Functions Of Operating System

Today most operating systems perform the following important functions:

1. Processor management, that is, assignment of processor to different tasks being performed by
the computer system.
2. Memory management, that is, allocation of main memory and other storage areas to the
system programmes as well as user programmes and data.
3. Input/output management, that is, co-ordination and assignment of the different output and
input device

while one or more programmes are being executed.

4. File management, that is, the storage of file of various storage devices to another. It also
allows all files to be easily changed and modified through the use of text editors or some other
files manipulation routines.

5. Establishment and enforcement of a priority system. That is, it determines and maintains the
order in which jobs are to be executed in the computer system.
6. Automatic transition from job to job as directed by special control statements.
7. Interpretation of commands and instructions.
8. Coordination and assignment of compilers, assemblers, utility programs, and other software to
the various user of the computer system.
9. Facilities easy communication between the computer system and the computer operator
(human). It also establishes data security and integrity.

What is Operating System?

The software that administers the allocation of the possessions of the central processing unit and
offers people who develop that program with a suitable interface used to get along with those
possessions is known as Operating System or simply OS.
About Desktop operating systems
 The operating system develops the system information and the entry of user and acts in
response by assigning and organizing the jobs and interior system resources as the
service to the users and the programs of the system.
 At the base of the entire system software, the operating system carries out the basic jobs
like controlling and giving priority to the system requirements, assigning the memory,
making easy in networking calculating input and output equipments, and organizing file
systems.
Features of Desktop operating systems:
 Presently the contemporary desktop operating systems include Graphical User
Interfaces.
 A few older desktop operating systems firmly incorporated the GUI into the kernel.

Features of Graphical user interfaces

 Banner
  System Status panel
 Search panel
 System and event collections
 Menus
 Workspace
For example:
 In the unique implementations of Microsoft Windows and Mac OS, the graphical
subsystem was in fact part of the kernel.
 Many operating systems permit the user to install or generate any user line they desire.
 The X Window System in conjunction with GNOME or KDE is a frequently found setup
on most UNIX and Unix-like BSD, Linux, Minix systems.
 Graphical user lines develop over time.
 Windows has customized its user lines almost every time a new major version of
Windows is released, and the Mac OS GUI changed dramatically with the opening of
Mac OS X in 2001.

Device drivers Software

 A device driver software is a precise type of computer software developed to permit
interaction with hardware devices.
 Characteristically this constitutes an interface for communicating with the device,
through the specific computer bus or communications subsystem that the hardware is
connected to, offering commands to or receiving data from the device, and on the other
end, the requisite interfaces to the operating system and software applications.
 It is a specialized hardware-dependent computer program which is also operating system
precise that enables another program, characteristically an operating system or
applications software package or computer program running under the operating system
kernel, to interact transparently with a hardware device, and typically offers the requisite
interrupt handling indispensable for any necessary asynchronous time-dependent
hardware interfacing requirements.
 The main design objective of device drivers is abstraction.
 Every model of hardware is different.
 Desktop Operating System essentially dictates how every type of device should be
controlled.
 The function of the device driver is then to interpret these OS mandated function calls
into device specific calls.
 In theory a latest device, which is controlled in a new manner, should function correctly
if an appropriate driver is obtainable.
Networking
 Most existing operating systems are accomplished of utilizing the TCP or IP networking
protocols.
  This involves that computers running different operating systems can take part in a
familiar network for sharing resources like files, computing, scanners and printers, using
either wired or wireless connections.
 Many operating systems also hold up one or more vendor-specific legacy networking
protocols.
For example
 System Network Architectute (SNA) on IBM system, decent systems from Digital
Equipment Corporation and Microsoft specific protocols on Window.
 Exact protocols for specific tasks may also be supported like Network File System
(NFS) for file access.
Embedded systems
 Embedded systems utilize a variety of devoted operating systems.
 In the simplest embedded systems, there is no difference between the operating system
and the application.
 Embedded systems that have certain time requirements are called as real-time operating
systems.
Case Study
 The most common and widely used operating system software is the Microsoft
Windows. In the year 2004 at the Directions conference of IDC, the Vice President Mr.
Saxena had declared that Windows had more or less 90% of the total customers of the
operating system market.
 The latest version of Windows present in the market is Windows Vista while the latest
server version of it is the Windows Server 2003.
 The descendant to Windows Server 2003 will be the Windows Server 2008 which is still
in beta version and is at present being under tested.
Types of Windows operating systems:
1. Windows 1.01
2. Windows 2.03
3. Windows 2.11
4. Windows 3.0
5. Windows 3.1
6. Windows For Workgroups 3.1
7. Windows NT 3.1
8. Windows For Workgroups 3.11
9. Windows 3.2
10. Windows NT 3.5
11. Windows NT 3.51
12. Windows 95
13. Windows NT 4.0
14. Windows 98
15. Windows 98 SE
16. Windows 2000
17. Windows Me
18. Windows XP
 19. Windows XP 64-bit Edition 2003
20. Windows Server 2003
21. Windows XP Professional x64 Edition
22. Windows Fundamentals for Legacy PCs
23. Windows Vista
24. Windows Home Server
25. Windows Server 2008 (planned)
26. Windows 7 (planned) (Formerly codenamed Blackcomb, now Vienna)

JAVA Run-time Environment (JRE)

Java Run time Environment (JRE) is a set of class libraries which is made up of java virtual
machine.Java run time environment, allows you to run various application written in Java
Programming Language.
In general Java software lets you to run applications like applets that are usually written in the
Java programming language. With the aid of applets we can play online games, chat with
friends  and loved ones, who are in any corner of the world, JRE can also aid us in simple
process of calculating our monthly mortgage interest, to view images in 3D. Applets are also
used in enterprising e-business solutions and for intranet applications. Windows XP 32-bit,
windows vista 32-bit, windows 2003 32-bit, windows 2000 all support Java Runtime
Environment (JRE).
Java runtime environment operates on two key deployment technologies known as the Java
plug-in which assists applets to play in popular browsers; and java web start, which enaables a
standalone application on a network. JRE is also framed by the sun microsystems. Java run time
compiles a bundle of files and also posesses the Java Virtual Machine and this lies as a
environment to run any application possibly written in Java...More