

·         Railway Vehicles and Systems

Electronic systems and equipment

·         LCDs

·         Medical electronics equipment

·         Power tools

·         Semiconductor manufacturing equipment

·         Test and measurement equipment

Construction machinery

A Hitachi hydraulic excavator in use

·         Hydraulic Excavators

·         Mechanical & Hydraulic Cranes

·         Mining Dump Trucks

·         Wheel Loaders

High functional materials and components

·         Circuit boards and materials

·         Copper products

·         High grade casting components and materials

·         Magnetic materials and components

·         Semiconductor and Display Related Materials

·         Specialty steels

·         Wires and cables

Automotive systems

Hitachi Automotive Systems Americas Offices, Farmington Hills, Michigan

·         Car Information Systems

·         Drive Control Systems

·         Electric Powertrain Systems

·         Engine Management Systems

Components and devices

·         Batteries

·         Hard Disk Drives

·         Information Storage Media

·         LCDs

Digital media and consumer products

2008 Hitachi air conditioning outdoor unit

·         Air conditioning equipment

·         LCD projectors

·         Optical disc drives

·         Plasma and LCD Televisions

·         Refrigerators

·         Room air conditioners

·         Washing machines

Financial services

·         Leasing

·         Loan Guarantees

Other

·         Logistics

·         Property management

Aircraft

·         Hitachi T.2

·         Hitachi TR.2

2. Gather information and discuss about several operating system that you know. Mention the operating system name and usages. (PC, Server, embedded, and mobile)

Windows 8

Windows 8 is a personal computer operating system developed by Microsoft as part of Windows NT family of operating systems. Development of Windows 8 started before the release of its predecessor, Windows 7, in 2009. It was announced at CES 2011, and followed by the release of three pre-release versions from September 2011 to May 2012. The operating system was released to manufacturing on August 1, 2012, and was released for general availability on October 26, 2012

Windows 8 introduced major changes to the operating system's platform and user interface to improve its user experience on tablets, where Windows was now competing with mobile operating systems, including Android and iOS. In particular, these changes included a touch-optimized Windows shell based on Microsoft's "Metro" design language, the Start screen (which displays programs and dynamically updated content on a grid of tiles), a new platform for developing apps with an emphasis on touchscreen input, integration with online services (including the ability to sync apps and settings between devices), and Windows Store, an online store for downloading and purchasing new software. Windows 8 added support for USB 3.0, Advanced Format hard drives, near field communications, and cloud computing. Additional security features were introduced, such as built-in antivirus software, integration with Microsoft SmartScreenphishing filtering service and support for UEFI Secure Boot on supported devices with UEFI firmware, to prevent malware from infecting the boot process.

Windows 8 was released to mixed reception. Although reaction towards its performance improvements, security enhancements, and improved support for touchscreen devices was positive, the new user interface of the operating system was widely criticized for being potentially confusing and difficult to learn (especially when used with a keyboard and mouse instead of a touchscreen). Despite these shortcomings, 60 million Windows 8 licenses have been sold through January 2013, a number which included both upgrades and sales toOEMs for new PCs.

On October 17, 2013, Microsoft released the first major update to the operating system, Windows 8.1. The update addresses some aspects of Windows 8 that were criticized by reviewers and early adopters and incorporates additional improvements to various aspects of the operating system.

New and changed features

New features and functionality in Windows 8 include a faster startup through UEFI integration and the new "Hybrid Boot" mode (which hibernates the Windows kernel on shutdown to speed up the subsequent boot),  a new lock screen with a clock and notifications, and the ability for enterprise users to create live USB versions of Windows (known as Windows To Go). Windows 8 also adds native support for USB 3.0 devices, which allow for faster data transfers and improved power management with compatible devices, and hard disk 4Kn Advanced Formatsupport, as well as support for near field communication to facilitate sharing and communication between devices.

Windows Explorer, which has been renamed File Explorer, now includes a ribbon in place of the command bar. File operation dialog boxes have been updated to provide more detailed statistics, the ability to pause file transfers, and improvements in the ability to manage conflicts when copying files. A new "File History" function allows incremental revisions of files to be backed up to and restored from a secondary storage device, while Storage Spaces allows users to combine different sized hard disks into virtual drives and specify mirroring, parity, or no redundancy on a folder-by-folder basis.

