Operating Systems Concepts

asked to make a recommendation as to which operating system is best for a small company to use on the 20 new computers they are planning to purchase. They are unsure whether to use Windows or Linux on their new computers. To help define your paper, I would like you to choose from one of these three areas for the type of business you are addressing. If you have another type of business you would like to use, please get pre-approval from your instructor.
1. Financial institution 2. School 3. Computer technical company.
You can choose which one you want to gear your paper towards, please make it clear in your introduction, which one you are choosing.

Your recommendation must address each of the following items for both operating systems: 1. Brief historical recap of the Operating system. Who started it, what were the highlights of the versions as it evolved? 2. Application software availability. Are there a lot of programs you can purchase for this OS and are they easy to find, where can you find them? 3. Purchase price for your desktop operating system. Please include the source of your pricing information. 4. Technical specifications and hardware requirements for the computers to run each operating system. 5. Security information for each operating system. What are their vulnerabilities? 6. End user training needs (how hard or easy is it to use the OS) Please find sources where training would be available and your suggestion of how to train the staff. 7. Projected growth of each operating system.

You should use the most recent version of Windows and Linux. Note that application software availability refers to what programs you can get to run under this operating system, not the operating system itself. Refer to the grading criteria for a breakdown of the point totals for each item. It should be used as a guide for structuring your paper.

Your report must be at least 2000 words long. It must be submitted electronically using the Paper drop box in Desire2Learn. It must be in a word format, such as .doc, .docx, or .rtf. It must contain an introduction, the body of your research, and a conclusion. Your conclusion will include your recommendation for which operating system and a brief explanation of how you arrived at that recommendation. The paper must also include endnotes (for quoted materials, if any) and a bibliography (books, articles, individuals, Internet URLs, etc.) of your sources (or you can use footnotes). Please use whatever writing style you prefer, MLA or APA.

You should use information from classroom discussion/handouts, textbook material, newspaper and magazine articles, Internet web sites (check commercial sites such as Staples, CompUSA, Best Buy, etc. for purchase prices), your personal experience, and possibly even interviews with computer

professionals. You may copy text from the Internet for parts of your paper, but you must cite it with an endnote, enclose it in quotes, and intersperse it with your own commentary (at least 50% of your paper must be in your own words). Any directly quoted material in your report must be acknowledged!

Papers less than 2000 words in length (not counting the cover page, table of contents, and resources page) will be penalized 5 points per 300 words short or fraction thereof. Spelling, sentence structure, and grammar will be included in the grading. The attached grading sheet will provide a tool for you to make sure you complete all required paper criteria.