Module 2: Personal Computing

Basics of Computers and Computing

What is an Operating System (OS)?
• Computer System = Hardware + Software
• Software = Application Software + System Software(OS)
• An Operating System is a system Software that acts as an
intermediary/interface between a user of a computer and the
computer hardware.
• 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
What is an Operating System (OS)?
• The most important program that runs on your computer.

• It manages all other programs on the machine.

• Every PC has to have at least one OS to run other applications

or programs. It’s (OS) the first thing “loaded”.
What is an Operating System (OS)?
• It performs basic tasks such as:
• Recognizing input from the keyboard or mouse,
• Sending output to the monitor,
• Keeping track of files and directories on the disk, and
• Controlling peripheral devices such as disk drives and
printers.
Is There More Than One Type of OS?
• Generally, there are four types, based on the type of computer they
control and the sort of applications they support.

1. Single-user, single task

•This type manages the computer so that one user can effectively
do one thing at a time.
Types of Operating Systems
• 2. Multi-user, multi-task
• Allows two or more users to run programs at the same time.
• Some operating systems permit hundreds or even thousands of concurrent
users.
Types of Operating Systems

3. Real Time Operating Systems (RTOS)

• RTOS are used to control machinery, scientific instruments, and industrial
systems.
• There is typically very little user- interface capability.
• Resources are managed so that a particular operation
executes precisely the same every time.
Types of Operating Systems

4. Single-user, Multi-tasking
• This is the type of operating system most desktops and laptops
use today.
• Microsoft’s Windows and Apple’s MacOS are both examples of
operating systems that will let a single user have several programs
in operation at the same time.
The Structure of Computer Systems

Operating
User Applications
System Hardware
The Structure of Computer Systems
• Accessing computer resources is divided into layers.
• Each layer is isolated and only interacts directly with the layer
below or above it.
• If we install a new hardware device
• No need to change anything about the user/applications.
• However, you do need to make changes to the operating system.
• You need to install the device drivers that the operating system will
use to control the new device.
The Structure of Computer Systems
• If we install a new software application
• No need to make any changes to your hardware.
• But we need to make sure the application is supported by the
operating system
• User will need to learn how to use the new application.
• If we change the operating system
• Need to make sure that both applications and hardware will
compatible with the new operating system.
 History of Operating System

The First Generation The Second Generation The Third Generation The Fourth Generation
(1940's to early 1950's) (1955-1965) (1965-1980) (1980-Present Day)

