EVERYTHING YOU NEED TO KNOW ABOUT OPERATING SYSTEMS

BY: SAFEBYTES SOFTWARE

An operating system, also known as OS, is a program designed to manage all of the resources and features in your computer (including software and hardware).

An OS provides a way for users to interact with their computers, either through use of a command line or through graphical user interface (GUI).

NOW THIS MAY SOUND GROSSLY OVERSIMPLIFIED, SO LET’S GO OVER A FEW SCENARIOS WHICH BEST ILLUSTRATE WHAT OPERATING SYSTEMS DO:

• NOWADAYS, ALL OPERATING SYSTEMS ARE CAPABLE OF MULTITASKING. WHICH MEANS AN OPERATING SYSTEM HAS TO DIVIDE THE COMPUTERS RESOURCES SUCH AS THE PROCESSOR, MEMORY BETWEEN DIFFERENT APPLICATIONS, IN SUCH A WAY THAT THE END USER DOESN’T NOTICE. THIS MEANS NOT ONLY ESTABLISHING THE ORDER IN WHICH APPLICATIONS SHOULD RUN, BUT ALSO ALLOWING EACH ONE ENOUGH TIME TO RUN, SO THAT IT APPEARS AS IF THEY ARE RUNNING AT THE SAME TIME.• ANOTHER REASON WHY OUR COMPUTERS NEED AN OS IS TO MANAGE ALL THE INPUT AND

OUTPUT DEVICES AND PORTS THAT ARE ATTACHED TO, OR A PART OF THEM.• IT ESTABLISHES THE WAY AN APPLICATION WILL RUN ON MACHINES CAPABLE OF PARALLEL

PROCESSING.THE ABOVE ARE JUST A FEW EXAMPLES OF WHAT OS’S ARE CAPABLE OF, WHETHER YOU ARE USING WINDOWS, MAC OS, OR ANY DISTRIBUTION OF LINUX.

TYPES OF OPERATING SYSTEMS

BASED ON THE WAY OPERATING SYSTEMS MANAGE RESOURCES AND THE NUMBER OF USERS THEY ARE CAPABLE OF SERVICING, THEY ARE DIVIDED INTO THE FOLLOWING CATEGORIES:SINGLE-USER OPERATING SYSTEMS – THIS OS CAN BE FURTHER DIVIDED INTO TWO SEPARATE CATEGORIES: SINGLE-TASKING, AND MULTI-TASKING OPERATING SYSTEMS. SINGLE-USER, SINGLE TASK: MEANS THAT AN OPERATING SYSTEM IS DESIGNED TO RUN ON A MACHINE CAPABLE OF PERFORMING A SINGLE TASK A TIME, WHILE SERVICING A SINGLE USER.  SINGLE-USER, MULTI-TASK: IS THE OS MOST USERS ARE FAMILIAR WITH, SINCE THEY USE THEM ON A DAILY BASIS ON THEIR LAPTOPS OR DESKTOPS.

These operating systems allow users to run several applications seemingly at the same time, while they switch from one process to another. Assigning each one a certain amount of processor time. This enables users to carry out several different actions simultaneously, such as downloading files, surfing the Web, listening to music, and copying files from one location to another.

Multi-user operating systems – These operating systems are designed to provide multiple users access

to the same machine at the same time, while making sure that each of the users requirements are met in a timely manner by dividing the computers resources between several of them.

The most popular multi-user OS would be Unix, although there are also others out there.

Real-time operating systems – Real-time operating systems are mostly used for industrial or scientific purposes, or to control precise machinery. In those cases where it’s crucial that each operation is carried out reliably, at an expected time without exceptions. The majority of these features are designed to execute tasks without any input from the user.

Overall, this is just one of the ways you can categorize operating systems, since there are plenty of others out there. However these are considered to be the most common and used ones for those of us utilizing laptops or desktops on a daily basis.