Lab report 2

HISTORY OF COMPUTERS, GENERATIONS OF COMPONENTS, OPERATING

SYSTEMS AND SOFTWARE.

Mian Inshaullah Zia [class no. 104] | DCSE Lab | 16 Oct 2018
Table of Contents
History of Computers...................................................................................................................2
Development of The History.......................................................................................................3
The generations of Computer......................................................................................................3
Parallel Computing......................................................................................................................4
History of Processors....................................................................................................................5

PAGE 1
 T h e fi r s t  m i c r o p r o c e s s o r s  w e r e m a n u f a c t u r e d i n t h e 1 9 7 0 s . D e s i g n e r s
p r e d o m i n a n t l y u s e d  N M O S l o g i c  a n d t h e y e x p e r i m e n t e d w i t h v a r io u s w o r d
l e n g t h s . E a r l y o n ,  4 - b i t  p r o c e s s o r s w e r e c o m m o n ( e . g . I n t e l 4 0 0 4 ) . L a t e r i n t h e
d e c a d e , 8 - b i t  p r o c e s s o r s s u c h a s t h e  M O S  6 5 0 2 s u p e r s e d e d t h e 4 - b i t c h i p s .  1 6 -
b i t  p r o c e s s o r s e m e r g e d b y t h e d e c a d e 's e n d .

I n t h e 1 9 8 0 s , 1 6 - b i t  a n d  3 2 - b i t  m i c r o p r o c e s s o r s w e r e c o m m o n a m o n g
n e w d e s ig n s , a n d  C M O S  t e c h n o l o g y o v e r t o o k N M O S . T r a n s i s t o r
c o u n t i n c r e a s e d d r a m a t i c a l l y d u r i n g t h e d e c a d e .T h e  h o m e
c o m p u t e r s  o f t h e 1 9 8 0 s p r e d o m in a n t l y u s e d p r o c e s s o r s t h a t w e r e
i n t r o d u c e d i n t h e 1 9 7 0 s . V e r s i o n s o f t h e  M O S  6 5 0 2 , fi r s t r e l e a s e d i n
19 7 5 , a n d t h e Z ilo g Z 8 0 (19 7 6 ) , w e r e a t th e c o r e o f m a n y o f th e h o m e
c o m p u t e r s , s u c h a s t h e  C o m m o d o r e 6 4  a n d t h e  Z X S p e c t r u m . E v e n
t h e fi r s t - g e n e r a t i o n  I B M P C  u s e d a p r o c e s s o r f r o m t h e 1 9 7 0 s , t h e I n t e l
8088.

T h e  3 2 - b i t  m i c r o p r o c e s s o r d o m i n a t e d t h e c o n s u m e r m a r k e t in t h e
19 9 0 s . P r o c e s s o r c lo c k s p e e d s in c r e a s e d b y m o r e th a n t e n fo ld
b e t w e e n 1 9 9 0 a n d 1 9 9 9 , a n d  6 4 - b i t  p r o c e s s o r s b e g a n t o e m e r g e l a t e r
in th e d e c a d e . In t h e 19 9 0 s , m ic r o p r o c e s s o r s n o lo n g e r u s e d th e s a m e
c l o c k s p e e d f o r t h e p r o c e s s o r a n d t h e  R A M . P r o c e s s o r s b e g a n t o h a v e
a   f r o n t - s id e b u s  ( F S B ) c l o c k s p e e d u s e d i n c o m m u n i c a t i o n w it h R A M
a n d o t h e r c o m p o n e n t s . T y p ic a l l y , t h e p r o c e s s o r i t s e l f r a n a t a c l o c k
s p e e d t h a t w a s a m u l t i p l e o f t h e F S B c l o c k s p e e d . I n t e l 's P e n t i u m I I I ,
f o r e x a m p l e , h a d a n i n t e r n a l c l o c k s p e e d o f 4 5 0 – 6 0 0  M H z a n d a F S B
s p e e d o f 1 0 0 – 1 3 3  M H z .

