Introduction of Operating System – Set 1

An operating system acts as an intermediary between the user of a computer and computer
hardware. The purpose of an operating system is to provide an environment in which a user
can execute programs conveniently and efficiently.
An operating system is software that manages computer hardware. The hardware must
provide appropriate mechanisms to ensure the correct operation of the computer system
and to prevent user programs from interfering with the proper operation of the system. A
more common definition is that the operating system is the one program running at all
times on the computer (usually called the kernel), with all else being application programs.
An operating system is concerned with the allocation of resources and services, such as
memory, processors, devices, and information. The operating system correspondingly
includes programs to manage these resources, such as a traffic controller, a scheduler,
a memory management module, I/O programs, and a file system.
History of Operating System
The operating system has been evolving through the years. The following table shows the
history of OS.
Electronic device
Generation Year used Types of OS Devices

First 1945-55 Vacuum Tubes Plug Boards

Second 1955-65 Transistors Batch Systems

Integrated
Third 1965-80 Multiprogramming
Circuits(IC)

Large Scale
Fourth Since 1980 PC
Integration

Characteristics of Operating Systems

Let us now discuss some of the important characteristic features of operating systems:
 Device Management: The operating system keeps track of all the devices. So, it is also
called the Input/Output controller that decides which process gets the device, when,
and for how much time.
 File Management: It allocates and de-allocates the resources and also decides who gets
the resource.
 Job Accounting: It keeps track of time and resources used by various jobs or users.
 Error-detecting Aids: These contain methods that include the production of dumps,
traces, error messages, and other debugging and error-detecting methods.
 Memory Management: It keeps track of the primary memory, like what part of it is in
use by whom, or what part is not in use, etc. and It also allocates the memory when a
process or program requests it.
 Processor Management: It allocates the processor to a process and then de-allocates
the processor when it is no longer required or the job is done.
 Control on System Performance: It records the delays between the request for a service
and the system.
 Security: It prevents unauthorized access to programs and data using passwords or
some kind of protection technique.
 Convenience: An OS makes a computer more convenient to use.
 Efficiency: An OS allows the computer system resources to be used efficiently.
 Ability to Evolve: An OS should be constructed in such a way as to permit the effective
development, testing, and introduction of new system functions at the same time
without interfering with service.
 Throughput: An OS should be constructed so that It can give maximum
throughput (Number of tasks per unit time).
Functionalities of Operating System
 Resource Management: When parallel accessing happens in the OS means when
multiple users are accessing the system the OS works as Resource Manager, Its
responsibility is to provide hardware to the user. It decreases the load in the system.
 Process Management: It includes various tasks like scheduling and termination of the
process. It is done with the help of CPU Scheduling algorithms.
 Storage Management: The file system mechanism used for the management of the
storage. NIFS, CIFS, CFS, NFS, etc. are some file systems. All the data is stored in various
tracks of Hard disks that are all managed by the storage manager. It included Hard Disk.
 Memory Management: Refers to the management of primary memory. The operating
system has to keep track of how much memory has been used and by whom. It has to
decide which process needs memory space and how much. OS also has to allocate and
deallocate the memory space.
 Security/Privacy Management: Privacy is also provided by the Operating system using
passwords so that unauthorized applications can’t access programs or data. For
example, Windows uses Kerberos authentication to prevent unauthorized access to
data.
The process operating system as User Interface:
1. User
2. System and application programs
3. Operating system
4. Hardware
Every general-purpose computer consists of hardware, an operating system(s), system
programs, and application programs. The hardware consists of memory, CPU, ALU, I/O
devices, peripheral devices, and storage devices. The system program consists of compilers,
loaders, editors, OS, etc. The application program consists of business programs and
database programs.
 Conceptual View of Computer System

Every computer must have an operating system to run other programs. The operating
system coordinates the use of the hardware among the various system programs and
application programs for various users. It simply provides an environment within which
other programs can do useful work.
The operating system is a set of special programs that run on a computer system that allows
it to work properly. It performs basic tasks such as recognizing input from the keyboard,
keeping track of files and directories on the disk, sending output to the display screen, and
controlling peripheral devices.
Layered Design of Operating System

