What is an operating system?

An operating system is the most important software that runs on a computer. It

manages the computer's memory and processes, as well as all of
its software and hardware. It also allows you to communicate with the computer
without knowing how to speak the computer's language. Without an operating system,
a computer is useless.

The operating system's job

Your computer's operating system (OS) manages all of the software and hardware on
the computer. Most of the time, there are several different computer programs running at
the same time, and they all need to access your computer's central processing unit
(CPU), memory, and storage. The operating system coordinates all of this to make sure
each program gets what it needs.

Types of operating systems

Operating systems usually come pre-loaded on any computer you buy. Most people use
the operating system that comes with their computer, but it's possible to upgrade or even
change operating systems. The three most common operating systems for personal
computers are Microsoft Windows, macOS, and Linux.
Modern operating systems use a graphical user interface, or GUI (pronounced gooey).
A GUI lets you use your mouse to click icons, buttons, and menus, and everything is
clearly displayed on the screen using a combination of graphics and text.
Each operating system's GUI has a different look and feel, so if you switch to a different
operating system it may seem unfamiliar at first. However, modern operating systems are
designed to be easy to use, and most of the basic principles are the same.

Microsoft Windows
Microsoft created the Windows operating system in the mid-1980s. There have been
many different versions of Windows, but the most recent ones are Windows 10 (released
in 2015), Windows 8 (2012), Windows 7 (2009), and Windows Vista (2007). Windows
comes pre-loaded on most new PCs, which helps to make it the most popular operating
system in the world.
macOS
macOS (previously called OS X) is a line of operating systems created by Apple. It
comes preloaded on all Macintosh computers, or Macs. Some of the specific versions
include Mojave (released in 2018), High Sierra (2017), and Sierra (2016).
According to StatCounter Global Stats, macOS users account for less than 10% of
global operating systems—much lower than the percentage of Windows users (more
than 80%). One reason for this is that Apple computers tend to be more expensive.
However, many people do prefer the look and feel of macOS over Windows.
Linux
Linux (pronounced LINN-ux) is a family of open-source operating systems, which
means they can be modified and distributed by anyone around the world. This is different
from proprietary software like Windows, which can only be modified by the company
that owns it. The advantages of Linux are that it is free, and there are many
different distributions—or versions—you can choose from.
According to StatCounter Global Stats, Linux users account for less than 2% of global
operating systems. However, most servers run Linux because it's relatively easy to
customize.
Operating systems for mobile devices
The operating systems we've been talking about so far were designed to run
on desktop and laptop computers. Mobile devices such as phones, tablet computers,
and MP3 players are different from desktop and laptop computers, so they run operating
systems that are designed specifically for mobile devices. Examples of mobile operating
systems include Apple iOS and Google Android. In the screenshot below, you can see
iOS running on an iPad.

Operating systems for mobile devices generally aren't as fully featured as those made for
desktop and laptop computers, and they aren't able to run all of the same software.
However, you can still do a lot of things with them, like watch movies, browse the Web,
manage your calendar, and play games.
What is Operating System, its Types, Functions and
Examples
A person who uses the computer, laptop, tablet or smartphone is very much familiar with the operating
system. An operating system is a low-level software that performs different kinds of functionalities
including scheduling of tasks, management of resources, execution of programs and provides command-
line or graphical user interface(GUI) enabling the user to perform different tasks. Here in this post, we are
covering following points:
 What is Operating System
 Operating System Components
 Operating System Services
 Operating System Functions
 Operating System Structure
 Operating System Types
 Operating System Examples
 Market Share of different Operating Systems

What is Operating System?

Computer System has different components, these include hardware, operating system,
application programs and users.
Hardware is a physical portion of the computer system consists of basic computer resources i.e.
memory, CPU and I/O devices.
Operating system manages hardware resources among different application programs and users.
Application programs are the third layer of computer organization. These are designed to perform
specific tasks directly for users. These may include from word processors to video games and
many more.