6 4 - b it   p r o c e s s o r s b e c a m e m a i n s t r e a m i n t h e 2 0 0 0 s . M i c r o p r o c e s s o r c l o c k
s p e e d s r e a c h e d a c e i l in g b e c a u s e o f t h e  h e a t d i s s ip a t i o n  b a r r i e r . I n s t e a d o f
i m p l e m e n t i n g e x p e n s iv e a n d i m p r a c t i c a l c o o l i n g s y s t e m s , m a n u f a c t u r e r s t u r n e d
t o  p a r a l l e l c o m p u t i n g  i n t h e f o r m o f t h e  m u l t i - c o r e p r o c e s s o r .  O v e r c l o c k i n g  h a d
i t s r o o t s i n t h e 1 9 9 0 s , b u t c a m e in t o i t s o w n in t h e 2 0 0 0 s . O ff - t h e - s h e l f c o o l i n g
s y s t e m s d e s i g n e d f o r o v e r c l o c k e d p r o c e s s o r s b e c a m e c o m m o n , a n d t h e  g a m in g
P C  h a d i t s a d v e n t a s w e l l . O v e r t h e d e c a d e , t r a n s i s t o r c o u n t s i n c r e a s e d b y a b o u t
a n o r d e r o f m a g n i t u d e , a t r e n d c o n t i n u e d f r o m p r e v io u s d e c a d e s . P r o c e s s s i z e s
d e c r e a s e d a b o u t f o u r f o l d , f r o m 1 8 0  n m t o 4 5  n m .

........................................................................................................................................................5
History of Operating Systems.....................................................................................................6

PAGE 2
History of Computers

O n e o f t h e e a r lie s t m a c h in e s d e s ig n e d t o a s s is t p e o p le in c a lc u la t io n s w a s
t h e  a b a c u s   w h i c h i s s t i l l b e i n g u s e d s o m e 5 0 0 0 y e a r s a f t e r i t s i n v e n t i o n .

I n 16 4 2 B la is e P a s c a l ( a fa m o u s F r e n c h m a t h e m a tic ia n ) in v e n te d a n a d d in g
m a c h in e b a s e d o n m e c h a n ic a l g e a r s in w h ic h n u m b e r s w e r e r e p r e s e n t e d b y
th e c o g s o n t h e w h e e ls .

E n g l i s h m a n , C h a r l e s B a b b a g e , i n v e n t e d i n t h e 1 8 3 0 's a " D i ff e r e n c e
E n g in e " m a d e o u t o f b r a s s a n d p e w te r ro d s a n d g e a r s , a n d a ls o
d e s ig n e d a fu r t h e r d e v ic e w h ic h h e c a lle d a n " A n a ly t ic a l E n g in e " . H is
d e s i g n c o n t a i n e d t h e fi v e k e y c h a r a c t e r i s t i c s o f m o d e r n c o m p u t e r s :

A u g u s ta A d a B y r o n ( la t e r C o u n te s s o f L o v e la c e ) w a s a n a s s o c ia te o f
B a b b a g e w h o h a s b e c o m e k n o w n a s t h e fi r s t c o m p u t e r p r o g r a m m e r .

A n A m e r i c a n , H e r m a n H o l l e r i t h , d e v e l o p e d ( a r o u n d 1 8 9 0 ) t h e fi r s t
e le c t r ic a lly d r iv e n d e v ic e . I t u t ilis e d p u n c h e d c a r d s a n d m e t a l r o d s
w h ic h p a s s e d t h r o u g h t h e h o le s to c lo s e a n e le c tr ic a l c ir c u it a n d t h u s
c a u s e a c o u n t e r t o a d v a n c e . T h is m a c h in e w a s a b le t o c o m p le te th e
c a lc u la t io n o f t h e 18 9 0 U .S . c e n s u s in 6 w e e k s c o m p a r e d w it h 7 1/ 2
y e a r s fo r th e 18 8 0 c e n s u s w h ic h w a s m a n u a lly c o u n t e d .

