What is an Operating System?

In this article we will know about Operating System (OS) or What is an Operating System?       
                   

                                                                         

                                                                         

What is an Operating System?

An Operating System (OS) is an interface between a user’s of computer and computer hardware. An operating system is the program that in the wake of being at first stacked into the computer by a boot program, deals with the entirety of the other application programs in a computer. 

The application programs utilize the working operating system (OS) by making demands for administrations through a characterized application program interface (API).

Examples of computer operating systems:

Windows - Windows (OS) makes only Microsoft company. This Windows is the most common used likes operating system.

iOS - iOS is the operating system of Apple Company. Only Apple Company makes iOS. This operating system (OS) runs only in Apple iPhone and iPad.

Ubuntu Linux - A popular variant of Linux used with computer and IBM compatible computers.

Android - The Owner of Android Operating system is Google. This is used in Android phones and tablets.

History of Operating System (OS):

•      Operating systems was developed in 1950 to manage tape storage.
•     The General Motors Research Lab implemented the first Operating System (OS) in 1950 for their IBM 701.
•       Operating systems started to use disks in 1960.
•       The first version of the Unix Operating System (OS) was developed in 1960.
•       The first Operating System (OS) built by Microsoft was DOS. It was built in 1981.
•       In Present popular Operating System (OS) Windows first came to existence in 1985 when a GUI was created and paired with MS-DOS.

Types of Operating System:

1.      Batch Operating System (OS)
2.      Multi-tasking Operating System (OS)
3.      Real-time Operating System (OS)
4.      Distributed Operating System (OS)
5.      Network Operating System (OS)
6.      Mobile Operating System (OS)

1. Batch Operating System

The batch operating system is a very long and time saving process. To speed up the same process, a job with the same type of requirements is combined and executed as a group. A batch operating system user does not have direct contact with the computer. Here every user has to do a job offline such as punch card and submit to computer.

2. Multi-tasking Operating System

A multi-tasking operating system simultaneously enables people located at a different terminal to access the same computer system. The processor time of the CPU is distributed among several users in a process called time-sharing.

3. Real-time Operating System

The military and Space software system is a real-time operating system that has minimum response time for fetching and executing the input commands.

4. Distributed Operating System

The distributed operating system is similar to the time-sharing system, where many processors located in a variety of locations are used by the distributed system to provide fast computing to users.

5. Network Operating System

Networking operating system executes on a server that can serve and manages the data, groups, user, security, application and other networking functions.

6. Mobile Operating System

The mobile operating system is the OS that is designed to power tablets, wearable devices, and Smartphone. Some Smartphone OS includes BlackBerry, Web, watch OS, Android, and iOS.

Features of Operating System:

The Operating System (OS) has a wide range of notable features that are evolving day by day. The growth of the OS is commendable as it was developed in 1950 to handle storage tape and is now acting as an interface that gives visual treatment to the end-user by throwing out brilliant colors.

Given below are the features of the operating system:

1.  Security Management
2.  Process Management
3.  I/O Operations
4.  Loading and Execution
5.  Device Management
6.  Storage and Memory Management
7.  Disk Management

 1. Security Management

The information and confidential data stored in the system is protected by the operating system and blocks the system by giving a strong authorized key to the user protecting the system from a malware attack. The operating system acts as a supervisor mode and gives the system a strong protected firewall. The OS handles and fixes errors as quickly as possible without any difficulty.

2. Process Management

The execution of the program is performed effectively by the operating system without any overlapping or time delays. Process management supports the OS to develop and eliminate processes and provides system form communication and synchronization within multiple processes.

3. Storage and Memory Management

The Operating System (OS) performs memory management and virtual memory multitasking. The need for memory management in the OS to process in-demand resources or, if they are running out of memory, allocate and de- Allocate. Therefore it is advisable to periodically look at and withdraw memory and storage devices. The system has many storage hierarchies such as primary, secondary and cache storage. Pseudocode and data must be saved in Cache so that in case of any problem the running process can reference it. The operating system can allocate resources and prevent the system from overloading.

4. Disk Management

The Operating System (OS) allows disk access to file systems, file system device drivers and file related activities such as retrieval, naming, sharing, storage, and preservation of files.

5. I/O Operations

OS can effectively handle I/O operations to hide the peculiar behavior of hardware from the end-user.

6. Loading and Execution

Command interpreting is done to interpret the given commands and create resources to work on the system by processing the command. The group of processors that do not share a memory or hardware device is called a distributed system, where the processor interacts with another device through the network. The OS directs and coordinates interpreters, compilers, and other software resources for various uses of computer systems. Booting is one of the important features of the operating system, making the computer's OS to start and load the computer to work. It is also referred to as the loading and execution of a computer system.

7. Device Management

Device and printer controlling is managed by an operating system allowing a correct flow. Disk management is done to track all the hardware associated with the system and the resources used by different jobs and users. It is responsible for the I /O controller.