Task Manager has been redesigned, including a new processes tab with the option to display fewer or more details of running applications and background processes, a heat map using different colors indicating the level of resource usage, network and disk counters, grouping by process type (e.g. applications, background processes and Windows processes), friendly names for processes and a new option which allows users to search the web to find information about obscure processes. Additionally, the Blue Screen of Death has been updated with a simpler and modern design with less technical information displayed.^[65][66]

Safety and security

New security features in Windows 8 include two new authentication methods tailored towards touchscreens (PINs and picture passwords), the addition of antivirus capabilities to Windows Defender (bringing it in parity with Microsoft Security Essentials) SmartScreen filtering integrated into Windows, and support for the "Secure Boot" functionality on UEFI systems to protect against malware infecting the boot process.^[70] Family Safety offers Parental controls, which allows parents to monitor and manage their children's activities on a device with activity reports and safety controls. Windows 8 also provides integrated system recovery through the new "Refresh" and "Reset" functions,^[74] including system recovery from USB drive. Windows 8's first security patches would be released on November 13, 2012; it would contain three fixes deemed "critical" by the company.

Online services and functionality

Windows 8 provides heavier integration with online services from Microsoft and others. A user can now log in to Windows with a Microsoft account, formally known as a Windows Live ID, which can be used to access services and synchronize applications and settings between devices. Windows 8 also ships with a client app for Microsoft's SkyDrive cloud storage service, which also allows apps to save files directly to SkyDrive. A SkyDrive client for the desktop and File Explorer is not included in Windows 8, and must be downloaded separately.^[77] Bundled multimedia apps are provided under the Xbox brand, including Xbox Music, Xbox Video, and the Xbox SmartGlass companion for use with an Xbox 360 console. Games can integrate into an Xbox Live hub app, which also allows users to view their profile and gamerscore. Other bundled apps provide the ability to link Flickr and Facebook.

Internet Explorer 10 is included as both a desktop program and a touch-optimized app, and includes increased support for HTML5, CSS3, and hardware acceleration. The Internet Explorer app does not support plugins or ActiveX components, but includes a version of Adobe Flash Player that is optimized for touch and low power usage. Initially, Adobe Flash would only work on sites included on a "Compatibility View" whitelist; however, after feedback from users and additional compatibility tests, an update in March 2013 changed this behavior to use a smaller blacklist of sites with known compatibility issues instead, allowing Flash to be used on most sites by default. The desktop version does not contain these limitations.

Windows 8 also incorporates improved support for mobile broadband; the operating system can now detect the insertion of a SIM card and automatically configure connection settings (includingAPNs and carrier branding), track and reduce bandwidth use on metered networks. Windows 8 also adds an integrated airplane mode setting to globally disable all wireless connectivity as well. Carriers can also offer account management systems through Windows Store apps, which can be automatically installed as a part of the connection process and offer usage statistics on their respective tile.

Windows Store apps

Snap feature: Xbox Music app, along Photos app snapped into a sidebar to the right side of the screen

Snap feature: Desktop, along Wikipedia Appsnapped into a sidebar to the right side of the screen. In Windows 8, desktop and everything on it are treated as one Metro-style app.

Windows 8 introduces a new style of application, Windows Store apps. According to Microsoft developer Jensen Harris, these apps are to be optimized for touchscreen environments and will be more specialized than current desktop applications. Apps can run either in a full-screen mode, or be snapped to the side of a screen. Apps can provide toast notifications on screen or animate their tiles on the Start screen with dynamic content. Apps can use "contracts"; a collection of hooks to provide common functionality that can integrate with other apps, including search and sharing. Apps can also provide integration with other services; for example, the People app can connect to a variety of different social networks and services (such as Facebook, Skype, and People service), while the Photos app can aggregate photos from services such as Facebook and Flickr.

Windows Store apps run within a new set of APIs known as Windows Runtime, which supports programming languages such as C, C++, Visual Basic .NET, C#, along with HTML5 and JavaScript.  If written in some "high-level" languages, apps written for Windows Runtime can be compatible with both Intel and ARM versions of Windows,^[84] otherwise they are not binary code compatible. Components may be compiled as Windows Runtime Components, permitting consumption by all compatible languages. To ensure stability and security, apps run within asandboxed environment, and require permissions to access certain functionality, such as accessing the Internet or a camera.