In 19 3 6 H o w a r d A ik e n o f H a r v a r d U n iv e r s ity c o n v in c e d T h o m a s W a t s o n o f
I B M t o in v e s t $ 1 m illio n in t h e d e v e lo p m e n t o f a n e le c tr o m e c h a n ic a l v e r s io n
o f B a b b a g e 's a n a l y t i c a l e n g i n e . T h e H a r v a r d M a r k 1 w a s c o m p l e t e d i n 1 9 4 4
a n d w a s 8 fe e t h ig h a n d 5 5 fe e t lo n g .

A t a b o u t t h e s a m e t i m e ( t h e l a t e 1 9 3 0 's ) J o h n A t a n a s o ff o f I o w a S t a t e U n i v e r s i t y a n d h i s
a s s i s t a n t C l i ff o r d B e r r y b u i l t t h e fi r s t d i g i t a l c o m p u t e r t h a t w o r k e d e l e c t r o n i c a l l y , t h e
A B C ( A t a n a s o ff - B e r r y C o m p u t e r ) . T h i s m a c h i n e w a s b a s i c a l l y a s m a l l c a l c u l a t o r .
I n 1 9 4 3 , a s p a r t o f t h e B r i t i s h w a r e ff o r t , a s e r i e s o f v a c u u m t u b e b a s e d c o m p u t e r s
( n a m e d C o lo s s u s ) w e r e d e v e lo p e d t o c r a c k G e r m a n s e c r e t c o d e s . T h e C o lo s s u s M a r k 2
s e r ie s ( p ic t u r e d ) c o n s is te d o f 2 4 0 0 v a c u u m t u b e s .

PAGE 3
Development of The History
John Mauchly and J. Presper Eckert of the University of Pennsylvania developed these
ideas further by proposing a huge machine consisting of 18,000 vacuum tubes. ENIAC
(Electronic Numerical Integrator and Computer) was born in 1946. It was a huge
machine with a huge power requirement and two major disadvantages. Maintenance
was extremely difficult as the tubes broke down regularly and had to be replaced, and
also there was a big problem with overheating. The most important limitation, however,
was that every time a new task needed to be performed the machine need to be rewired.
In other words, programming was carried out with a soldering iron.

In the late 1940's John von Neumann (at the time a special consultant to the ENIAC team)
developed the EDVAC (Electronic Discrete Variable Automatic Computer) which
pioneered the "stored program concept". This allowed programs to be read into the
computer and so gave birth to the age of general-purpose computers.

The generations of Computer.

The First Generation (1943-1958): This generation is often described as starting with the
delivery of the first commercial computer to a business client. The main defining feature of
the first generation of computers was that vacuum tubes were used as internal computer
components. Vacuum tubes are generally about 5-10 centimeters in length and the large
numbers of them required in computers resulted in huge and extremely expensive
machines that often broke down (as tubes failed).

The Second Generation (1959-1964): In the mid-1950's Bell Labs developed the
transistor. Transistors were capable of performing many of the same tasks as vacuum
tubes but were only a fraction of the size. The first transistor-based computer was
produced in 1959. Transistors were not only smaller, enabling computer size to be
reduced, but they were faster, more reliable and consumed less electricity.

The other main improvement of this period was the development of computer
languages. Assembler languages or symbolic languages allowed programmers to
specify instructions in words (albeit very cryptic words) which were then translated into a
form that the machines could understand (typically series of 0's and 1's: Binary
code). Higher level languages also came into being during this period. Whereas
assembler languages had a one-to-one correspondence between their symbols and actual
machine functions, higher level language commands often represent complex sequences
of machine codes. Two higher-level languages developed during this period (Fortran and
Cobol) are still in use today though in a much more developed form.

The Third Generation (1965-1970): In 1965 the first integrated circuit (IC) was

developed in which a complete circuit of hundreds of components were able to be placed

PAGE 4
on a single silicon chip 2 or 3 mm square. Computers using these IC's soon replaced
transistor based machines.