Definition
Operating system is a system software that manages computer resources (hardware as well as
applications), acts as an intermediary between a user and computer hardware and makes
computer system convenient to use.
It is due to the operating system, the user of the computer does not have to deal directly with the
hardware to get their work done. Operating system provides the user a simple and user-friendly
interface to perform their specific tasks.

Description
A computer system has various hardware and software resources required to solve some
problem; storage space, CPU time and I/O devices etc.
Operating system manages all the resources and receives many simple and conflicting requests. It
also decides how and when to allocate and deallocate resources so that computer system can run
efficiently.
In short operating system is a resource manager who manages both hardware and software
resources efficiently. It is a control program that manages execution of user program to prevent
errors and improper use of computer.
Viewing things closely will reveal that basic purpose of a computer system is to generate
executable programs and execute them. The following are some of the main issues involved in
performing these tasks.
 Storing an executable on a secondary storage device such as a hard disk
 Loading executable from disk into the main memory
 Setting the CPU state appropriately so that program execution could begin
 Creating multiple cooperating processes, synchronizing their access to shared data, and allowing
them to communicate with each other

The above issues require the operating system to provide the following services and much more:
 Manage secondary storage devices
 Allocate the appropriate amount of disk space when files are created
 Deallocate space when files are removing
 Ensure that a new file does not overwrite an existing file
 Schedule disk requests
 Manage primary storage
 Allocate the appropriate amount of memory space when programs are to be loaded into the
memory for executing
 Deallocate space when processes terminate
 Ensure that a new process is not loaded on top of an existing process
 Ensure that a process does not access memory space that does not belong to it
 Minimize the amount of unused memory space
 Allow execution of programs larger in size than the available main memory
 Manage processes

Operating System Components

An operating system has various components that perform different tasks for proper execution of
programs. Following are main components of the operating system.

Process Management
A process can be a program in execution that needs resources like CPU time, memory, files and
I/O devices to accomplish its tasks. The operating system is responsible for
 Creating and terminating user and system processes
 Suspending and resuming processes
 Providing mechanisms for process synchronization
 Providing mechanisms for process communication
 Providing mechanisms for deadlock handling

Main Memory Management

Main memory is a large array of words or bytes. These bytes are called memory locations and
range in size from hundreds of thousands to billions. Every word or byte has its own address. Main
memory is a repository of quickly accessible data shared by the CPU and I/O devices. It contains
the code, data, stack, and other parts of a process. The central processor reads instructions of a
process from main memory during the machine cycle. The OS is responsible for the following
activities in connection with memory management.
 Keeping track of free memory space
 Keeping track of which parts of memory are currently being used and by whom
 Deciding which processes are to be loaded into memory when memory space becomes available
 Deciding how much memory is to be allocated to a process
 Allocating and deallocating memory space as needed
 Ensuring that a process is not overwritten on top of another
Secondary Storage Management
The programs to be executed, along with the data they access, must be in the main memory or
primary storage during their execution. Since main memory is too small to accommodate all data
and programs, and because the data it holds are lost when the power is lost, the computer system
must provide secondary storage to backup main memory. Most programs are stored on a disk
until loaded into the memory and then use disk as both the source and destination of their
processing. Like all other resources in a computer system, proper management of disk storage is
important.
The operating system is responsible for the following activities in connection with disk
management:
 Free-space management
 Storage allocation and deallocation
 Disk scheduling

Input/Output Management
The input and output subsystem consists of:
 A memory management component that includes buffering, caching and spooling
 A general device-driver interface
 Drivers for specific hardware devices

File Management
Computers can store information on several types of physical media, e.g. magnetic tape, magnetic
disk and an optical disk. The operating system maps files onto physical media and accesses
these media through storage devices. Operating system is responsible for the following activities
pertaining to file management:
 Creating and deleting files
 Creating and deleting directories
 Supporting primitives (operations) for manipulating files and directories
 Mapping files onto the secondary storage
 Backing up files on stable (nonvolatile) storage media

Protection System
If a computer system has multiple users and allows concurrent execution of multiple processes
then the various processes must be protected from each other’s activities. Protection is any
mechanism for controlling the access of programs, processes or users to the resources defined
by a computer system.

