Helpful notes about using Unix terminals.

Installing Unix is now much easier than before and this tutorial is probably rather outdated.  However, it was produced by my first ALevel student to get an A so I keep it out of respect of all the hardwork he put in.

Caveat: Since I don’t want this to take up a significant proportion of my half-term, I haven’t checked all the details – so by all means take any historical information provided with a pinch of salt.

The vast magority of people will be using the Windows Operating System on their home and office computers.  However, there are other possibilities out there and some come with distinct advantages.    Windows is a proprietary system meaning it is owned by someone.

The other popular operating system is Apples Mac OSx which is also proprietry.   However, an interesting fact about OSx is that its based on the Darwin Unix Operating System.

Unix is the Operating System of Computer Scientists and although for many years it has lagged behind in usability and multi-media experience it has also been a forerunner in security and specilist application.  It is also built on open source principals making it FREE.  

If you want to try Unix for FREE then we recommend the Ubuntu edition which can be installed alongside your Windows operating system using a Windows Installer.  Here is how to do it.