Another feature of this period is that computer software became much more powerful and
flexible and for the first time more than one program could share the computer's
resources at the same time (multi-tasking). The majority of programming languages used
today are often referred to as 3GL's (3rd generation languages) even though some of them
originated during the 2nd generation.

The Fourth Generation (1971-present): The boundary between the third and fourth
generations is not very clear-cut at all. Most of the developments since the mid 1960's can
be seen as part of a continuum of gradual miniaturization. In 1970 large-scale
integration was achieved where the equivalent of thousands of integrated circuits were
crammed onto a single silicon chip. Around this time the first complete general-
purpose microprocessor became available on a single chip. In 1975 Very Large Scale
Integration (VLSI) took the process one step further. Complete computer central
processors could now be built into one chip. The microcomputer was born. Such chips
are far more powerful than ENIAC and are only about 1cm square whilst ENIAC filled a
large building.

During this period Fourth Generation Languages (4GL's) have come into existence.

Such languages are a step further removed from the computer hardware in that they use
language much like natural language. Many database languages can be described as 4GL's.
They are generally much easier to learn than are 3GL's.

The Fifth Generation (the future): The "fifth generation" of computers were defined by
the Japanese government in 1980 The main requirements of the 5G machines was that
they incorporate the features of Artificial Intelligence, Expert Systems, and Natural
Language. The goal was to produce machines that are capable of performing tasks in
similar ways to humans, are capable of learning, and are capable of interacting with
humans in natural language and preferably using both speech input (speech recognition)
and speech output (speech synthesis).

Parallel Computing
Up until recently most computers were serial computers. Such computers had a single
processor chip containing a single processor. Parallel computing is based on the idea that
if more than one task can be processed simultaneously on multiple processors then a
program would be able to run more rapidly than it could on a single processor. The
supercomputers of the 1990s, such as the Cray computers, were extremely expensive to
purchase (usually over $1,000,000) and often required cooling by liquid helium so they
were also very expensive to run. By 2008, newest desktop and laptop computers contained
more than one processor on a single chip (e.g. the Intel "Core 2 Duo" released in 2006 or

PAGE 5
the Intel "Core 2 Quad" released in 2007). Having multiple processors does not necessarily
mean that parallel computing will work automatically. The operating system must be able
to distribute programs between the processors an individual program will only be able to
take advantage of multiple processors if the computer language it's written in is able to
distribute tasks within a program between multiple processors. For example, Open MP
supports parallel programming in Fortran and C/C++.

History of Processors

T h e fi r s t  m i c r o p r o c e s s o r s  w e r e m a n u f a c t u r e d i n t h e 1 9 7 0 s . D e s i g n e r s
p r e d o m i n a n t l y u s e d  N M O S l o g i c  a n d t h e y e x p e r i m e n t e d w i t h v a r io u s w o r d
l e n g t h s . E a r l y o n ,  4 - b i t  p r o c e s s o r s w e r e c o m m o n ( e . g . I n t e l 4 0 0 4 ) . L a t e r i n t h e
d e c a d e , 8 - b i t  p r o c e s s o r s s u c h a s t h e  M O S  6 5 0 2 s u p e r s e d e d t h e 4 - b i t c h i p s .  1 6 -
b i t  p r o c e s s o r s e m e r g e d b y t h e d e c a d e 's e n d .

