3/23/22, 10:01 AM OCP 100: Lecture 5: Notes

Introduction to Microcomputer Studies and Information Technology

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Lecture 5: Notes

LECTURE FIVE
INTRODUCTION TO OPERATING SYSTEM

INTRODUCTION
Operating system is a master program that controls functionality of computer and management of computing resources. it is vital to have a
deep understanding of operating system.

This lecture introduces the general understanding of operating systems, their types, license, structure and functions based on their
availability in terms of command line and graphical user interfaces.

LECTURE OBJECTIVES
It is expected that at the completion of this lecture, you should be able to:

(i) Define operating system.

(ii) Explain the functions of operating system.

(iii) Describe the GUI and CLI based operating system.

(iv) List examples of open source and proprietary operating system.

WHAT IS OPERATING SYSTEM?

Operating System is a system software that manages computer hardware and software resources and provides common services for
computer programs. The OS controls hardware devices such as the disks, keyboard, mouse, monitor, etc and allows the user's programs and
packages to be run on the machine.

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3/23/22, 10:01 AM OCP 100: Lecture 5: Notes

Figure 26: Operating System and Computing Resources

Operating System (OS) is the master control program which manages all computer resources. Without OS, all hardware would just sit there
and collect dust. Operating system is a program which manages computer hardware. First computers did not have OS, they had programs
that were directly loaded into the computer (e.g. punchcards). Today, computers have an OS which loads into the computer's memory
during its startup.

THE GUI AND CLI BASED OPERATING SYSTEMS

Operating systems are available with either Graphical User Interfaces (GUI) or Command Line Interfaces (CLI). Most computer users run
Microsoft Windows, Mac OS or Linux as their OS because they are Graphic User Interface (GUI). A GUI based OS allows user to control
computer using a Mouse and Icons. Without a GUI, user controls computer using the keys on the keyboard. This is referred to as a
Command Line Interface (CLI).

The GUI based Operating Systems

Some of the GUI based OS include all MS Windows, some Linux distributions and MacOS. MS Windows are the most common OS used in
the market by various end users. Various versions of MS Windows include Windows 95, Windows 98, Windows Millennium Edition (Windows
ME), Windows NT, Windows 2000, Windows XP, Windows Server 2003, Windows Vista, Windows Azure (Cloud OS Platform), Windows Server
2008, Windows 7, Windows Server 2008 R2, Windows Server 2012 R2, Windows 8, Windows Phone, Windows 10, Windows 10 Mobile, Windows
Server 2016, etc.

The CLI based Operating Systems

Some of the CLI based OS include Linux, UNIX and Microsoft DOS (MS-DOS). The MS- DOS stands for Microsoft Disk Operating System and
is a single-user operating system. The CLI based OS are basically mean that you enter commands at a prompt (command line) and the
system responds to your commands. If you enter commands that the system does not understand it gives you an error message. It indicates
that the user should basically know or memorize the commands to be able to use the computer.

When you turn on the computer, the computer will eventually come up with a prompt called the command prompt.

TAKE NOTE With the advent of GUI based OS, idea of using command line prompt and type-in commands at the keyboard considered
by many people as quite old- fashioned. Why get trouble of memorizing commands and their syntax when you can just
select them from menus?

In CLI based OS, users are allowed to group related files together in a form of directories. A directory is a file folder container which can
contain files, and other directories. Every file is stored in a directory. A directory contained within another directory is called a child or
subdirectory. The subdirectory can in turn contain other directories and files, etc. A file contains information that can be read, modified or
even deleted. A directory acts only as a container and therefore container does not contain information. Files are organized on a disk by the

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3/23/22, 10:01 AM OCP 100: Lecture 5: Notes

directory structure. The root of the directory structure is at the top. The root of a disk drive is represented by the backslash (\). To
completely specify a file on your computer you must specify its drive and directory path, and its filename. However, a file does not always
have to be specified in this complete form; if it is in the current directory, then you can just enter its filename.

FUNCTIONS OF THE OPERATING SYSTEM

Computer functions are based on its OS. Within OS, drivers (responsible for the functioning of a computer) and various utility programs
(responsible for the functionality of a computer) are installed. The OS allocates resources based on user needs and the system’s capability.
The four (4) major functions of OS are (i) File and Software Management, (ii) Input/Output and peripheral Management, (iii) Memory
Management and (iv) CPU Management. The OS acts as an interface between hardware of the computer and the application software that
users need to run. The OS controls I/O or directs the flow of information to and from the CPU. When you turn ON your computer, it first
needs to load OS, a process known as booting up. Once the system is loaded the user can start the application or program that they are
going to use.

TYPES OF OPERATING SYSTEM

The most famous operating systems are: (i) Linux (Debian, Ubuntu, Fedora, Knoppix, etc.) which is open source software (OSS), (ii) Microsoft
Windows (XP, Vista, 7, etc.) which is a proprietary software and (iii) Mac OS X (Cheetah, Panther, Snow Leopard, etc.) which is also a
proprietary software. Other examples of OS include Apple, Control Program for Microcomputers (CP/M), PCDOS, MSDOS, UNIX, O/S2, and
various others.

SUMMARY
Operating System is a system software that manages computer hardware and software resources. it manages CPU,
memory, I/O devices and application software. Without OS, computer cannot function.

As part of this lecture, the GUI and CLI based operating systems were also discussed. The OSS and proprietary
operating systems were covered as well

Last modified: Friday, 19 February 2021, 10:40 AM

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