Networking
A distributed system is a collection of processors that do not share memory, peripheral devices or
a clock. Instead, each processor has it own local memory and clock, and the processors
communicate with each other through various communication lines, such as high- speed buses or
networks.
The processors in a communication system are connected through a communication network.
The communication network design must consider message routing and connection strategies
and the problems of contention and security.
A distributed system collects physically separate, possibly heterogeneous, systems into a single
coherent system, providing the user with access to the various resources that the system
maintains.
Command Line Interpreter
One of the most important system programs for an operating system is the command interpreter,
which is the interface between the user and operating system. Its purpose is to read user
commands and try to execute them. Some operating systems include the command interpreter in
the kernel. Other operating systems (for example UNIX, Linux, and DOS) treat it as a special
program that runs when a job is initiated or when a user first logs on (on time-sharing systems).
Examples of shells for UNIX and Linux are Bourne shell (sh), C shell (csh), Bourne Again shell
(bash), TC shell (tcsh), and Korn shell (ksh). You can use any of these shells by running the
corresponding command, listed in parentheses for each shell.
Operating System Services
An operating system provides the environment within which programs are executed. It provides
certain services to programs and users of those programs, which vary from operating system to
operating system. Some of the common ones are:

Program execution:
The system must be able to load a program into memory and to run that programs. The program
must be able to end its execution.

I/O Operations:
A running program may require I/O, which may involve a file or an I/O device. For efficiency and
protection user usually cannot control I/O devices directly. The OS provides a means to do I/O.

File System Manipulation:

Programs need to read, write files. Also, they should be able to create and delete files by name.

Communications:
There are cases in which one program needs to exchange information with another process. This
can occur between processes that are executing on the same computer or between processes
that are executing on different computer systems tied together by a computer network.
Communication may be implemented via shared memory or message passing.

Error detection:
The OS constantly needs to be aware of possible errors. The error may occur in the CPU and
memory hardware, in I/O devices and in the user program. For each type of error, the OS should
take appropriate action to ensure correct and
consistent computing.
Operating System Functions
In order to assist the efficient operation of computer system, it provides the following functions:

Resource allocation:
When multiple users are logged on the system or multiple jobs are running at the same time,
resources must be allocated to each of them. There are various routines to schedule jobs, allocate
plotters, modems and other peripheral devices.

Accounting:
We want to keep track of which users use how many and which kinds of computer resources. This
record keeping may be used for accounting or simply for accumulating usage statistics.

Protection:
The owners of information stored in a multi user computer system may want to control use of that
information. When several disjointed processes execute concurrently it should not b possible for
one process to interfere with the others or with the operating system itself. Protection involves
ensuring that all access to system resources is controlled.
Operating Systems Structures
Just like any other software, the operating system code can be structured in different ways. The
following are some of the commonly used structures.

Simple/Monolithic Structure
In this case, the operating system code has not structure. It is written for functionality and
efficiency (in terms of time and space). DOS and UNIX are examples of such systems.

Layered Approach
The modularization of a system can be done in many ways. In the layered approach, the operating
system is broken up into a number of layers or levels each built on top of lower layer. The bottom
layer is the hardware; the highest layer is the user interface. A typical OS layer consists of data
structures and a set of routines that can be invoked by higher-level layers.

