Operating System

Dr. Gowthami V
What is Operating System?
• Computer System = Hardware + Software
• Software = Application Software + System
Software(OS)
• An Operating System is a program that
controls the execution of application programs
and acts as an interface between applications
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
 Objectives of Operating System
• Convenience
Makes a computer more convenient to use
• Efficiency
Allows the computer system resources to be
used in an efficient manner
• Ability to evolve
Permit the effective development, testing
and introduction new system functions without
interfering with service.
OS as user / computer interface
 Operating System Services

• Program Development

OS provides a variety of facilities and

services, such as editors and debuggers, to assist
the programmer in creating programs.
• Program Execution
A number of tasks need to be
performed before we can execute a program.
Instructions and data must be loaded into
main memory.
I/O devices and files must be initialized,
and other resources must be prepared.
• Access to I/O Devices
Each I/O devices requires its own set of
instruction or control signals for operating.
OS provides a uniform interface that hides
these details so that programmer can access
such devices using reads and writes.
• Controlled Access to File
The OS provides protection mechanisms to
control access to the files for different users.
Certain files can read only or write only or
execute only.
• System Access
In shared or public system, the OS control
access to the system as a whole and to specific
system resources.
• Error Detection and Response
A variety of errors can occurs while a
computer system is running.
Internal and External hardware errors
such as memory error, device failure or
malfunctions.
Software error such as arithmetic
overflow or underflow attempt to access
forbidden memory locations.
• Accounting
Collect usage statistic
Monitor performance
Used to anticipate future enhancement
Prepare billing information
OS as Resource Manager
 OS as Resource Manager
• The OS is responsible for controlling and
managing the various resources of a computer
system.
 History of Operating System
• The First Generation (1940's to early 1950's)
⮚ No Operating System
⮚ All programming was done in absolute machine language, often by wiring up
plug-boards to control the machine’s basic functions.
• The Second Generation (1955-1965)
⮚ First operating system was introduced in the early 1950's.It was called GMOS
⮚ Created by General Motors for IBM's machine the 701.
⮚ Single-stream batch processing systems
• The Third Generation (1965-1980)
⮚ Introduction of multiprogramming
⮚ Development of Minicomputer
• The Fourth Generation (1980-Present Day)
⮚ Development of PCs
⮚ Birth of Windows/MaC OS
 Types of Operating System
• Desktop Class
❖ Windows
❖ OS X
❖ Unix/Linux
❖ Chrome OS
• Server Class
❖ Windows Server
❖ Mac OS X Server
❖ Unix/Linux
• Mobile Class
❖ Android
❖ iOS
❖ Windows Phone
 Desktop Class Operating Systems
• Platform: the hardware required to run a
particular operating system
– Intel platform (IBM-compatible)
• Windows
• DOS
• UNIX
• Linux
– Macintosh platform
• Mac OS
– iPad and iPhone platform
• iOS
 MS-DOS
• Single User Single Tasking OS.
• It had no built-in support for networking, and users
had to manually install drivers any time they added a
new hardware component to their PC.
• DOS supports only 16-bit programs.
• Command line user interface.
• So, why is DOS still in use? Two reasons are its size
and simplicity. It does not require much memory or
storage space for the system, and it docs not require
a powerful computer.
 Microsoft Windows
• The graphical Microsoft operating system
designed for Intel-platform desktop and
notebook computers.
• Best known, greatest selection of applications
available.
• Current editions include Windows 7, 8, 8.1
and 10.
 Mac OS
• User-friendly, runs on Mac hardware. Many
applications available.
• Current editions include: Sierra, High Sierra,
Mojave, Catalina & Big Sur—Version
XI(Released in Nov 2020)
 Linux
• Linux: An open-source, cross-platform operating system
that runs on desktops, notebooks, tablets, and
smartphones.
– The name Linux is a combination Linus (the first name
of the first developer) and UNIX (another operating
system).
• Users are free to modify the code, improve it, and
redistribute it,
• Developers are not allowed to charge money for the Linux
kernel itself (the main part of the operating system), but
they can charge money for distributions (distros for short).
 Google Chrome OS
• Chrome OS. Is a popular thin client operating
system.
• Thin client A computer with minimal
hardware, designed for a specific task. For
example, a thin web client is designed for
using the Internet.
 Server Operating Systems
• Windows Server
– Familiar GUI interface for those experienced with
Windows
• UNIX
– Very mature server capabilities, time-tested, large
user community, stable
• Linux
– Free, customizable, many free services and
utilities available
Windows Server
UNIX
 Tablet and Phone Operating Systems
• System-on-chip (SoC): An operating system that comes
preinstalled on a chip on a portable device such as a
smartphone.
• Popular SoC operating systems:
▪ iOS: for iPad, iPhone
▪ Android: for a variety of tablets and phones
• Downloadable applications (apps) from an App store,
for example:
▪ Apple App Store
▪ Google Play Store
 iOS on the iPhone and iPad
• The Apple-created operating system for Apple
tablets and phones.
• The current stable version, iOS 14, was
released to the public on September 16, 2020.
 Android
• Android, a popular OS for smartphones and
tablets, is based on Linux Kernel.
– Developed by Google
• Current versions include:
– Android 8 Oreo
– Android 9 Pie
– Android 10
– Android 11 (released on Sep, 2020)
 Advantage of Linux Operating System

