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Operating environment
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<p>In <a href="/facts/Computer_software/RP79lVSW">computer software</a>, an operating environment or integrated applications environment is the <a href="/facts/Deployment_environment/gG7DJoE6">environment</a> in which users run <a href="/facts/Application_software/YQuj7Kog">application software</a>. The environment consists of a <a href="/facts/User_interface/e9sPEWVD">user interface</a> provided by an applications manager and usually an <a href="/facts/Application_programming_interface/GMlN4vUr">application programming interface</a> (API) to the applications manager. </p><p>An operating environment is <i>not</i> a full <a href="/facts/Operating_system/8XTuvMh2">operating system</a>, but is a form of <a href="/facts/Middleware/HobNosz9">middleware</a> that rests between the OS and the application. For example, the first version of <a href="/facts/Microsoft_Windows/bwhAhuSL">Microsoft Windows</a>, <a href="/facts/Windows_1.0/SfHQ6bIE">Windows 1.0</a>, was not a full operating system, but a <a href="/facts/GUI/wBlQFWDP">GUI</a> laid over DOS albeit with an API of its own. Similarly, the <a href="/facts/IBM_U2/lfoqc5m6">IBM U2</a> system operates on both <a href="/facts/Unix/0pNL2seI">Unix</a>/<a href="/facts/Linux/9FvCKSTq">Linux</a> and <a href="/facts/Windows_NT/EtccWvxQ">Windows NT</a>. Usually the user interface is <a href="/facts/Text-based_user_interface/bngNtqIY">text-based</a> or <a href="/facts/Graphical_user_interface/wBlQFWDP">graphical</a>, rather than a <a href="/facts/Command-line_interface/R9JpGmXQ">command-line interface</a> (e.g., <a href="/facts/DOS/sWwDXNmX">DOS</a> or the <a href="/facts/Unix_shell/2G4T2Fb9">Unix shell</a>), which is often the interface of the underlying operating system. </p><p>In the mid 1980s, <a href="/facts/Text-based_user_interface/bngNtqIY">text-based</a> and <a href="/facts/Graphical_user_interface/wBlQFWDP">graphical</a> user interface operating environments surrounded <a href="/facts/DOS/sWwDXNmX">DOS</a> operating systems with a <a href="/facts/Shell_(computing)/Sa67elS7">shell</a> that turned the user's <a href="/facts/Computer_monitor/NRaTDFHc">display</a> into a <a href="/facts/Menu_(computing)/zdKCgPGq">menu</a>-oriented "<a href="/facts/Desktop_metaphor/kWQQNlxu">desktop</a>" for selecting and running <a href="/facts/IBM_PC_compatible/zGUpl7Sh">PC</a> applications. These operating environment systems allow users much of the convenience of <a href="/facts/Integrated_software/hnk2V4aF">integrated software</a> without locking them into a single package. </p>