Virtual Machines
The computer system is made up of layers. The hardware is the lowest level in all such systems.
The kernel running at the next level uses the hardware instructions to create a set of system call
for use by outer layers. The system programs above the kernel are therefore able to use either
system calls or hardware instructions and in some ways these programs do not differentiate
between these two. System programs, in turn, treat the hardware and the system calls as though
they were both at the same level.
In some systems, the application programs can call the system programs. The application
programs view everything under them in the hierarchy as though the latter were part of the
machine itself. This layered approach is taken to its logical conclusion in the concept of a virtual
machine (VM). The VM operating system for IBM systems is the best example of VM concept.
Although the virtual machine concept is useful it is difficult to implement. There are two primary
advantages to using virtual machines: first by completely protecting system resources the virtual
machine provides a robust level of security. Second, the virtual machine allows system
development to be done without disrupting normal system operation.
Java Virtual Machine (JVM) loads, verifies and executes programs that have been translated into
Java Bytecode. VMWare can be run on a Windows platform to create a virtual machine on which
you can install an operating of your choice, such as Linux. Virtual PC software works in a similar
fashion.
Operating System Types
Single-user systems
A computer system that allows only one user to use the computer at a given time is known as a
single-user system. The goals of such systems are maximizing user convenience and
responsiveness, instead of maximizing the utilization of the CPU and peripheral devices.
Single-user systems use I/O devices such as keyboards, mice, display screens, scanners, and
small printers. They can adopt technology developed for larger operating systems.
They may run different types of operating systems, including DOS, Windows, and MacOS. Linux
and UNIX operating systems can also be run in single-user mode.

Batch Systems
Early computers were large machines run from a console with card readers and tape drives as
input devices and line printers, tape drives, and card punches as output devices. The user did not
interact directly with the system; instead, the user prepared a job, (which consisted of the program,
data, and some control information about the nature of the job in the form of control cards) and
submitted this to the computer operator. The job was in the form of punch cards, and at some
later time, the output was generated by the system. The output consisted of the result of the
program, as well as a dump of the final memory and register contents for debugging.
To speed up processing, operators batched together jobs with similar needs and ran them through
the computer as a group. For example, all FORTRAN programs were compiled one after the other.
The major task of such an operating system was to transfer control automatically from one job to
the next. Such systems in which the user does not get to interact with his jobs and jobs with
similar needs are executed in a “batch”, one after the other, are known as batch systems. Digital
Equipment Corporation’s VMS is an example of a batch operating system.

Multi-programmed Systems
Such systems organize jobs so that CPU always has one to execute. In this way, CPU utilization is
increased. The operating system picks and executes from amongst the available jobs in memory.
The job has to wait for some task such as an I/O operation to complete. In a non-multi-
programmed system CPU would sit idle while in case of multiprogrammed system, the operating
system simply switches to, and executes another job.

Time-sharing systems
These are multi-user and multi-process systems. Multi-user means system allows multiple users
simultaneously. In this system, a user can run one or more processes at the same time. Examples
of time-sharing systems are UNIX, Linux, Windows server editions.

Real-time systems
Real time systems are used when strict time requirements are placed on the operation of a
processor or the flow of data. These are used to control a device in a dedicated application. For
example, medical imaging system and scientific experiments.

Operating System Examples

There are many types of operating system. Some most popular examples of operating system are:

Unix Operating System

Unix was initially written in assembly language. Later on, it was replaced by C, and Unix, rewritten
in C and was developed into a large, complex family of inter-related operating systems. The
major categories include BSD, and Linux.
“UNIX” is a trademark of The Open Group which licenses it for use with any operating system that
has been shown to conform to their definitions.

macOS
Mac-OS is developed by Apple Inc. and is available on all Macintosh computers. It was formerly
called “Mac OS X” and later on “OS X”.  MacOS was developed in 1980s by NeXT and that
company was purchased by Apple in 1997.

Linux
Linux is Unix-like operating system and was developed without any Unix code. Linux is open
license model and code is available for study and modification. It has superseded Unix on many
platforms. Linux is commonly used smartphones and smartwatches.

Microsoft Windows
Microsoft Windows is most popular and widely used operating system. It was designed and
developed by Microsoft Corporation. The current version of operating system is Windows-10.
Microsoft Windows was first released in 1985. In 1995, Windows 95 was released which only used
MS-DOS as a bootstrap.

Other operating systems

Various operating systems like OS/2, BeOS and some other operating system which were
developed over time are no longer used now. Because they could contribute to market share.

Market share
As per Wikipedia usage share of operating systems in the market is as under
Place Mobile system Desktop system

1 Android (73%) Windows (83%)

2 iOS (20%) OS X (13%)

3 Nokia (1%) Linux (2%)

4 Windows (1%) Chrome OS (1%)

October 2017 worldwide web browsing share