Operating Systems Overview

P2 grading criterion

 Report –
 Why do PC’s need an Operating System (OS)
 Features and Functions of a OS
 How are operating system used to facilitate
users?
Where to find the information?

 Plenty of
info out
there!
What is an operating system?

 A software program (or collection of

programs) which manages a computer and
allows other programs to run.
 Manages computer’s resources
 Provides an interface for
 Programmers
 Users
 Provides a platform for application programs
 Without O/S computer will not work!
Features / functions of O/S

 File & Disk Management

 Memory Management
 Process Management
 I/O Management
 Configuration / administration
 Networking
 Security
Managing computer resources

 File / Disk Management

 Drive partitioning / formatting
 Directory (folder) structures
 File / folder management
 Copy, Cut, Paste
 Rename
 Delete
 File operations for programs
 Open, Close, Save
Managing computer resources

 Memory Management
 Allocates memory to programs
 Recovers memory after use
 Prevents programs from accessing
memory allocated to another program
 Manages virtual memory
Managing computer resources

 Process Management
 CPU can only do one thing at a time
 O/S allocates CPU time to programs
 Allows >1 program to run at a time
 Prevents one program hogging the CPU
 Gives impression of multi-tasking
Managing computer resources

 Input / output management

 Wide range of peripherals
 Screen, keyboard, mouse
 Disk drives (HDD, FDD, CD, DVD)
 Printers
 Webcam, graphics tablets etc
 Device drivers make O/S more flexible
Software types
User

Applications

Operating System

BIOS Device Drivers

Hardware
Platform for application software

 Operating system sits between

hardware and application software
 Provides standardised way for
applications to work on wide range of
different computers
 No need for software developers to
know details of individual computers
 OS or Applications ?
Operating systems Applications
 DOS  Word
 Windows What about  Excel
 3.1 programs  Photoshop
 95/98/ME like
Calculator,  Visual Basic
 NT/2000/XP Wordpad or  Nero Burning ROM
 Unix Internet
Explorer?  Firefox
 Linux
 Outlook Express
 Mac OS etc. etc. etc.
User Interface

 Command Line Interface (CLI)

 Graphical User Interface (GUI)
User interface

 Allows User to manage the computer

 e.g.
 Create files / folders
 User management
 Install / remove computers
 Configure user interface
 System configuration / maintenance
Programmer interface
 Standard system functions e.g.
 Open a file
 Save a file
 List files in a folder
 Use a printer
 Display things on screen etc. etc.
 Programmer does not need to know about
the particular computer
 Quicker, easier, safer etc.
Configuration / Maintenance

 User Management
 Device Management
 Defragmenting
 Updates / Patches
 etc.
Networking

 Modern computers assumed to be

networked
 O/S provides means to
 Add, remove network connections
 Manage network connections
 Share resources over network
 Share network connections
Security

 Different aspects relating to other parts

of O/S
 User management
 File / folder permissions
 Network security
 Program security etc.
Comparing Operating Systems
 Parts you can see
 User interface
 File / Disk Management
 Configuration / Administration
 Security
 Networking

 Parts you can’t see (directly)

 Process Management (Task Manager?)
 Memory Management (VM settings?)
 I/O Management (Device drivers?)
Comparing Operating Systems

Comparison
1. How it works in Windows

2. How it works in Linux

3. What do you think about this?