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My teacher told that unix is a multy-user operating system (multiple user can use the operating system at the same time) and windows is not.

But how are windows servers working if it is not multy-user operating systems. Many people can run different scripts at the same time in windows servers, how is this possible.

If there is something wrong with my concepts, please correct me.

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closed as off-topic by devnull, Harry Johnston, Yu Hao, giammin, DontVoteMeDown Mar 7 '14 at 11:40


  • "Questions about general computing hardware and software are off-topic for Stack Overflow unless they directly involve tools used primarily for programming. You may be able to get help on Super User." – Harry Johnston, Yu Hao, giammin, DontVoteMeDown

Read some good operating system book mentioning both Unix & Windows. –  Basile Starynkevitch Feb 19 '14 at 7:41
Your teacher is wrong. However, if you don't mind me giving you some non-technical advice, it may not be a good idea to point this out. –  Harry Johnston Feb 20 '14 at 2:14

2 Answers 2

up vote 4 down vote accepted

It depends on the version of Windows which you are running. All unix-based systems are definitely multi-user and some versions of Windows also support access for multiple users via different logins at the same time. Your teacher probably meant that the Windows versions which are commonly used by individuals for private purposes are single-user. i.e. Windows 8, Windows 7, Windows Vista and so on..

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All modern versions of Windows are multi-user. Client editions have an artificial licensing restriction allowing only one interactive session at a time, but you can still have multiple users logged in simultaneously. –  Harry Johnston Feb 20 '14 at 2:13
You mean like when someone logs in, suspends his session and then logs in as a different user? That's like saying that you can drive two cars at the same time, because you are sitting in one and the other one has it's engine on. –  Dropout Feb 20 '14 at 8:18
The key point is that there are processes running in both user contexts simultaneously, and are protected from one another. In a single-user operating system, such as MS-DOS or Windows 95, this isn't possible; either there is only one process at a time, or all processes run in the same security context. From an engineering perspective, and to the programmer, that's what counts. –  Harry Johnston Feb 21 '14 at 1:48
windows 7,8 which is commonly used are not multy-user OS? and which version of windows is? The server os is an example of multy-user os since many people can run different scripts at the same time? –  Indrajith Indraprastham Feb 21 '14 at 4:55

Windows is also a multi-user systems allowing multiple user to login simultaneously. See the definition of a multi-user operating system.

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and can you provide examples for your statement? –  Indrajith Indraprastham Feb 21 '14 at 4:58
