Final answer:
Operating systems evolve due to technological innovation, competition, and planned obsolescence. Upward compatibility issues often force upgrades. Open-source operating systems like Linux have disrupted the market by offering affordable and flexible alternatives.
Step-by-step explanation:
Operating systems must evolve over time because of various factors including technological innovation, market competition, and issues of planned obsolescence. Microsoft Windows users, for example, often find themselves needing to upgrade to newer operating systems as previous versions become unable to open files created in the latest formats, demonstrating upward compatibility.
The development of open-source operating systems like Linux has significantly changed the dynamics by offering cost-effective, configurable, and powerful alternatives to proprietary systems, thus altering the high tech economic landscape.
This evolution responds not just to planned obsolescence but also to genuine innovation needs, such as improved security, compatibility with new hardware, and feature enhancements. Open-source operating systems have provided flexibility and have been pivotal in reducing costs for both users and manufacturers, challenging the dominance of proprietary systems and paving the way for a wide variety of applications from personal use to supercomputing.