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<title> CS 537 - Writing Assignment 2</title>
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<h2>Writing Assignment 2: OS Issues</h2>

Due Thursday, 11/29 at 11 pm<p>

<h3> Goals for this Assignment </h3>
<ul>
  <li> Explore the techical, legal, and social issues around operating systems
  <li> Find resources for learning about operating systems
  <li> Practice writing about technical topics
</ul>

<h2> Assignment </h2>

For this assignment, you should pick an issue related to operating
systems, research it, and write a paper about it. The topic is up to
you, but it must relate to operating systems. Some possible topices
include:

<ol>

  <li> Why is Microsoft Windows the dominant operating
system? Why is it more successful on desktops then servers? What are
the benefits and drawbacks of having a dominant OS?

  <li> Why has
Linux been so successful as an open source project?  What are the
strengths and weakenesses of Linux?

  <li> Why are we (1) still
research operating systems, after 40 years, and (2) why haven't we
gotten them right? What is so hard about operating systems?

  <li> What
coming trends will impact OS design, and how? Some examples include
web applications (e.g. GMail and Google Spreadsheets), the use of cell
phones (e.g. IPhone) as a general-purpose computing platform, and the
introduction of computers to the billions of people who cannot afford
current desktops computers.

  <li> What are recent approaches to
improving operating systems, and how well do they work? Some examples
include recent work on file systems (e.g. Speculator), reliability
(e.g. Nooks, Rx).

  <li> Virtual machines, such as VMware and Xen, have
taken off in popularity. What kinds of new usage models and features
  do they provide? What kinds of computer uses do they help?

</ol>

<h2> What to turn in </h2>

You should write your paper in 12 point font with 1 or 1.25 inch
margins. The text should extend to the fourth page. Please include
your name and a title on the paper. All documents you draw material
should appear in a bibliography and should be referenced in the
text. I expect that anything not cited is your original
writing. Copying text without attribution will be consider plagiarism.
<p>
Submit your paper my mailing it to instruct537-2@cs.wisc.edu.<br>
<hr>

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