What is an Operating System?
An Operating System (OS) is a software that acts as an interface between computer hardware
components and the user. Every computer system must have at least one operating system to run
other programs. Applications like Browsers, MS Office, Notepad Games, etc., need some
environment to run and perform its tasks.
The OS helps you to communicate with the computer without knowing how to speak the
computer's language. It is not possible for the user to use any computer or mobile device without
having an operating system.
Introduction to Operating System
History Of OS
Operating systems were first developed in the late 1950s to manage tape storage
The General Motors Research Lab implemented the first OS in the early 1950s for their
IBM 701
In the mid-1960s, operating systems started to use disks
In the late 1960s, the first version of the Unix OS was developed
The first OS built by Microsoft was DOS. It was built in 1981 by purchasing the 86-DOS
software from a Seattle company
The present-day popular OS Windows first came to existence in 1985 when a GUI was
created and paired with MS-DOS.
Types of Operating System (OS)
Following are the popular types of Operating System:
Batch Operating System
Multitasking/Time Sharing OS
Multiprocessing OS
Real Time OS
Distributed OS
Network OS
Mobile OS
Batch Operating System
Some computer processes are very lengthy and time-consuming. To speed the same process, a
job with a similar type of needs are batched together and run as a group.
The user of a batch operating system never directly interacts with the computer. In this type of
OS, every user prepares his or her job on an offline device like a punch card and submit it to the
computer operator.
Multi-Tasking/Time-sharing Operating systems
Time-sharing operating system enables people located at a different terminal(shell) to use a
single computer system at the same time. The processor time (CPU) which is shared among
multiple users is termed as time sharing.
Real time OS
A real time operating system time interval to process and respond to inputs is very small.
Examples: Military Software Systems, Space Software Systems are the Real time OS example.
Distributed Operating System
Distributed systems use many processors located in different machines to provide very fast
computation to its users.
Network Operating System
Network Operating System runs on a server. It provides the capability to serve to manage data,
user, groups, security, application, and other networking functions.
Mobile OS
Mobile operating systems are those OS which is especially that are designed to power
smartphones, tablets, and wearables devices.
Some most famous mobile operating systems are Android and iOS, but others include
BlackBerry, Web, and watchOS.
Functions of Operating System
Below are the main functions of Operating System:
Fu
nctions of Operating System
In an operating system software performs each of the function:
1. Process management:- Process management helps OS to create and delete processes. It
also provides mechanisms for synchronization and communication among processes.
2. Memory management:- Memory management module performs the task of allocation
and de-allocation of memory space to programs in need of this resources.
3. File management:- It manages all the file-related activities such as organization storage,
retrieval, naming, sharing, and protection of files.
4. Device Management: Device management keeps tracks of all devices. This module also
responsible for this task is known as the I/O controller. It also performs the task of
allocation and de-allocation of the devices.
5. I/O System Management: One of the main objects of any OS is to hide the peculiarities
of that hardware devices from the user.
6. Secondary-Storage Management: Systems have several levels of storage which
includes primary storage, secondary storage, and cache storage. Instructions and data
must be stored in primary storage or cache so that a running program can reference it.
7. Security:- Security module protects the data and information of a computer system
against malware threat and authorized access.
8. Command interpretation: This module is interpreting commands given by the and
acting system resources to process that commands.
9. Networking: A distributed system is a group of processors which do not share memory,
hardware devices, or a clock. The processors communicate with one another through the
network.
10. Job accounting: Keeping track of time & resource used by various job and users.
11. Communication management: Coordination and assignment of compilers, interpreters,
and another software resource of the various users of the computer systems.
Features of Operating System (OS)
Here is a list important features of OS:
Protected and supervisor mode
Allows disk access and file systems Device drivers Networking Security
Program Execution
Memory management Virtual Memory Multitasking
Handling I/O operations
Manipulation of the file system
Error Detection and handling
Resource allocation
Information and Resource Protection
Advantage of using Operating System
Allows you to hide details of hardware by creating an abstraction
Easy to use with a GUI
Offers an environment in which a user may execute programs/applications
The operating system must make sure that the computer system convenient to use
Operating System acts as an intermediary among applications and the hardware
components
It provides the computer system resources with easy to use format
Acts as an intermediator between all hardware's and software's of the system
Disadvantages of using Operating System
If any issue occurs in OS, you may lose all the contents which have been stored in your
system
Operating system's software is quite expensive for small size organization which adds
burden on them. Example Windows
It is never entirely secure as a threat can occur at any time
