This document provides an introduction to basic operating system concepts. It discusses what an operating system is and its main goals of executing user programs, making the computer system convenient to use, and using computer hardware efficiently. It also describes different types of operating systems used in mainframe systems, desktop systems, multiprocessor and distributed systems, clustered systems, real-time systems, and handheld devices. The key roles of the operating system are to act as an intermediary between the user and computer hardware, manage and allocate system resources, and provide virtualization and multitasking capabilities.