Fig. Layered OS

The extended machine provides operations like context save, dispatching, swapping, and I/O
initiation. The operating system layer is located on top of the extended machine layer. This
arrangement considerably simplifies the coding and testing of OS modules by separating the
algorithm of a function from the implementation of its primitive operations. It is now easier
to test, debug, and modify an OS module than in a monolithic OS. We say that the lower
layer provides an abstraction that is the extended machine. We call the operating system
layer the top layer of the OS.
Purposes and Tasks of Operating Systems
Several tasks are performed by the Operating Systems and it also helps in serving a lot of
purposes which are mentioned below. We will see how Operating System helps us in serving
in a better way with the help of the task performed by it.
Purposes of an Operating System
 It controls the allocation and use of the computing System’s resources among the
various user and tasks.
 It provides an interface between the computer hardware and the programmer that
simplifies and makes it feasible for coding and debugging of application programs.
Tasks of an Operating System
1. Provides the facilities to create and modify programs and data files using an editor.
2. Access to the compiler for translating the user program from high-level language to
machine language.
3. Provide a loader program to move the compiled program code to the computer’s
memory for execution.
4. Provide routines that handle the details of I/O programming.
I/O System Management
The module that keeps track of the status of devices is called the I/O traffic controller. Each
I/O device has a device handler that resides in a separate process associated with that
device.
The I/O subsystem consists of
 A memory Management component that includes buffering caching and spooling.
 A general device driver interface.
Components of an Operating Systems
There are two basic components of an Operating System.
 Shell
 Kernel
Shell
Shell is the outermost layer of the Operating System and it handles the interaction with
the user. The main task of the Shell is the management of interaction between the User
and OS. Shell provides better communication with the user and the Operating System
Shell does it by giving proper input to the user it also interprets input for the OS and
handles the output from the OS. It works as a way of communication between the User
and the OS.
Kernel
The kernel is one of the components of the Operating System which works as a core
component. The rest of the components depends on Kernel for the supply of the
important services that are provided by the Operating System. The kernel is the primary
interface between the Operating system and Hardware.
Functions of Kernel
The following functions are to be performed by the Kernel.
 It helps in controlling the System Calls.
 It helps in I/O Management.
 It helps in the management of applications, memory, etc.
Types of Kernel
There are four types of Kernel that are mentioned below.
 Monolithic Kernel
 Microkernel
 Hybrid Kernel
 Exokernel
For more, refer to Kernel in Operating System .
Difference Between 32-Bit and 64-Bit Operating Systems
32-Bit Operating System 64-Bit Operating System

32-Bit OS is required for running of 32-Bit 64-Bit Processors can run on any of the
Processors, as they are not capable of Operating Systems, like 32-Bit OS or 64-
running on 64-bit processors. Bit OS.

32-Bit OS gives a low efficient 64-Bit Operating System provides highly

performance. efficient Performance.

Less amount of data is managed in 32-Bit

A large amount of data can be stored in
Operating System as compared to 64-Bit
64-Bit Operating System.
Os.

32-Bit Operating System can address 2^32 64-Bit Operating System can address 2^64
bytes of RAM. bytes of RAM.

The fundamental goals of operating system are:

 Efficient use: Ensure efficient use of a computer’s resources.
 User convenience: Provide convenient methods of using a computer system.
 Non interference: Prevent interference in the activities of its users.
1. Efficient use:
An operating system must ensure efficient use of the fundamental computer system
resources of memory, CPU, and I/O devices such as disks and printers. Poor efficiency can
result if a program does not use a resource allocated to it. Efficient use of resources can
be obtained by monitoring use of resources and performing corrective actions when
necessary. However, monitoring use of resources increases the overhead, which lowers
efficiency of use. In practice, operating systems that emphasize efficient use limit their
overhead by either restricting their focus to efficiency of a few important resources, like
the CPU and the memory, or by not monitoring the use of resources at all, and instead
handling user programs and resources in a manner that guarantees high efficiency.
2.User convenience:
In the early days of computing, user convenience was synonymous with bare necessity—
the mere ability to execute a program written in a higher level language was considered
adequate. Experience with early operating systems led to demands for better service,
which in those days meant only fast response to a user request. Other facets of user
convenience evolved with the use of computers in new fields. Early operating systems had
command-line interfaces, which required a user to type in a command and specify values
of its parameters. Users needed substantial training to learn use of the commands, which
was acceptable because most users were scientists or computer professionals. However,
simpler interfaces were needed to facilitate use of computers by new classes of users.
Hence graphical user interfaces (GUIs) were evolved. These interfaces used icons on a
screen to represent programs and files and interpreted mouse clicks on the icons and
associated menus as commands concerning them. In many ways, this move can be
compared to the spread of car driving skills in the first half of the twentieth century. Over
a period of time, driving became less of a specialty and more of a skill that could be
acquired with limited training and experience.
3.Non interference:
A computer user can face different kinds of interference in his computational activities.
Execution of his program can be disrupted by actions of other persons, or the OS services
which he wishes to use can be disrupted in a similar manner. The OS prevents such
interference by allocating resources for exclusive use of programs and OS services, and
preventing illegal accesses to resources. Another form of interference concerns programs
and data stored in user files.
Advantages of Operating System
 It helps in managing the data present in the device i.e. Memory Management.
 It helps in making the best use of computer hardware.
 It helps in maintaining the security of the device.
 It helps different applications in running them efficiently.
Disadvantages of Operating System
 Operating Systems can be difficult for someone to use.
 Some OS are expensive and they require heavy maintenance.
 Operating Systems can come under threat if used by hackers.