Open system
Updated: 10/01/2023 by Computer Hope
An open system is a computer system that uses an open architecture and operating system. Open system was first used in the early 1980s to describe computers using Unix because they ran on multiple types of hardware and were not locked to a specific mainframe. Today, an open system describes both Unix and Linux.
Note
The opposite of an open system is a closed system, which describes a system where its specifications are kept secret from third parties. For example, Microsoft Windows is a closed system that runs on open architecture.