Rating: 
Summary: Some weaknesses
Review: (1) The CD does not include the Amsterdam Compiler Kit, which prohibits compiling the source code. (2) The authors made no effort in explaining the ports. There are two types of ports: physical and logical. The authors should mention the amount of physical ports available (perhaps 1024), and the logical ports (perhaps 65536 - 1025), how the mapping is done, and what are the 'meaning' of ports like 10020 required by some software. The authors should mention what the number means. (3) Some abbreviations should be described better. For example, what is 'BSS'.
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Summary: The classic text on the subject.
Review: This has got to be the single most referenced volume on this subject, pulling together a mountain of research into a very practical treatment. Imagine trying to write this. Professor Tannenbaum has been one of the stars in the computer science galaxy for quite some time. We all owe a lot to him, especially for this outstanding volume.
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Summary: Should be called 'Unix Operating Systems'?
Review: Although this book covers a great deal of topics regarding operating system designing, it is largely a book about the Unix OS, and its derivatives, particularly Minix. This is not at all bad, since it does cover a lot of general topics, but for a person interested in MS-DOS/Windows (or any other non-Unix OS for that matter), it can get boring. The most important point to make about this book is: If you don't plan on messing around with the Minix source, you are probably wasting your money. This book may be 900+ pages, but the back 400 pages are a (reduced) listing of the Minix source code, and a lot of the main text is special sections that walk through this source code, describing how it works. This means that, in the end, you have about 250 pages of actual operating system text. This is definitely a well written book, and the coverage of the trade-offs that an OS designer must make are very insightful, but if you don't plan on hacking Minix, you should probably look elsewhere.
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Summary: One of the best OS books out there
Review: First off, don't be fooled by people who claim this to be an "easy read". It isn't ... reading the entire book will take weeks, as the text is packed with information, not to mention exercises following each section. That being said, I highly recommend the book. It provides a thorough introduction to operating systems basics, from scheduling to terminals, along with source code. Don't expect to absorb it all at once!
Rating:
Summary: One of the best OS books out there
Review: First off, don't be fooled by people who claim this to be an "easy read". It isn't ... reading the entire book will take weeks, as the text is packed with information, not to mention exercises following each section. That being said, I highly recommend the book. It provides a thorough introduction to operating systems basics, from scheduling to terminals, along with source code. Don't expect to absorb it all at once!
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Summary: Well coverage for fundamental OS design
Review: First there was Unix, then Minix , now Linux. Before Unix became a proprietary OS, its source code was available freely, hence the codes were used by many OS courses in colleges. Then things changed and the source code is no longer free. OS books will only present theories but not enough source code to show the implementation. This book is different. The authors took an extra initiative to create Minix which implements many features of Unix (and Linux) and include it into this book. I believe that this is a very good book to study OS in depth. It is reasonable that some mind stretching is needed as the subject of OS is sophisticated and complex. Highly recommended especially for Linux and Unix devotees.
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Summary: Best part is the CD-ROM OS. But the book needs work.
Review: First, some personal background so the buyer can better judge the review. I have over 17 in IT, a solid hardware and software background, from the signals on input and output pins, to bytes, mnemonics, high level source, design, analysis, OO, as well as heavy Unix and prior OS internals knowledge. The best part is that the book comes with a good OS with which to learn and tinker, Minix. This book was used in my OS undergraduate course. Some of the shortcomings are: 1) much of the book taken up by detailed source references, which are useless because they don't match the real source in the CDROM distribution. 2) the programming exercises given insure the OS principles will be absorbed, however, little or no guidance is provided. 3) the book is intended as an introductory text, but the reader is left on their own to install the OS. 4) there is no provision for having a "live" Minix file system on the CDROM, which would eliminate/simplify installation/running of the OS, a factor in universities with only Win32 machines. 5) in the chapter on file systems, the author wanders off the subject with a lot of opinion and ethical issues that do not belong in a book of this nature. In summary, I am very disappointed with this book, even though I faired the best of all the students in the course.
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Summary: Great Job!
Review: Great book ! This book is for those who are looking to see how things really run! I am looking for a similar one on linux or FreeBSD. I hope that they will do it soon!
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Summary: I liked it and I didn't even install Minux...
Review: I used this book in an OS course when the assigned text proved too annoying. It has very concise and well-written sections which are general to all OSes. I actually skipped most of the Minux-specific sections, and never got around to installing the OS (life is short!). So perhaps my experience isn't typical. But the book can certainly be used to get a nice and terse overview of OS concepts.
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Summary: With this book, you have everything to start writing your OS
Review: I'm only studying computer sciences for 1 year, so I'm still a beginner, and this book was easy for me to read. It faces you with much of the tasks an OS has. It explains everything in detail. Example: It explains step by step, what's going on with a character you typed, untill it's on your screen. Maybe, you thought it was simple. Well, it isn't, but the book explains it very easy, so you can easily understand it with a bit of brains. PS. You don't have to know your English very well, because I understood the book, and normally I never speak English, because I speak Flemisch.
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