FUNDAMENTALS OF

OPERATING SYSTEM
What is an operating system?
INTRODUCTION Process Management

 Operating system is a collection of  Process management is an important

system software that controls the part of operating system (OS).
working of computer system.
 A process is a program in execution.
 It acts as an interface between the
computer user and computer.  In computer system, multiple
processes are executing concurrently
 It facilitates program execution and or waiting for their turn to be
helps in developing application executed.
programs.
 A process in execution needs
OBJECTIVES OF OPERATING resources like processing resource,
SYSTEM (O.S.) memory and I/O resources.

 The main objectives of the operating  The OS must allocate resources to

system are convenience and processes.
efficiency.
Memory Management
 It makes the computer more
convenient to use.  Memory management is the process
of distributing memory space for
 It allows computer resources such as user programs in main memory.
CPU, memory, input/output devices
and Internet to be used in an efficient  When users run programs, the
manner. operating system distributes portions
of free memory to programs.
 It can be viewed as a resource
manager.  When a program is closed, operating
system will free the memory portion
FUNCTIONS OF OPERATING used by that program for reuse.
SYSTEM
 The operating system automatically
The following are the main functions of loads user programs in available
operating system. memory space and executes them.
 Process Management
 Memory Management Input/output Management
 Input/output Management
 File Management  Input/output management is the
 Resource Management process of controlling the operation
 User Management

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 of all the input/output devices  The resources include
attached to computer. microprocessor, memory and all
other devices attached to it.
 User communicates with computer  Resources of computer are allocated
through various input/output devices to the application program as per
such as keyboard, mouse, monitor user’s requirement
printer, etc.
USER MANAGEMENT
 Management of these devices is the
responsibility of operating system.  It is an important feature for
maintaining secure computer system
 Operating system uses input/output  The OS gives full control to a person
controller to manage and coordinate known as administrator
the operation of all the input/output  Administrator assign user name and
devices. password
 Administrator install various
File Management programs and also create and
 File management system is part of manages user accounts
operating system that organizes  Administrator allows the users to run
stores and keeps track of computer various application programs
files and folders.
OPERATING SYSTEMS INTERFACES
 Computer files can be
 documents,  There are three types of operating
 programs, systems based on ways of interaction
 images, with computer(interface).
 videos, etc.  The three types of interfaces are:

 Operating system controls the  Command Line Interface

common operations performed on  Menu Driven Interface
files.  Graphical User Interface (GUI).
 These operations include
Command Line Interface (CLI)
 creating,
 opening,  In CLI, commands are given to
 editing, computer with keyboard. It is based
 renaming, on textual input.
 moving,  The user types in a command and
 copying, presses the Enter key to execute it.
 deleting  Two commonly used operating
 searching files systems that use CLI are
 DOS (Disk Operating
RESOURCE MANAGEMENT System) and
 UNIX.
 OS automatically manage the  CLI is difficult to use because users
resources of computer have to remember the commands to
 It is automatically performed when perform any task.
application program are executed by
computer

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  Menus contain the commands to use
the operating system.

Disk Operating System (DOS)  Menu driven interface is also used in

some application programs and other
 DOS was the most popular CLI devices such as mobile phone and
operating system. iPod.
 DOS displays the prompt (C:\>) to
enter commands. Types
 User must know the syntax of the
command.  The following are two common
 DOS commands are difficult to menus driven operating systems
remember.
 It is a single user and single task Novell’s Netware
operating system.
 Novell’s Netware was a menu driven
Example operating system that was used in the
past.
The following are some examples of DOS  Its first version was released in 1993.
commands with their description
DIR ProDOS
Display the contents of current directory
(folder)  ProDOS was another menu-driven
FORMAT D: Format the D drive operating system that was used on
some Apple computers
UNIX
Graphical User Interface (GUI)
 UNIX is a multi-user CLI operating
system introduced in 1969.  GUI is a graphical interface for
computer users to interact with
 It allows multiple users to run computer.
different programs at the same time.  It uses windows, icons, menus and
pointer.
 UNIX was developed for use on  Window is a rectangular portion of
large computer system monitor in which information is
displayed.
Menu Driven Interface  Icon is a graphical symbol that
represents a
 Menu driven interface presents a  file,
menu on the screen, user makes a  folder,
choice and then the next menu  program,
appears.  device, etc.

 The user makes another choice and Advantages of GUI

so on.
 Much easier to learn and use
 Menu driven interface is easy to use  No need to memorize the commands
as compared to CLI.  Allows users to run more than one
program at the same time

