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This book is about operating systems concepts as they have evolved through the history of operating systems implementations. Politics and implementation details are irrelevant. Emphasis is given to technically successful designs, aesthetic operating systems, and not on commercial success. In fact, mere commercial success isn't sufficient to make an operating system noteworthy. It also emphasizes working implementations over mere projects.

[edit] Master Table of Contents

1. What is an Operating System?
   1. How to distinguish different operating systems?
2. Historiography
   1. CP derivatives
   2. MULTICS derivatives
   3. VMS derivatives
   4. MacOS derivatives
   5. Cambridge CAP Computer derivatives
   6. IBSYS derivatives
   7. AmigaOS derivatives
   8. Novel Operating Systems
3. Languages as Operating Systems
   1. BASIC
   2. Lisp
   3. Smalltalk
   4. Java
4. Storage: Mechanisms
   1. Storage Mechanisms
   2. Non-Volatiles Memory
   3. Volatile Memory
   4. Database and Memory Applications
   5. Archiving and Backup
   6. Transparent Persistence
   7. The Workspace
   8. Slipnet Association
5. Storage: Addressing Schemes
   1. Memory Banks
   2. Memory Arrays
   3. Memory Modules
   4. Memory Caches
   5. The Long and Short of Addressing
   6. Memory Pages and Swap Files
   7. Memory Partitions and Virtualization
   8. Extended Memory
   9. Enhanced Memory
6. Properties of Namespaces
   1. Namespaces in Unix and Plan 9
      1. Reserfs and the Power of Namespace Unification
   2. Namespaces in Languages
   3. Namespaces in HURD
   4. Namespaces in Grasshopper
   5. Other Namespaces
   6. Theoretical Namespaces
7. Security: capabilities
   1. Critical Definitions
   2. Overview
   3. Protection
   4. Access Control Lists
   5. Capabilities
   6. Mandatory Access Control
   7. Cryptographic Access Control
8. Networking: Security
   1. Trusted Computers
   2. Hubs and Packet Sniffers
   3. Switches and Routers
   4. Firewalls
   5. Socket Scanners
   6. Packet Filters
   7. Demilitarized Zones
   8. Intrusion Detection
9. Internetworking and Distribution
   1. Growth of Network Communities
   2. Linux and Operating System Distributions
   3. Sourceforge and CVS Servers
   4. Free Distributions of Alpha and Beta Versions
   5. Free Software Foundations
   6. Upgrade Sites
   7. Internet Automatic Upgrades vs. Malware
   8. The Internet as Sales Outlet
   9. Freeware and Crippleware
   10. Internet Distribution of New Software
   11. Discouraging Offline Distribution
   12. Plug-ins and Network Mediated Functionality
10. HCI: beyond WIMP
    1. Away from CLI's
    2. Beyond WIMP
    3. Voice Recognition
    4. Natural Language Interaction
    5. Zoomable Interfaces
    6. 3D
    7. Direct Manipulation
    8. Direct Access to Hardware
    9. User Choice: Manual Placement
    10. Brain Interface
11. Uniformity and Reflection
12. The state of current research