Although 90% of all desktop computers use Windows as their operating system, there are two popular alternatives - Apple's Mac OS and the Linux open-source operating system. In this assignment, you will investigate an operating system other than the one you usually use to see how it handles common operating system functions.

Find a friend, relative, or co-worker with a computer that uses an operating system that you don't usually use (Windows, Mac OS, or Linux). Try out the operating system, and observe how it works compared with the operating system that you normally use. Pick the 4 or 5 things you do the most and use those in your comparison. Some examples might be organizing files, creating documents, accessing the Internet, using e-mail, uninstalling software, etc. Do not compare two different Windows systems (for example, Windows 8 and Windows 10).

An alternative to using someone else's computer is to create a "live CD" that lets you run Linux from a CD without installing it on your hard drive. To do this, you need a recordable CD drive and CD burning software like Roxio. Refer to the directions for Creating and Using a Live Linux CD.

Post a report of your experience to the Test Drive CLASS forum. Include the following in your report: The name and version of the operating system you tested, and the name and version of the operating system you normally use. Your list of the 4 or 5 things that you tested. A description of how you tested each process, what you observed, and how it differed from what you normally experience.