general

Tanenbaum's book is a thorough yet accessible introduction to the design and implementation of modern operating systems. This second edition explains the trade-offs developers must make and shows readers how OS' have matured since the 1960s. Knowledge of programming in C is helpful, especially if the reader wishes to complete the exercises following each chapter. I gave the book five stars for its content, delivery, and humor, all of which helped me learn a difficult subject in an enjoyable manner.

"Modern Operating Systems, 2nd Ed" (MOS:2E) is very well-written, which may surprise those who suffer while reading other hardcover college texts. The book introduces problems facing developers, then helps the reader understand both simple and complex ways to address these issues. Tanenbaum's style is lively and informative, like the cover of his books. He appears knowledgeable and opinionated -- especially concerning problems with the Windows OS -- but he can back up his assertions.

The best features of MOS:2E are found in chapters ten and eleven. Here Tanenbaum illuminates UNIX and Microsoft Windows 2000, respectively, building upon the material found in the previous nine chapters. He gives real reasons why Windows suffers security problems, such as internal complexity, code bloat, and design choices. UNIX is also critically evaluated, but stands up better to Tanenbaum's scrutiny.

I don't recommend computer novices read MOS:2E. One needs a certain amount of interest and motivation to digest this material, and Tanenbaum's explanations of some concepts did not seem sufficient. However, after having finished this 900 page tome, I feel more comfortable reading about design issues for the Linux kernel or the FreeBSD scheduler. If you're looking to learn the how and why of operating system design and implementation, I strongly recommend MOS:2E.

Andrew Tanenbaum ( http://www.cs.vu.nl/~ast/ ) boots your neural network in the right direction in his classic introductory text to Operating Systems and the pre-cursor to his more recent "Distributed Operating Systems" (ISBN: 0132199084). He presents bit-level discussions addressing the core OS issues of processes, memory management, file systems and I/O (among others). He then buffers the information with in-depth, case study comparisons of unix, ms-dos, mach and amoeba (which Tanenbaum co-developed; see: http://www.am.cs.vu.nl/ ). Tanenbaum does not ignore theory altogether, but puts most of his effort into relaying practical concerns and solutions to real OS's.

Tanenbaum's sense of humor never flags or fails to register; a most desirable quality in a technical book one is reading after 8-10 hours in the cubicle world. For instance, regarding the POSIX standard, "The [RFC] 1003.1 document is written in such a way that both operating system implementers and software writers can understand it, [a] novelty in the standards world, although work is already underway to remedy this."

The book assumes the reader has basic programming knowledge, though nothing beyond first year C. Tanenbaum has included numerous clear and helpful diagrams, as well as problem sets at the end of each chapter.

Thoroughly enjoyed - highly recommended.

This books is a tough read, Mr. Tanenbaums explanations of concepts is very loopy and confusing at best. I have a fairly strong foundation in Operating Systems but still this book leaves me dazed. In addition to this book I have Operating Systems by Deitel and Stallings and I find that they manage to convey the concepts of OS much more clearly than Mr. Tanenbaum. I would strongly recommend against this book, even keeping it as a reference is a no-go especially considering the cost.