• No Operating • First operating • Introduction of • Development of PCs

System system was multiprogramming • Birth of
• All programming introduced in the • Development of Windows/MaC OS
was done in early 1950's.It was Minicomputer
absolute machine called GMOS
language, often by • Created by General
wiring up plug- Motors for IBM's
boards to control machine the 701.
the machine’s basic • Single-stream batch
functions. processing systems
Functions of Operating System
Process Management
• A process is a program in execution.
• A process needs certain resources, including CPU time, memory,
files, and I/O devices to accomplish its task.
• Simultaneous execution leads to multiple processes. Hence creation,
execution and termination of a process are the most basic
functionality of an OS
• If processes are dependent, than they may try to share same resources. thus task of process
synchronization comes to the picture.
• If processes are independent, then a due care needs to be taken to avoid their overlapping
in memory area.
• Based on priority, it is important to allow more important processes
to execute first than others.
Memory Management
• Memory is a large array of words or bytes, each with its own address.
• It is a repository of quickly accessible data shared by the CPU and I/O devices.
• Main memory is a volatile storage device.
• When the computer made turn off everything stored in RAM will be erased automatically.
• In addition to the physical RAM installed in your computer, most modern operating systems
allow your computer to use a virtual memory system.
• Virtual memory allows your computer to use part of a permanent storage device (such as a
hard disk) as extra memory.
• The operating system is responsible for the following activities in connections
with memory management:
➢Keep track of which parts of memory are currently being used and by whom.
➢Decide which processes to load when memory space becomes available.
➢Allocate and de-allocate memory space as needed.
File Management
• A file is a collection of related information defined by its creator.
• File systems provide the conventions for the encoding, storage and
management of data on a storage device such as a hard disk.
• The operating system is responsible for the following activities in
connections with file management:
• File creation and deletion.
• Directory creation and deletion.
• Support of primitives for manipulating files and directories.
• Mapping files onto secondary storage.
• File backup on stable (nonvolatile) storage media.
Device Management or I/O Management
• Device controllers are components on the motherboard (or on expansion cards) that act as an
interface between the CPU and the actual device.
• Device drivers, which are the operating system software components that interact with the
devices controllers.
• A special device (inside CPU) called the Interrupt Controller handles the task of receiving interrupt
requests and prioritizes them to be forwarded to the processor.
• Deadlocks can occur when two (or more) processes have control of different I/O resources that
are needed by the other processes, and they are unwilling to give up control of the device.
• It performs the following activities for device management.
• Keeps tracks of all devices connected to system.
• Designates a program responsible for every device known as Input/output controller.
• Decides which process gets access to a certain device and for how long.
• Allocates devices in an effective and efficient way.
• Deallocates devices when they are no longer required.
Security & Protection
• The operating system uses password protection to protect user data
and similar other techniques.
• It also prevents unauthorized access to programs and user data by
assigning access right permission to files and directories.
• The owners of information stored in a multiuser or networked
computer system may want to control use of that information,
concurrent processes should not interfere with each other.
Types of Operating Systems
• Depending upon the task at hand we have different OSs
Types of Operating Systems
• Batch Operating System
• Multiprogramming Operating System
• Time-Sharing OS
• Multiprocessing OS
• Distributed OS
• Network OS
• Real Time OS
• Embedded OS
Batch Operating System
• The users of this type of operating system does 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
• There is an operator which takes similar jobs having the same requirement and
group them into batches.
Multiprogramming Operating System:
• This type of OS is used to execute more than one jobs simultaneously by a single
processor.
• It increases CPU utilization by organizing jobs so that the CPU always has one
job to execute.
• Multiprogramming operating systems use the mechanism of job scheduling and
CPU scheduling.
Time-Sharing Operating Systems
• Each task is given some time to execute so that all the tasks work smoothly.
• These systems are also known as Multi-tasking Systems.
• The task can be from a single user or different users also.
• The time that each task gets to execute is called quantum.
• After this time interval is over OS switches over to the next task.
Multiprocessor operating systems
• Multiprocessor operating systems are also known as parallel OS or
tightly coupled OS.
• Such operating systems have more than one processor in close communication that sharing
the computer bus, the clock and sometimes memory and peripheral devices.
• It executes multiple jobs at the same time and makes the processing faster.
• It supports large physical address space and larger virtual address space.
• If one processor fails then other processor should retrieve the interrupted
process state so execution of process can continue.
• Inter-processes communication mechanism is provided and implemented in
hardware.
Distributed Operating System
• Various autonomous interconnected computers communicate with each other using a shared
communication network.
• Independent systems possess their own memory unit and CPU.
• These are referred to as loosely coupled systems.
• Examples:- Locus, DYSEAC
 Network Operating System
• These systems run on a server and provide the capability to manage
data, users, groups, security, applications, and other networking
functions.
• These types of operating systems allow shared access of files, printers,
security, applications, and other networking functions over a small
private network.
• The “other" computers are called client computers, and each computer
that connects to a network server must be running client software
designed to request a specific service.
• popularly known as tightly coupled systems.
Real-Time Operating System
• These types of OSs serve real-time systems.
• The time interval required to process and respond to inputs is very small.
• This time interval is called response time.
• Real-time systems are used when there are time requirements that are
very strict like
➢ missile systems,
➢ air traffic control systems,
➢ robots, etc.
Embeded Operating System
• An embedded operating system is one that is built into the circuitry of an electronic
device.
• Embedded operating systems are now found in automobiles, bar-code scanners, cell
phones, medical equipment, and personal digital assistants.
• The most popular embedded operating systems for consumer products, such as PDAs,
include the following:
➢ Windows XP Embedded
➢ Windows CE .NET:- it supports wireless communications, multimedia and Web
browsing. It also allows for the use of smaller versions of Microsoft Word,
Excel, and Outlook.
➢ Palm OS:- It is the standard operating system for Palm-brand PDAs as well as
other proprietary handheld devices.
➢ Symbian:- OS found in “ smart” cell phones from Nokia and Sony Ericsson
The OS Shell
• Defines interface between OS and users
• Windows GUI
• UNIX command line
• UNIX users can choose among a variety of shells
• csh is the “C shell”
• tcsh is an enhanced “C shell”
• Shell programming
OS Shell interface
Users

Users O/S Users

shell
The OS Kernel
• The internal part of the OS is often called the Kernel
• Kernel Components
• File Manager
• Device Drivers
• Memory Manager
• Scheduler
• Dispatcher
OS File Manager
• Maintains information about the files that are available on the system
• Where files are located in mass storage, their size and type and their
protections, what part of mass storage is available
• Files usually allowed to be grouped in directories or folders. Allows
hierarchical organization.
OS Device Drivers
• Software to communicate with peripheral devices or controllers
• Each driver is unique
• Translates general requests into specific steps for that device
OS Memory Manager
• This unit is responsible for coordinating the use of the machine’s main
memory.
• It decides what area of memory is to be allocated for a program and
it’s data
• It allocates and deallocates memory for different programs and
always knows what areas are free.
OS Scheduler
• Maintains a record of processes that are present, adds new
processes, removes completed processes
• memory area(s) assigned
• priority
• state of readiness to execute (ready/wait)
OS Dispatcher
• Ensures that processes that are ready to run are actually executed
• Time is divided into small (50 ms) segments called a time slice.
• When the time slice is over, the dispatcher allows scheduler to update
process state for each process, then selects the next process to run