UNIX for Dummies Questions & Answers

1. If Shell is something that handles the commands, what is the Operating System them? What does that do actually? Bridge the Shell and the Hardware or Instruction Set together?

2. One of the commands that I'm curious about is the "which" command. I want to know what is exactly written inside it. How will I know that?

3. I've just read that Windows Explorer is the Shell for most Windows OSes. Does Vista have the same shell too?

4. If both Linux and Windows were built on Unix, what is it that differentiates them the most? Why are only a few unix commands retained in Windows?

5. If Windows Explorer is a shell, then what is a Kernel?

The shell is a command interpretor and can also be used as a human interface.

Depends on who wrote the version used on your operating system. which is just another UNIX user program.

Not for Windows 1 through 3.11 or NT 3.1 to 3.51.

Vista will have a similar shell, however we are led to believe Vista was a rewrite from the bottom up as the code became too complicated.

Neither were built on UNIX. Linux is just the kernel at the heart of GNU/Linux distributions, Microsoft did sell Xenix for a while but Windows was originally a graphical DOS extender.

As in if a Granny Smith was an apple, then what is an orange?

First of all thanks for your patience. I'm the same one who asked you for some Unix books

[QUOTE=porter;302138113]The shell is a command interpretor and can also be used as a human interface.
I didn't understand that. I read what a shell is. What is there inside the OS? As I wrote above, is it some bridge or something?


Assuming its Linux or something. Assume its the most frequently used version or shell.


Yeah, thats why I said "most" :P

Oh.. Great... Thanks for that...


Another thanks... So was DOS built from scratch?

You'd hate for this, but I didn't understand that... No not your example, but the answer to my question :P

1. I wouldn't call a shell "a bridge", it's more a translator/interpretor/UI.

2. The most used shell would have to be "/bin/sh" as that is what *most* shell scripts have as the first line and is the most portable form for scripting.

3. Windows ME was the last Windows to sit on DOS. DOS was originally "QDOS" bought by Microsoft and became "PCDOS" and "MSDOS". NT starting at NT 3.1 was a totally new line built with DEC expertise and with hindsight of 16 bit OS/2.

Like in a nut a kernel is the heart of an operating system and has a number of features such as scheduling, synchronisation and interprocess communication, depending on the OS this may also include memory management and driver support. There are kernels, microkernels and even nano-kernels, and has nothing to do with shells or Windows explorer, hence apples and oranges.