I n t h e 1 9 8 0 s , 1 6 - b i t  a n d  3 2 - b i t  m i c r o p r o c e s s o r s w e r e c o m m o n a m o n g
n e w d e s ig n s , a n d  C M O S  t e c h n o l o g y o v e r t o o k N M O S . T r a n s i s t o r
c o u n t i n c r e a s e d d r a m a t i c a l l y d u r i n g t h e d e c a d e .T h e  h o m e
c o m p u t e r s  o f t h e 1 9 8 0 s p r e d o m in a n t l y u s e d p r o c e s s o r s t h a t w e r e
i n t r o d u c e d i n t h e 1 9 7 0 s . V e r s i o n s o f t h e  M O S  6 5 0 2 , fi r s t r e l e a s e d i n
19 7 5 , a n d t h e Z ilo g Z 8 0 (19 7 6 ) , w e r e a t th e c o r e o f m a n y o f th e h o m e
c o m p u t e r s , s u c h a s t h e  C o m m o d o r e 6 4  a n d t h e  Z X S p e c t r u m . E v e n
t h e fi r s t - g e n e r a t i o n  I B M P C  u s e d a p r o c e s s o r f r o m t h e 1 9 7 0 s , t h e I n t e l
8088.

T h e  3 2 - b i t  m i c r o p r o c e s s o r d o m i n a t e d t h e c o n s u m e r m a r k e t in t h e
19 9 0 s . P r o c e s s o r c lo c k s p e e d s in c r e a s e d b y m o r e th a n t e n fo ld
b e t w e e n 1 9 9 0 a n d 1 9 9 9 , a n d  6 4 - b i t  p r o c e s s o r s b e g a n t o e m e r g e l a t e r
in th e d e c a d e . In t h e 19 9 0 s , m ic r o p r o c e s s o r s n o lo n g e r u s e d th e s a m e
c l o c k s p e e d f o r t h e p r o c e s s o r a n d t h e  R A M . P r o c e s s o r s b e g a n t o h a v e
a   f r o n t - s id e b u s  ( F S B ) c l o c k s p e e d u s e d i n c o m m u n i c a t i o n w it h R A M
a n d o t h e r c o m p o n e n t s . T y p ic a l l y , t h e p r o c e s s o r i t s e l f r a n a t a c l o c k
s p e e d t h a t w a s a m u l t i p l e o f t h e F S B c l o c k s p e e d . I n t e l 's P e n t i u m I I I ,
f o r e x a m p l e , h a d a n i n t e r n a l c l o c k s p e e d o f 4 5 0 – 6 0 0  M H z a n d a F S B
s p e e d o f 1 0 0 – 1 3 3  M H z .

6 4 - b it   p r o c e s s o r s b e c a m e m a i n s t r e a m i n t h e 2 0 0 0 s . M i c r o p r o c e s s o r c l o c k
s p e e d s r e a c h e d a c e i l in g b e c a u s e o f t h e  h e a t d i s s ip a t i o n  b a r r i e r . I n s t e a d o f
i m p l e m e n t i n g e x p e n s iv e a n d i m p r a c t i c a l c o o l i n g s y s t e m s , m a n u f a c t u r e r s t u r n e d
t o  p a r a l l e l c o m p u t i n g  i n t h e f o r m o f t h e  m u l t i - c o r e p r o c e s s o r .  O v e r c l o c k i n g  h a d
i t s r o o t s i n t h e 1 9 9 0 s , b u t c a m e in t o i t s o w n in t h e 2 0 0 0 s . O ff - t h e - s h e l f c o o l i n g
s y s t e m s d e s i g n e d f o r o v e r c l o c k e d p r o c e s s o r s b e c a m e c o m m o n , a n d t h e  g a m in g
P C  h a d i t s a d v e n t a s w e l l . O v e r t h e d e c a d e , t r a n s i s t o r c o u n t s i n c r e a s e d b y a b o u t
a n o r d e r o f m a g n i t u d e , a t r e n d c o n t i n u e d f r o m p r e v io u s d e c a d e s . P r o c e s s s i z e s
d e c r e a s e d a b o u t f o u r f o l d , f r o m 1 8 0  n m t o 4 5  n m .

PAGE 6
History of Operating Systems.

