TechWhirl (TECHWR-L) is a resource for technical writing and technical communications professionals of all experience levels and in all industries to share their experiences and acquire information.
For two decades, technical communicators have turned to TechWhirl to ask and answer questions about the always-changing world of technical communications, such as tools, skills, career paths, methodologies, and emerging industries. The TechWhirl Archives and magazine, created for, by and about technical writers, offer a wealth of knowledge to everyone with an interest in any aspect of technical communications.
Subject:Re: In and under From:Tammy Hale <tammyh -at- FGM -dot- COM> Date:Thu, 18 May 1995 09:07:24 -0500
> In the sentence, "XXX runs in the Windows environment and under UNIX,"
> is there any difference in usage between "in" and "under"? Could these
> be swapped without affecting the meaning of the sentence?
Doug,
I would not swap "in" and "under" because I don't think it makes sense for
something to run *under* an environment. I think that if you swap the
prepositions, the reader will understand, but the sentence would sound
funny.
The preposition I use depends on whether I'm referring to environment,
platform, or operating system. This is how I do it:
XXX runs in the Windows environment
XXX runs on a UNIX platform
XXX runs on the Solaris operating system
Even if I don't include "operating system," "platform," or "environment"
after the name of the product, keeping in mind which I am referring to
helps keep my prepositons consistent. I can't think of any circumstances
when I would use "under."
