Chapter one

Introduction
 Introduction
• What is operating system
• Computer System Structure
• Examples of operating system
• History of operating system
• Classes of operating system
• Types of operating system
 What is operating system
• It is a system software
• 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 your computer disks or to analyse
problems with your computer.
 Cont.
A program that acts as an intermediary between a user
of a computer and the computer hardware
• OS is a resource allocator
 Manages all resources
 Decides between conflicting requests for efficient and fair resource
use
• OS is a control program which Controls execution of programs to
prevent errors and improper use of the computer
 Cont..
• Basic function of the OS are:
– Process management
– Memory management
– Devise management
– File management
– Security management
– User interfacing
– Coordination of communication on the network
• Operating system goals:
– Execute user programs and make solving user problems easier.
– Make the computer system convenient to use.
– Use the computer hardware in an efficient manner.
 Computer System Structure

• Computer system can be divided into four components

• Hardware – provides basic computing resources
• CPU, memory, I/O devices
• Operating system
• Controls and coordinates use of hardware among various
applications and users
• Application programs – define the ways in which the system
resources are used to solve the computing problems of the users
• Word processors, compilers, web browsers, database systems,
video games
• Users
• People, machines, other computers
Cont.…
 Examples of operating system
• DOS: - Disk Operating System is one of the first operating systems
for the personal computer. When you turned the computer on all you
saw was the command prompt which looked like c:\ >.

• Windows: - The Windows operating system, a product of Microsoft,

is a GUI (graphical user interface) operating system. This type of
"user friendly" operating system is said to have WIMP features:
Windows, Icons, Menus and Pointing device (mouse)

• MacOS:-Macintosh, a product of Apple, has its own operating system

with a GUI and WIMP features.

• UNIX: - Linux:-(the PC version of UNIX) - UNIX and Linux were

originally created with a command-line interface, but recently have
added GUI enhancements.
 History of operating system
• Operating systems have been evolving through the year
 Classes of operating system
• Single user — an operating system described as
‘single user’ means that only one user can use the
services of the operating system at any one time.
• as MS-DOS and up to Windows 3.0 were single user
operating systems
• Multi user: Multi user systems allow more than one
person to use the operating system resources
simultaneously.
• Obviously, two or more people would not want to
physically operate the same computer at the same
time, so the ability to do this is provided by network
operating systems.
 Cont..
• Single tasking: These operating systems are more complex
than single user operating systems because they have to
handle many requests for devices, resources etc., by many
different users at the same time
• These are operating systems in which only one task can be
performed by the operating system at any one time. That
single task must finish before the next task can be started.
• Multi-tasking-single user —This means that a user can sit
in front of their computer (that is not attached to a network)
and the computer appears to do many tasks at the same time
• Multi-tasking-multi user — If you read the definition
above for a multi user system, you would probably have
realised that all multi user systems must be multi-tasking
 Types of operating system
• Batch operating system The users of batch operating system do
not interact with the computer directly
• Each user prepares his job on an off-line device like punch cards
and submits it to the computer operator
• Generally it a sequence of jobs in a program on a computer
without human intervention
 The problems with Batch Systems are following.
• Lack of interaction between the user and job.
• CPU is often idle, because the speeds of the mechanical I/O
devices are slower than CPU
• Difficult to provide the desired priority.
• Time-sharing operating systems
• Time sharing is a technique which enables many people, located at
various terminals, to use a particular computer system at the same
time
• Time-sharing or multitasking is a logical extension of
multiprogramming
 Cont.
It allows many user to share computer resources
 Advantages of Timesharing operating systems are following
• Provide advantage of quick response.
• Avoids duplication of software.
• Reduces CPU idle time.
• Distributed operating System
• Distributed systems use multiple central processors to serve multiple
real time application and multiple users.
• It manages a group of different computers and make appear as a single
computer
 The advantages of distributed systems are following.
• With resource sharing facility user at one site may be able to use the
resources available at another.
• Speedup the exchange of data with one another via electronic mail.
 Cont.…
• If one site fails in a distributed system, the remaining sites
can potentially continue operating.
• Better service to the customers.
• Reduction of the load on the host computer.
• Reduction of delays in data processing
 Cont.…
• Network operating System
• Network Operating System runs on a server and provides
server the capability to manage data, users, groups, security,
applications, and other networking functions.
• Computers running in different operating system can
participate in common network
 The advantages of network operating systems are following.
• Centralized servers are highly stable.
• Security of a server is managed.
• Upgrades to new technologies and hardware can be easily
integrated into the system.
• Remote access to servers is possible from different locations
and types of systems.
 Cont..
• Real Time operating System
• Real time system is defines as a data processing system in
which the time interval required to process and respond to
inputs is so small that it controls the environment.
• Real time processing is always on line whereas on line
system need not be real time.
• The time taken by the system to respond to an input and
display of required updated information is termed as
response time.
• So in this method response time is very less as compared to
the online processing.
• Generally used fix applications to the deadlines