An operating system is simply a group of computer programs, sometimes called ‘program files’ or simply ‘files’, that are generally stored (saved) on a computer disk. Most computers need an operating system to be able to ‘boot’ (start up), interact with devices such as printers, keyboards and joysticks, and to provide disk management tasks such as saving or retrieving files to/from a computer disks or to analyze problems with a computer.
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| What is an Operating System | Two Main Identifying Features of Operating System |
There are many flavors of operating systems available in the marketplace today. The programs for the operating system are generally written specifically for the type of hardware they are installed on.
For example, the Microsoft Windows operating system works primarily on an IBM-compatible personal computer (pc), whereas the Apple Macintosh operating system works on an Apple personal computer, but will not work on an IBM-compatible computer (without special software called an ‘emulator’).
The two main responsibilities or identifying features which an operating system should perform are Abstraction and Resource Management.
1. Abstraction
The concept of an operating system as primarily providing abstractions to application programs is a top-down view. An alternative, bottom-up, view holds That the operating system is there to manage all the pieces of a complex system.
Modern computers consist of processors, memories, timers, disks, mice, and network Interfaces, printers, and a wide variety of other devices. In the alternative view, the job of the operating system is to provide for an orderly and controlled allocation of the processors, memories, and I/O devices among the various programs competing for them.
2. Resource Management
The operating system handles the various system resource management such as the computer’s memory, and the sharing of the computer CPU (central processing unit) by the various applications such as word processors or spreadsheets, or the various system peripheral devices.
Some advanced operating systems, such as network operating systems (NOS), also handle security matters such as who can log in and use the computer and what they can do once they are logged in. Sometimes these are the added features of the software bundled with the operating system.
The operating system needs to be like a traffic controller, managing all the inbound and outbound data and transmissions (sometimes called traffic) on the computer, hopefully without sending the data on the same flight path and having a system ‘crash’.
The operating system needs to be flexible as well. An operating system such as Microsoft Windows could be installed on many types of computers with different configurations, i e different hard disk drive sizes, different monitors, different printers, different CPUs, etc. It has to be flexible enough to work with these different devices and their software programs called ‘drivers’ so that using the computer and these devices appears transparent to the end-user.
Some advanced operating systems, such as network operating systems (NOS), also handle security matters such as who can log in and use the computer and what they can do once they are logged in. Sometimes these are the added features of the software bundled with the operating system.
The operating system needs to be like a traffic controller, managing all the inbound and outbound data and transmissions (sometimes called traffic) on the computer, hopefully without sending the data on the same flight path and having a system ‘crash’.
The operating system needs to be flexible as well. An operating system such as Microsoft Windows could be installed on many types of computers with different configurations, i e different hard disk drive sizes, different monitors, different printers, different CPUs, etc. It has to be flexible enough to work with these different devices and their software programs called ‘drivers’ so that using the computer and these devices appears transparent to the end-user.
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