Multi-user software is

computer software Software consists of computer programs that instruct the Execution (computing), execution of a computer. Software also includes design documents and specifications. The history of software is closely tied to the development of digital comput ...

that allows access by multiple users of a

computer A computer is a machine that can be Computer programming, programmed to automatically Execution (computing), carry out sequences of arithmetic or logical operations (''computation''). Modern digital electronic computers can perform generic set ...

Time-sharing In computing, time-sharing is the Concurrency (computer science), concurrent sharing of a computing resource among many tasks or users by giving each Process (computing), task or User (computing), user a small slice of CPU time, processing time. ...

systems are multi-user systems. Most batch processing systems for

mainframe computer A mainframe computer, informally called a mainframe or big iron, is a computer used primarily by large organizations for critical applications like bulk data processing for tasks such as censuses, industry and consumer statistics, enterprise ...

s may also be considered "multi-user", to avoid leaving the CPU idle while it waits for I/O operations to complete. However, the term " multitasking" is more common in this context. An example is a Unix or

Unix-like A Unix-like (sometimes referred to as UN*X, *nix or *NIX) operating system is one that behaves in a manner similar to a Unix system, although not necessarily conforming to or being certified to any version of the Single UNIX Specification. A Uni ...

system where multiple remote users have access (such as via a

serial port A serial port is a serial communication Interface (computing), interface through which information transfers in or out sequentially one bit at a time. This is in contrast to a parallel port, which communicates multiple bits simultaneously in Pa ...

or Secure Shell) to the

Unix shell A Unix shell is a Command-line_interface#Command-line_interpreter, command-line interpreter or shell (computing), shell that provides a command line user interface for Unix-like operating systems. The shell is both an interactive command languag ...

prompt at the same time. Another example uses multiple X Window sessions spread across multiple terminals powered by a single machine – this is an example of the use of

thin client In computer networking, a thin client, sometimes called slim client or lean client, is a simple (low-Computer performance, performance) computer that has been Program optimization, optimized for Remote desktop, establishing a remote connectio ...

. Similar functions were also available in a variety of non-Unix-like operating systems, such as Multics, VM/CMS, OpenVMS, MP/M, Concurrent CP/M, Concurrent DOS, FlexOS, Multiuser DOS, REAL/32,

OASIS In ecology, an oasis (; : oases ) is a fertile area of a desert or semi-desert environment THEOS THEOS, which translates from Greek as "God", is an operating system which started out as OASIS, a microcomputer operating system for small computers that use the Zilog Z80, Z80 processor. When the operating system was launched for the IBM Per ...

, PC-MOS,

TSX-32 TSX-32 is a discontinued general purpose 32-bit multi-user multitasking operating system for the x86 architecture platform, with a command line user interface. It is compatible with some 16-bit DOS applications and supports the FAT16 and FA ...

and VM/386. Some multi-user operating systems such as Windows versions from the

Windows NT Windows NT is a Proprietary software, proprietary Graphical user interface, graphical operating system produced by Microsoft as part of its Windows product line, the first version of which, Windows NT 3.1, was released on July 27, 1993. Original ...

family support simultaneous access by multiple users (for example, via Remote Desktop Connection) as well as the ability for a user to disconnect from a local session while leaving processes running (doing work on their behalf) while another user logs into and uses the system. The operating system provides isolation of each user's processes from other users, while enabling them to execute concurrently{{dubious, date=July 2014. Management systems are implicitly designed to be used by multiple users, typically one system administrator or more and an

end-user In product development, an end user (sometimes end-user) is a person who ultimately uses or is intended to ultimately use a product. The end user stands in contrast to users who support or maintain the product, such as sysops, system administrato ...

community. The complementary term, single-user, is most commonly used when talking about an operating system being usable only by one person at a time, or in reference to a single-user

software license agreement An end-user license agreement or EULA () is a legal contract between a software supplier and a customer or End user, end-user. The practice of selling licenses to rather than copies of software predates the recognition of software copyright, w ...

. Multi-user operating systems such as Unix sometimes have a single user mode or runlevel available for emergency maintenance. Examples of single-user operating systems include MS-DOS,

OS/2 OS/2 is a Proprietary software, proprietary computer operating system for x86 and PowerPC based personal computers. It was created and initially developed jointly by IBM and Microsoft, under the leadership of IBM software designer Ed Iacobucci, ...

and

Classic Mac OS Mac OS (originally System Software; retronym: Classic Mac OS) is the series of operating systems developed for the Mac (computer), Macintosh family of personal computers by Apple Computer, Inc. from 1984 to 2001, starting with System 1 and end ...

References

External links

Interix in a Multi-User Windows TSE Environment
paper about the Unix multi-user model and MS-Windows NT TSE Operating system technology

See also

References

External links