Retail versions of Windows 8 will be able to install these apps only through Windows Store—a namesake distribution platform which offers both apps, and listings for desktop programs certified for comparability with Windows 8. A method to sideload apps from outside Windows Store is available to devices running Windows 8 Enterprise and joined to a domain; Windows 8 Pro and Windows RT devices that are not part of a domain can also sideload apps, but only after special product keys are obtained through volume licensing.

The term "Immersive app" had been used internally by Microsoft developers to refer to the apps prior to the first official presentation of Windows 8, after which they were referred to as "Metro-style apps" in reference to the Metro design language. The term was phased out in August 2012; a Microsoft spokesperson denied rumors that the change was related to a potential trademark issue, and stated that "Metro" was only a codename that would be replaced prior to Windows 8's release. Following these reports, the terms "Modern UI-style apps", "Windows 8-style apps"^] and "Windows Store apps" began to be used by various Microsoft documents and material to refer to the new apps. In an interview on September 12, 2012, Soma Somasegar (vice president of Microsoft's development software division) confirmed that "Windows Store apps" would be the official term for the apps.^[91]

Web browsers

Exceptions to the restrictions faced by Windows Store apps are given to web browsers; the user's default browser can provide a "New experience enabled" (formerly "Metro-style enabled") version that runs within the Metro shell like other apps. Web browser apps are distributed alongside desktop web browsers, and also have access to functionality unavailable to other apps, such as being able to permanently run in the background, use multiple background processes, and useWindows API code instead of WinRT (allowing for code to be re-used with the desktop version, while still taking advantage of features available to Windows Store apps, such as charms).

The developers of both Chrome and Firefox committed to developing versions of their browsers to run in this environment; while Chrome's "Windows 8 mode" uses a full-screen version of the existing desktop interface, Firefox's Metro version (which was first made available on the "Aurora" release channel in September 2013) uses a touch-optimized interface inspired by the Android version of Firefox, and development versions of Chrome introduced a UI in October 2013 which mimics the desktop environment used by Chrome OS.

Interface and desktop

Windows 8 introduces significant changes to the operating system's user interface, many of which are aimed at improving its experience on tablet computers and other touchscreen devices. The new user interface is based on Microsoft's Metro design language, and uses a Start screen similar to that of Windows Phone as the primary means of launching applications. The Start screen displays a customizable array of tiles linking to various apps and desktop programs, some of which can display constantly updated information and content through "live tiles". As a form ofmulti-tasking, apps can be snapped to the side of a screen. Alongside the traditional Control Panel, a new simplified and touch-optimized settings app known as "PC Settings" is used for basic configuration and user settings. It does not include many of the advanced options still accessible from the normal Control Panel.

A vertical toolbar known as the charms (accessed by swiping from the right edge of a touchscreen, or pointing the cursor at hotspots in the right corners of a screen) provides access to system and app-related functions, such as search, sharing, device management, settings, and a Start button. The traditional desktop environment for running desktop applications is accessed via a tile on the Start screen. The Start button on the taskbar from previous versions of Windows has been converted into a hotspot in the lower-left corner of the screen, which displays a large tooltip displaying a thumbnail of the Start screen. Swiping from the left edge of a touchscreen or clicking in the top-left corner of the screen allows one to switch between apps and Desktop. Pointing the cursor in the top-left corner of the screen and moving down reveals a thumbnail list of active apps. Aside from the removal of the Start button and the replacement of theAero Glass theme with a flatter and solid-colored design, the desktop interface on Windows 8 is similar to that of Windows 7.

Secure boot

Windows 8 supports a feature of the UEFI specification known as "Secure boot", which uses a public-key infrastructure to verify the integrity of the operating system and prevent unauthorized programs such as bootkits from infecting the device.

Microsoft faced criticism (particularly from free software supporters) for mandating that devices receiving its optional certification for Windows 8 have secure boot enabled by default using a key provided by Microsoft. Concerns were raised that secure boot could prevent or hinder the use of alternate operating systems such as Linux. In response to the criticism, Microsoft developer Tony Mangefeste stated that "At the end of the day, the customer is in control of their PC. Microsoft's philosophy is to provide customers with the best experience first, and allow them to make decisions themselves."