1. Open Source
• As it is open-source, its source code is
easily available.
• Anyone having programming
knowledge can customize the operating
system.
• One can contribute, modify, distribute,
and enhance the code for any purpose.
 Advantage of Linux Operating System
2. Security
• The Linux security feature is the main
reason that it is the most favourable option for
developers.
• It is not completely safe, but it is less
vulnerable than others.
• Each application needs to authorize by the
admin user.
• Linux systems do not require any antivirus
program.
 Advantage of Linux Operating System

3. Free
• Certainly, the biggest advantage of the
Linux system is that it is free to use.
• We can easily download it, and there is
no need to buy the license for it.
• It is distributed under GPL (General
Public License).
• Comparatively, we have to pay a huge
amount for the license of the other OS
 Advantage of Linux Operating System

4. Lightweight
• The requirements for running Linux
are much less than other operating system
• In Linux, the memory footprint and
disk space are also lower.
• Generally, most of the Linux
distributions required as little as 128MB of
RAM around the same amount for disk space.
 Advantage of Linux Operating System

5. Stability
• Linux is more stable than other
operating systems.
• Linux does not require to reboot the
system to maintain performance levels.
• It rarely hangs up or slow down. It has
big up-times.
 Advantage of Linux Operating System

6. Performance
• Linux system provides high performance
over different networks.
• It is capable of handling a large number
of users simultaneously.
 Advantage of Linux Operating System

7. Flexibility
• Linux operating system is very flexible.
• It can be used for desktop applications,
embedded systems, and server applications
too.
• It also provides various restriction options
for specific computers.
• We can install only necessary components
for a system.
 Advantage of Linux Operating System
8. Software Updates
• In Linux, the software updates are in user
control.
• We can select the required updates.
• There a large number of system updates are
available.
• These updates are much faster than other
operating systems.
• So, the system updates can be installed easily
without facing any issue.
 Advantage of Linux Operating System
9. Distributions/ Distros
• There are many Linux distributions available in the
market.
• It provides various options and flavors of Linux to
the users.
• We can choose any distros according to our needs.
• Some popular distros are Ubuntu, Fedora, Debian,
Linux Mint, Arch Linux,
• For the beginners, Ubuntu and Linux Mint would
be useful.
• Debian and Fedora would be good choices for
proficient programmers.
 Advantage of Linux Operating System

10. Live CD/USB

• Almost all Linux distributions have a Live
CD/USB option.
• It allows us to try or run the Linux
operating system without installing it
 Advantage of Linux Operating System

11. Graphical User Interface

• Linux is a command-line based OS but it
provides an interactive user interface like
Windows
 Advantage of Linux Operating System
12. Suitable for programmers
• It supports almost all of the most used programming
languages such as C/C++, Java, Python, Ruby, and more.
• Further, it offers a vast range of useful applications for
development.
• The programmers prefer the Linux terminal over the
Windows command line.
• Bash scripting is also a functional feature for the
programmers.
• It also provides support for SSH, which helps in
managing the servers quickly.
 Advantage of Linux Operating System

13. Community Support

• Linux provides large community support.
• There are many forums available on the
web to assist users.
• Further, developers from the various
open source communities are ready to help us
 Advantage of Linux Operating System

14. Privacy
• Linux always takes care of user privacy as
it never takes much private data from the user.
 Advantage of Linux Operating System
15. Networking
• Linux facilitates with powerful support for
networking.
• The client-server systems can be easily set to a
Linux system.
• It provides various command-line tools such as
ssh, ip, mail, telnet, and more for connectivity with
the other systems and servers.
• Tasks such as network backup are much faster
than others.
 Advantage of Linux Operating System

16. Compatibility
• Linux is compatible with a large number
of file formats as it supports almost all file
formats.
 Advantage of Linux Operating System

17. Installation
• Linux installation process takes less time
than other operating systems such as
Windows.
 Advantage of Linux Operating System

18. Multiple Desktop Support

• Linux system provides multiple desktop
environment support for its enhanced use.
• Select any desktop environment such as
GNOME (GNU Network Object Model
Environment) or KDE (K Desktop
Environment) as both have their specific
environment.
 Advantage of Linux Operating System

19. Multitasking
• It is a multitasking operating system as it
can run multiple tasks simultaneously without
affecting the system speed
 Advantage of Linux Operating System
20. Heavily Documented for beginners
• There are many command-line options that provide
documentation on commands, libraries, standards
such as manual pages and info pages.
• Also, there are plenty of documents available on the
internet in different formats, such as Linux tutorials,
Linux documentation project, Serverfault, and more.
• To help the beginners, several communities are
available such as Ask Ubuntu, Reddit, and
StackOverflow.