Client Operating Systems (COS)
The client operating systems that Microsoft develops are the ones that can be installed on a standalone PC or virtual machine, and can also be connected to a network infrastructure in any organization. The client operating systems are capable of working as the network clients, and in almost all cases they are eligible to receive the services that the server in the network infrastructure offers.
The client operating systems are not powerful enough to provide their own services, and therefore they cannot be replaced by a full-fledged servers. Also, the client operating systems are comparatively lightweight and do not require too much of processors, memory, or other hardware resources as is the case with the network operating systems (servers).
Some examples of the client operating systems are:
- Disk Operating System or DOS
- Windows 3.1
- Windows 3.11
- Windows 95
- Windows 98
- Windows ME
- Windows 2000 Professional
- Windows XP
- Windows Vista
- Windows 7
- Windows 8
Network Operating Systems (NOS)
A network operating system is an OS that has been developed by the Microsoft to provide the services to all the client computers (client operating systems) that a network infrastructure has. It is the Active Directory Domain Services (AD DS) and some other services that differentiate a network operating system from a client operating system.
When the Active Directory Domain Services (AD DS) are installed on a network operating system, the OS becomes a full-fledged domain controller that then becomes capable of managing the entire domain and the client computers that the domain has from a central location.
With the help of the Active Directory Domain Services, the administrators can implement centralized security policies, which are then applicable on all the client computers that are added to the Active Directory Domain.
Some examples of network operating systems that Microsoft has developed are:
- Windows 2000 Server (Entire Family)
- Windows Server 2003 (Entire Family)
- Windows Server 2008 (Entire Family)
- Windows Server 2012 (Entire Family)
Since the client operating systems are not required to offer their services to other computers in a network, they can be installed on a normal computer. On the other hand, because the network operating systems are especially installed/deployed in a network so that they can provide the services to other client computers that the network has, they must be installed on a machine that has decent hardware configuration.