Microsoft's certification requirements eventually revealed that UEFI firmware on x86 systems must allow users to re-configure or turn off secure boot, but that this must not be possible on ARM-based systems (Windows RT). Microsoft faced further criticism for its decision to restrict Windows RT devices by using this functionality. Tom Warren, in an article on The Verge, said that other smartphones and tablets are typically sold in a locked-down state.^[108] No mandate is made regarding the installation of third-party certificates that would enable running alternative programs.

Android

Android is an operating system based on the Linux kernel, and designed primarily for touchscreen mobile devices such as smartphones and tablet computers. Initially developed by Android, Inc., which Google backed financially and later bought in 2005, Android was unveiled in 2007 along with the founding of the Open Handset Alliance: a consortium of hardware, software, and telecommunication companies devoted to advancing open standards for mobile devices. The first Android-powered phone was sold in October 2008.

The user interface of Android is based off direct manipulation, using touch inputs that loosely correspond to real-world actions, like swiping, tapping, pinching and reverse pinching to manipulate on-screen objects. Internal hardware such as accelerometers, gyroscopes and proximity sensors are used by some applications to respond to additional user actions, for example adjusting the screen from portrait to landscape depending on how the device is oriented. Android allows users to customize their homescreens with shortcuts to applications and widgets, which allow users to display live content, such as emails and weather information, directly on the homescreen. Applications can further send notifications to the user to inform them of relevant information, such as new emails and text messages.

Android is open source and Google releases the code under the Apache License. This open-source code and permissive licensing allows the software to be freely modified and distributed by device manufacturers, wireless carriers and enthusiast developers. However, most Android devices ship with additional proprietary software. Additionally, Android has a large community of developers writing applications ("apps") that extend the functionality of devices, written primarily in a customized version of the Java programming language.^[16] In October 2012, there were approximately 700,000 apps available for Android, and the estimated number of applications downloaded from Google Play, Android's primary app store, was 25 billion. A developer survey conducted in April–May 2013 found that Android is the most popular platform for developers, used by 71% of the mobile developer population.

Android is the world's most widely used smartphone platform, overtaking Symbian in the fourth quarter of 2010.^[21] Android is popular with technology companies who require a ready-made, low-cost, customizable and lightweight operating system for high tech devices. Despite being primarily designed for phones and tablets, it has been also used in televisions, games consoles, digital cameras and other electronics. Android's open nature has encouraged a large community of developers and enthusiasts to use the open-source code as a foundation for community-driven projects, which add new features for advanced users or bring Android to devices which were officially released running other operating systems.

Android's share of the global smartphone market, led by Samsung products, was 64% in March 2013. The operating system's success has made it a target for patent litigation as part of the so-called "smartphone wars" between technology companies. As of May 2013, 48 billion apps have been installed from the Google Play store, and as of September 3, 2013, 1 billion Android devices have been activated.

Features

Interface

Android's user interface is based on direct manipulation, using touch inputs that loosely correspond to real-world actions, like swiping, tapping, pinching and reverse pinching to manipulate on-screen objects. The response to user input is designed to be immediate and provides a fluid touch interface, often using the vibration capabilities of the device to provide haptic feedback to the user. Internal hardware such as accelerometers, gyroscopes and proximity sensors are used by some applications to respond to additional user actions, for example adjusting the screen from portrait to landscape depending on how the device is oriented, or allowing the user to steer a vehicle in a racing game by rotating the device, simulating control of a steering wheel.

Android devices boot to the homescreen, the primary navigation and information point on the device, which is similar to the desktop found on PCs. Android homescreens are typically made up of app icons and widgets; app icons launch the associated app, whereas widgets display live, auto-updating content such as the weather forecast, the user's email inbox, or a news ticker directly on the homescreen. A homescreen may be made up of several pages that the user can swipe back and forth between, though Android's homescreen interface is heavily customisable, allowing the user to adjust the look and feel of the device to their tastes. Third-party apps available on Google Play and other app stores can extensively re-theme the homescreen, and even mimic the look of other operating systems, such as Windows Phone.^] Most manufacturers, and some wireless carriers, customise the look and feel of their Android devices to differentiate themselves from their competitors.