T h e F i r s t G e n e r a t i o n ( 1 9 4 0 's t o e a r l y 1 9 5 0 's ) W h e n e l e c t r o n i c c o m p u t e r s w h e r e fi r s t
i n t r o d u c e d i n t h e 1 9 4 0 's t h e y w e r e c r e a t e d w i t h o u t a n y o p e r a t i n g s y s t e m s .  A l l
p r o g r a m m in g w a s d o n e in a b s o lu t e m a c h in e la n g u a g e , o fte n b y w ir in g u p p lu g b o a r d s t o
c o n t r o l t h e m a c h i n e 's b a s i c f u n c t i o n s .  D u r i n g t h i s g e n e r a t i o n c o m p u t e r s w e r e g e n e r a l l y
u s e d to s o lv e s im p le m a th c a lc u la tio n s , o p e r a t in g s y s t e m s w e r e n o t n e c e s s a r ily n e e d e d .

T h e S e c o n d G e n e r a t i o n ( 1 9 5 5 - 1 9 6 5 ) T h e fi r s t o p e r a t i n g s y s t e m w a s
i n t r o d u c e d i n t h e e a r l y 1 9 5 0 's , i t w a s c a l l e d G M O S a n d w a s c r e a t e d b y G e n e r a l
M o t o r s f o r I B M 's m a c h i n e t h e 7 0 1 . O p e r a t i n g s y s t e m s i n t h e 1 9 5 0 's w e r e c a l l e d
s in g le - s t r e a m b a tc h p r o c e s s in g s y s t e m s b e c a u s e t h e d a t a w a s s u b m itt e d in
g r o u p s . T h e s e n e w m a c h in e s w e r e c a lle d m a in fr a m e s , a n d th e y w e r e u s e d b y
p r o fe s s io n a l o p e r a to r s in la r g e c o m p u te r r o o m s .

T h e T h ir d G e n e r a t io n ( 19 6 5 - 1 9 8 0 ) T h e in t r o d u c tio n o f m u ltip r o g r a m m in g
w a s a m a jo r p a r t in t h e d e v e lo p m e n t o f o p e r a t in g s y s t e m s b e c a u s e it a llo w e d
a C P U t o b e b u s y n e a r ly 10 0 p e r c e n t o f th e tim e t h a t it w a s in
p e r a t i o n .  A n o t h e r m a j o r d e v e l o p m e n t d u r in g t h e t h i r d g e n e r a t i o n w a s t h e
p h e n o m e n a l g r o w t h o f m i n i c o m p u t e r s ,  T h e s e m i c r o c o m p u t e r s h e l p c r e a t e a
w h o le n e w in d u s tr y a n d th e d e v e lo p m e n t

T h e F o u r t h G e n e r a t i o n ( 1 9 8 0 - P r e s e n t D a y ) T h e fo u r th g e n e r a tio n o f o p e r a t in g
s y s te m s s a w th e c r e a tio n o f p e r s o n a l c o m p u t in g . O n e o f th e m a jo r fa c t o r s in th e
c r e a tio n o f p e r s o n a l c o m p u tin g w a s t h e b ir th o f M ic r o s o ft a n d th e W in d o w s o p e r a tin g
s y s t e m . T h e w i n d o w s O p e r a t i n g S y s t e m w a s c r e a t e d i n 1 9 7 5 w h e n P a u l A l l e n a n d B i l l
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M S - D O S in 19 8 1 W in d o w s w e n t o n t o b e c o m e t h e la r g e s t o p e r a tin g s y s te m u s e d in
te c h o n o lo g y to d a y w it h r e le a s e s o f W in d o w s 9 5 , W in d o w s 9 8 , W I n d o w s X P ( W h ic h is
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s y s t e m W i n d o w s 7 , 8 a n d 1 0 T o d a y a l l o f o u r e l e c t r o n i c d e v i c e s r u n o ff o f o p e r a t i n g
s y s t e m s , f r o m o u r c o m p u t e r s a n d s m a r t p h o n e s , t o A T M m a c h i n e s a n d m o t o r  v e h i c l e s .
A n d a s  t e c h n o l o g y  a d v a n c e s , s o d o o p e r a t i n g s y s t e m .

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