Lecture 05

Types of operating system

ENGR. NUZHAT MADINA
 What is an Operating System
The operating system is a very special piece of software.
All the other applications software such as databases and
spreadsheets communicate with the computer hardware
through the operating system. The operating system
controls the overall operation of the computer.
An operating system (or OS) is a computer program
which controls the entire operation of the computer.
Computer software applications communicate with the
computer hardware via the operating system.
 Example Operating Systems
When you buy a computer it is usually supplied with an operating system already
installed. You will not be able to use a computer without an operating system.
Different operating systems are available for different types of computer and
different purposes. Some popular operating systems are:
Microsoft windows
Disk Operating System (DOS)
Linux
The choice of operating system will affect how a computer works. It will probably
determine the type of user interface (command line, menu driven or graphical)
that the computer uses and the types of processing (batch, transaction or real-
time) that the computer can carry out.
 Command Line Interface
A command line interface (CLI) enables users to type
commands in a terminal or console window to
interact with an operating system. Users respond to a
visual prompt by typing a command on a specified
line, and receive a response back from the system.
Users type a command or series of commands for
each task they want to perform.
.
 Graphical User Interface
A graphical user interface (GUI) uses graphics,
along with a keyboard and a mouse, to provide an
easy-to-use interface to a program. A GUI provides
windows, pull-down menus, buttons, scrollbars,
iconic images, wizards, other icons, and the
mouse to enable users to interact with the
operating system or application
 Batch Processing
Executing a series of non-interactive jobs all at one
time.
An example of batch processing is the way that credit
card companies process billing. The customer does not
receive a bill for each separate credit card purchase but
one monthly bill for all of that month purchases. The
bill is created through batch processing, where all of
the data are collected and held until the bill is
processed as a batch at the end of the billing cycle
 Real time processing
Real time processing is usually found in systems that use
computer control. This processing method is used when it is
essential that the input request is dealt with quickly enough so
as to be able to control an output properly. The is called the
'latency'. For example, the computer inside the Engine Control
Unit in a car has to manage the engine at every moment based
on what the driver wants to do. Real time processing has to be
programmed very carefully to ensure that no input events are
missed.
 What are the different task performed by an operating
system
There are several tasks which are performed by practically all operating systems, regardless
of the complexity of the computer the operating system is being used on. These tasks
include:
1) Managing communications between software and hardware.
2) Allocation of computer memory.
3) Allocation of CPU time.
4) Run and Manage program
5) Managing files
6) Configure Software and Devices
7) Configure Network
8) Coordinating Tasks
9) Performance Management
 Allocation of CPU time
(CPU time (or process time) is the amount of time for
which a central processing unit (CPU) was used for
processing instructions of a computer program or 
operating system, as opposed to, for example, waiting
for input/output (I/O) operations or entering low-
power (idle) mode. The CPU time is measured in 
clock ticks or seconds. Often, it is useful to measure
CPU time as a percentage of the CPU's capacity, which
is called the CPU usage.)
 Configure Software and Devices
The way a system is set up, or the assortment of components that
make up the system. Configuration can refer to either hardware or 
software, or the combination of both. For instance, a typical
configuration for a PC consists of 32MB (megabytes) main memory, a
floppy drive, a hard disk, a modem, a CD-ROM drive, a VGAmonitor,
and the Windows operating system.
Many software products require that the computer have a
certain minimum configuration. For example, the software might
require a graphics display monitor and a video adapter, a particular 
microprocessor, and a minimum amount of main memory.
 Configure Software and Devices
When you install a new device or program, you
sometimes need to configure it, which means to set
various switches and jumpers (for hardware) and to define
values of parameters (for software). For example, the
device or program may need to know what type of video
adapter you have and what type of printer is connected to
the computer. Thanks to new technologies, such as 
plug-and-play, much of this configuration is performed
automatically.)
 Explain Types of Operating System
An operating system is a software component of a computer system
that is responsible for the management of various activities of the
computer and the sharing of computer resources.
Users and application programs access the services offered by the
operating systems, by means of system calls and application
programming interfaces. Users interact with operating systems through
Command Line Interfaces (CLIs) or Graphical User Interfaces known as
GUIs as defined above.
In short, operating system enables user interaction with computer
systems by acting as an interface between users or application
programs and the computer hardware.
 Types of Operating System
The types of Operating systems are here under:
Single user/personal computer operating system
Multiuser/network operating system
Embedded operating system
 SINGLE USER/PERSONAL COMPUTER
OPERATING SYSTEM
The most basic type of operating system can only carry out one task at
a time and can only be used by one person at a time. More
sophisticated multi-tasking and multi-user operating systems can
appear to carry out more than one task and be used by more than one
user at the same time.
It has further types
DOS
MAC OS 
Windows
 MULTIPLE-USER OPERATING SYSTEM
Multi-user operating systems are used on large
mainframe computers. A mainframe computer system
has one very powerful processing unit. Many users will
all share this processing unit. They use terminals (a
keyboard and a screen) to access the mainframe
computer.
A multi-user operating system lets more than one user
work on a mainframe computer at the same time.
 MULTIPLE USER/NETWORK OPERATING SYSTEM
Operating systems that are used on computers connected to
networks usually have to carry out some additional tasks.
Probably the most important of these is managing system
security. Important aspects of systems security that an
operating system might manage are:
Controlling who has access to which files.
Keeping a log of all of the files that a user changes.
Automatically backing up important files.
 MULTIPLE USER/NETWORK OPERATING SYSTEM
These operating systems are more complicated and
require faster hardware and more memory to work than
more basic operating systems.
It has further types
WINDOWS NT SERVER
WINDOWS 2000 SERVER
UNIX
SOLARIS/LINUX
 EMBEDDED OPERATING SYSTEM
An embedded operating system is an operating system
for embedded computer systems. Due to the very
nature of embedded systems, the operating system
has different constraints compared to other desktop
OS.
These devices have operating system in ROM. Many
handheld devices have the embedded operation
systems like PDA, palm device, tablet pc etc
 Explain Utility Programs
A program that performs a specific task related to the management of computer
functions, resources, or files, as password protection, memory management,
virus protection, and file compression.
It is part that is used to provide services for the hardware and software but it is
not absolutely required to run programs and, if it didn't come with the operating
system, you could perhaps add it. In other usages, a utility is an application that is
very specialized and relatively limited in capability. Examples of some utilities are
here under:
Virus scanning software
Backup software
Scandisk
Disk defragmenter