Present along the top of the screen is a status bar, showing information about the device and its connectivity. This status bar can be "pulled" down to reveal a notification screen where apps display important information or updates, such as a newly received email or SMS text, in a way that does not immediately interrupt or inconvenience the user. In early versions of Android these notifications could be tapped to open the relevant app, but recent updates have provided enhanced functionality, such as the ability to call a number back directly from the missed call notification without having to open the dialer app first. Notifications are persistent until read or dismissed by the user.

Applications

Android has a growing selection of third party applications, which can be acquired by users either through an app store such as Google Play or the Amazon Appstore, or by downloading and installing the application's APK file from a third-party site.^[56] The Play Store application allows users to browse, download and update apps published by Google and third-party developers, and is pre-installed on devices that comply with Google's compatibility requirements. The app filters the list of available applications to those that are compatible with the user's device, and developers may restrict their applications to particular carriers or countries for business reasons. Purchases of unwanted applications can be refunded within 15 minutes of the time of download, and some carriers offer direct carrier billing for Google Play application purchases, where the cost of the application is added to the user's monthly bill. As of September 2012, there were more than 675,000 apps available for Android, and the estimated number of applications downloaded from the Play Store was 25 billion.

Applications are developed in the Java language using the Android software development kit (SDK). The SDK includes a comprehensive set of development tools,^[62]including a debugger, software libraries, a handset emulator based on QEMU, documentation, sample code, and tutorials. The officially supported integrated development environment (IDE) is Eclipse using the Android Development Tools (ADT) plugin. Other development tools are available, including a Native Development Kit for applications or extensions in C or C++, Google App Inventor, a visual environment for novice programmers, and various cross platform mobile web applications frameworks.

In order to work around limitations on reaching Google services due to Internet censorship in the People's Republic of China, Android devices sold in the PRC are generally customized to use state approved services instead.^[63]

Memory management

Since Android devices are usually battery-powered, Android is designed to manage memory (RAM) to keep power consumption at a minimum, in contrast to desktop operating systems which generally assume they are connected to unlimited mains electricity. When an Android app is no longer in use, the system will automatically suspend it in memory – while the app is still technically "open," suspended apps consume no resources (e.g. battery power or processing power) and sit idly in the background until needed again. This has the dual benefit of increasing the general responsiveness of Android devices, since apps don't need to be closed and reopened from scratch each time, but also ensuring background apps don't consume power needlessly.

Android manages the apps stored in memory automatically: when memory is low, the system will begin killing apps and processes that have been inactive for a while, in reverse order since they were last used (i.e. oldest first). This process is designed to be invisible to the user, such that users do not need to manage memory or the killing of apps themselves. However, confusion over Android memory management has resulted in third-party task killers becoming popular on the Google Play store; these third-party task killers are generally regarded as doing more harm than good.

Usage on other devices

The Sony SmartWatch: an example of Android companion device

The open and customizable nature of Android allows it to be used on other electronics aside from smartphones and tablets, including laptops and netbooks,smartbooks smart TVs (Google TV) and cameras (Nikon Coolpix S800c and Galaxy Camera). In addition, the Android operating system has seen applications on smart glasses (Google Glass), wristwatches, headphones, car CD and DVD players, mirrors, portable media players andlandlines and Voice over IP phones. Ouya, a video game console running Android, became one of the most successful Kickstarter campaigns,crowdfunding US$8.5m for its development, and was later followed by other Android-based consoles, such as Nvidia's Project Shield—an Android device in a video game controller form factor.

In 2011, Google demonstrated "Android@Home", a home automation technology which uses Android to control a range of household devices including light switches, power sockets and thermostats. Prototype light bulbs were announced that could be controlled from an Android phone or tablet, but Android head Andy Rubin was cautious to note that "turning a lightbulb on and off is nothing new," pointing to numerous failed home automation services. Google, he said, was thinking more ambitiously and the intention was to use their position as a cloud services provider to bring Google products into customers' homes.

Another variety of devices are those that, while not running Android themselves, have been designed to interface with and act as a companion to an Android device, such as Sony's SmartWatch line.