OPERATING SYSTEM

Topic 4

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DEFINITION
 An operating system is the main program
that controls and manages the computer’s
hardware and software resources.
 Some examples of operating systems include

Microsoft Windows, Macintosh Operating

System (MacOS), Linux, FreeBSD, Sun Solaris,
VSE/ESA, zOS and those embedded on PDAs
and cell phones.
Role of an Operating System
 An operating system acts as the interface

between the user applications and the

computer hardware.

 DIAGRAM 2
OS DIAGRAM

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OPERATING SYSTEM

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 STRUCTURE OF AN OPERATING
SYSTEM
 In order to control the interactions between
various systems resources, an operating
system may consist of a complicated set of
layers with the lowest being the hardware
and the highest being the user application.
 The kernel is the core of an operating

system. It is responsible for managing the

communication between hardware and
software resources.
 The outer part of an operating system the

user uses to interact with the operating

system is called the shell or the user-
interface.
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STRUCTURE OF AN OPERATING
SYSTEM

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RESOURCES MANAGED BY AN
OPERATING SYSTEM
 Processor: it is the operating system which
determines which task (process) will be executed
first.
 Memory: the operating system determines which
task (process) remains in the main memory and
which one will be temporarily suspended to the
virtual memory.
 Input/output devices and ports: the operating
system allocates requests from applications to
input/output devices. It also ensures smooth data
transfer between the various input/output devices.
 Secondary storage devices: the operating system
manages the storage and retrieval of data from
backing storage.
 Communication devices: the operating system
manages various communication devices and provides
an environment within which communication
protocols operate. Protocol refers to the rules that 7
govern communication between devices on a network.
FUNCTIONS OF AN OPERATING
SYSTEM
 Job scheduling: the operating system
kernel schedules or determines which task
will use what resources at what time.
Some tasks will be given priority over others
due to the nature of request. This is referred
to as interrupt handling.
 Interrupt handling: an interrupt is a break
from the sequential processing of a task
or program by transferring control to a new
process that requests to be executed.
 Resource control and allocation: the
operating system maintains a set of queues
made up of the processes waiting for a
particular resource. Using the round robin
technique, each process on the queue is
given access to a resource in turn. 8
 CONT’ED
 Input/output management: the operating system
uses special software called device drivers to manage
and communicate with input/output devices such as
keyboard, mouse, display, sound output devices,
printers and scanners.
 Memory management: the operating system divides
the main memory into partitions. If the partitions are of
fixed size, they are called pages and the operating
system knows exactly on which page a process or data
is currently held.
 The ones which are not needed immediately are held in
the virtual memory.
 Error handling: the operating system performs error
checking on hardware, software and data. It may
suggest solutions to problems that are identified.
 Job sequencing: the operating system arranges tasks
to be processed in a particular order and clocks them
in and out of the processor.
 Security: modern operating systems implement
security policies such that unauthorized users cannot 9
get access to a computer network resource.
 Booting:
TYPES OF OPERATING SYSTEMS
There are several types of operating systems. These
operating systems can be classified according to:
 Size of the computer
 Number of tasks
 Number of users
 User interface

Classification according to size of a computer

 Embedded operating systems; are those used on
hand held devices such as mobile phones and PDAs.
Some examples are Microsoft Windows CE, LINUX,
PalmOS and Symbian OS.
 Desktop and network operating system; some
operating systems are meant for home users and are
cheaper and easier to use. Such operating systems
are generally referred to as desktop or stand-alone
operating system. Examples are windows 98 and Me.
 On the other hand, network operating system (NOS) is
used on servers and client computers. Examples of
NOS include Windows 2000, XP and Vista, Novell
Netware, UNIX and Linux etc. 10
TASKS
 Single task operating systems; run only
one program at a time. Examples of such
operating systems are the early version of
Microsoft disk operating system (Ms DOS)
and PC DOS.
 Multitasking operating systems; also
referred to as multiprogramming operating
systems allow more than one program to run
apparently at the same time. The CPU
switches between various running
applications, making it appear as if they are
running at the same time. Examples are
UNIX, Novell Netware, Microsoft Windows and
Linux.
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CLASSIFICATION ACCORDING TO
NUMBER OF USERS
 Single-user operating systems; are
designed to be used by one person at a time.
Examples are MSDOS and PC DOS.
 Multi-user operating systems; allow more

than one user to access system resources

apparently at the same time. These are
mostly NOS and large computers operating
systems. Examples are Microsoft
NT/2000/2003 server, Linux, Solaris, zOS and
VSE/ESA.

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 CLASSIFICATION ACCORDING TO USER-
INTERFACE
 The three types of operating systems according to user-
interface are command-line, menu driven and
graphical user-interface (GUI) operating systems.
 Command-line users interface; lets the user type a
command at the command prompt. Examples of
command-line OS are MSDOS, UNIX and OS/2.They have
become unpopular because it is difficult to remember
the commands, they cannot process complex graphics and
they hardly make use of emerging hardware and software
technologies.
 Menu driven operating systems; were developed to
address the shortcomings of command-line interface. The
user simply chooses commands from a list of menu
options. Example is DOS editor screen that came with later
versions of MSDOS.
 Graphical user-interface (GUI) operating systems; is
the latest effort to make the user-interface more friendly.
Besides menus, GUI makes use of rectangular frames
called windows, graphical objects called icons and most
commands are executed using a pointing device. These
features are given an acronym WIMP which stands for
Windows, Icons, Menus and Pointer. Some examples 13
of GUI operating systems include Microsoft Windows,
MacOS and Linux.
FACTORS TO CONSIDER WHEN CHOOSING
AN OPERATING SYSTEM
 The hardware configuration of the computer
such as the memory capacity, processor
speed and hard disk capacity.
 The type of computer in terms of size and
make.
 The application software intended for the
computer.
 User-friendliness of the operating system.
 The documentation available.
 The cost of the operating system.
 Reliability and security provided by the
operating system.
 The number of processors and hardware it
can support.
 The number of users it can support. 14
HOW AN OPERATING SYSTEM
ORGANIZES INFORMATION
Most operating systems organize information in a
three-tier hierarchy:
 Drives

 Folders and subfolders

 Files

Folders
 Folder or directory is a named storage location

where related files can be stored.

 All folders and directories originate from a special

directory called the root directory or folder.

 The root directory is represented by a back slash

(/).
 A folder may be subdivided into smaller units

called subfolders. 15
CONT’ED
Drives
 The operating system views storage media or

devices as drives. The user can access either

a physical or logical drive to store their data.
Drives may be given labels such as letter A-Z
to identify them. Microsoft operating system
identifies drives as follows:
 Floppy drive - drive A and B

 Hard disk – C,D,E,F( if a computer has 4 hard

drives, they will be assigned letters C-F

 Optical drives – D,E,F,G

 Other removable – D,E,…Z

 Network drive – logical drives D-Z 16

 CONT’ED
Files
 A file is a collection of related data given a unique
name for ease of access, manipulation and storage on
a backing storage. Every file has the following details:
 A unique name and an optional extension. The name
and extension are separated by a period (.) e.g.
mary.doc. extensions are used to identify the type of
file,e.g.
 .doc – a Microsoft word document file.
 .txt – a plain text file created using notepad or DOS editor.
 .tif – a graphic file created using applications such as Adobe
Photoshop.
 .exe – the file that launches a particular application
 .bat – file containing a series of commands loaded during
boot up.
 .sys – system file that perform fundamental operations in a
computer.
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 The size, date and time the file was created or
modified.