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  Most of the GUIs provide good help Windows Operating System
facilities
 Many application programs also use  Windows is the most popular
a similar interface so it is easy to use operating system used on
a new program microcomputers in English.
 Microsoft developed it.
Disadvantages of GUI  Many different versions of Windows
operating system were developed.
 Takes up lot of memory.  Some of these versions are Windows
 Need faster computer as compared to 95, Windows 98, Windows
other interfaces. Millennium, Windows XP, Windows
Vista, Windows 7, 8 and 10.
Examples  The latest version is Windows 10.
CLASSIFICATION OF OPERATING
 Macintosh, SYSTEM
 Linux and
 Windows.
 Operating systems can be classified
Macintosh Operating System into two major categories, single-
user and multi-user operating
 Mac OS is a series of operating systems.
systems developed by Apple
Incorporation for their Macintosh Single-user Operating System
computers.
 It was introduced in 1984.  It allows a single user to login and
 The latest version is Mac OS X. use the computer at a time.
 It is a UNIX based user-friendly  It is easy to use.
operating system.  Resources of the computer, such as
 There are some specialized versions CPU, memory and input/output
of Mac OS X used on devices such devices are not shared with other
as iPhone, iPod, iPad and new Apple computers.
TV.  It is used on microcomputers.
 User can open many programs at the
Linux Operating System same time and switch among them as
required.
 Linux is free open-source operating  It requires less memory and costs
system introduced in 1991. less.
 It is faster but difficult to use as  Some examples of single-user
compared to Macintosh and operating systems are DOS,
Windows operating systems. Windows 95, Windows XP,
 It is not a popular operating system. Windows 7, etc.
 Linux OS can be installed on PCs,
laptops, netbooks, mobile and tablet
devices, video game consoles,
Multi-user Operating System
servers, supercomputers and more.
 Popular Linux OS distributions  It allows many users to login to a
include Debian, Ubuntu, Fedora, Red single big computer and run different
Hat and openSUSE programs at the same time.

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  It shares the resources of the  It allows many users to have access
computer with other users over the to a computer at the same time and
network. share the computer’s time.
 It is used on minicomputers and  In a timesharing system, the central
mainframes. processing unit is switched rapidly
 Users can communicate with each between the programs so that all the
other and share files. user programs are executed
 It requires a powerful CPU, large simultaneously.
memory and large hard drives.  The operating systems used in
 It supports multiprogramming and minicomputers and mainframe
time-sharing. computers support timesharing.
 Windows NT, UNIX and Linux are
popular multi-user operating systems Example
 For example, hundreds of students
TYPES OF OPERATING SYSTEMS access the university’s mainframe
computer at the same time and they
 There are three types of operating run different programs in a
systems. timesharing system in interactive
 These are mode.
o batch processing,
Real time Systems
o Time-sharing
o Real-time operating systems.  Real time operating systems must
process information and produce a
Batch Processing System
response within a specified time.
 In a batch processing system, jobs  These operating systems are
are grouped in batches and the developed for special applications.
computer executes them one.by.one.  These are used to control industrial
 When the current job terminates, the processes such as oil refining.
computer automatically loads the  Real time operating systems are used
next job. to supply immediate response within
 Batch processing systems are limited time.
suitable for tasks where large amount  For example, a measurement from an
of data has to be collected and oil refinery indicating that
processed on a regular basis. temperatures are getting too high
 Batch processing operating systems might demand quick response to stop
greatly improved the use of an explosion.
computer system  There are a number of real-time
operating systems used in military
Example and space research programs.
 In examination report card system,  For example, real-time operating
all the data of student’s examinations system is used to monitor the
is collected and processed as a batch position of rocket in the space.
for printing report cards.
Timesharing System
 Timesharing system is a feature of
operating system in which multiple
users can run different programs on a
large-scale computer.
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BASIC ICONS OF GUI OPERATING Program Icon
SYSTEM
 Executable program files are also
 An icon is a small graphical symbol represented by icons.
that represents a file, folder,  Different graphical symbols are used
application or device. for different program icons.
 There are some special system icons
such as Recycle Bin and Computer
that are kept on the desktop. EXERCISE
 Icon has a label at the bottom i) Why operating system is important
describing its name software for a computer? Give five
reasons.
Recycle Bin
 Operating system is system software
 It is a temporary place (folder) for
items that the user deletes from the  It is essential for computer to
hard disk. properly run computer
 When a file or folder is deleted from
a hard disk it goes to the Recycle  It provides interaction between user
Bin. and computer
 The user can restore it to its original REASONS
location.
 User can also delete a file or folder  OS control all the operations of I/O
permanently from the Recycle Bin. devices

Computer Icon  OS manage memory

 Computer icon allows the user to  OS also help to manage users

access the contents of computer  File management is done by OS
drives and manage files and folders.
 It is used to manage the computer  OS act as resource manager
resources.

(iii). Mentions few disadvantages of using

Folder Icon DOS
 Folder icon resembles a physical file Few disadvantages of DOS are following
folder.
 DOS is command line interface OS
 It is used to store files.
 A folder can have another folder  Command are difficult to remember
inside it which is known as
subfolder.  Interface is not attractive
 Folders are used to keep files in an  Difficult to use
organized manner.
(iv) Name two operating system which are
File Icon used in modern mobile phones
 In a GUI, files are also represented  Android
by icons.
 A file may contain text, image,  Apple IOS
music or video.  Windows
 Users recognize a file by its icon.

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(v) What difficulties a student may face if  Some viruses copy themselves to
she/he is not familiar with the operating others programs
system of a computer
Following are difficulties a student may face
if he/she is not familiar with the OS of
computer
 Installation of operating system
 Managing files and folder
 Updating antivirus software of the
OS
 Installation of application software
 Installation of device derivers
(viii) What is meant by managing data
and why is it important
Managing data mean storing files and folder
in secondary storage in an organized way
 This helps in finding file easily
 Files are search quickly
 Helps in data quality and access
(ix) What is meant by resources of
computer?
 Every device attached to computer
system is called resource
 Computer resources are following
o CPU
o Memory
o Input/output devices
o Internet
(x) What types of problems a student may
face if no antivirus is installed
 Computer virus will damage data,
software or computer itself
 Some virus may display information
on screen
 Some virus erases entire hard disk

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