The Purpose of Operating

Systems

By Jordan Lowe

Where you might fi nd a OS Operating Systems are all around us, we use them everyday without knowing, you can find Operating Systems in items such as :

• Consoles (Xbox 360, Ps3, Wii, PSP)

• SATNAV’s

• Mobile Phones (Andriod, Apple, Blackberry’s)

• Cars

• Computers

Operati ng Systems

The main function of the Operating System is to interact with all the hardware elements of your computer.

The Main Functions of the OS are:

Processor Management Memory Management Device Management Storage Management User Interface

Processor Management

This controls the planning and process of an activity, it also monitors the performance of a process. The managing processor comes down to two related issues, it has to ensure that each application/process receives enough of the processors time to work properly. The processor can only every do one thing at one time so the operating system is in charge or sending tasks to the processor.

Memory ManagementMemory management is the act of managing computer memory, this involves providing ways to allocate portions of memory to programs at their request, and freeing the memory for other programs to reuse when no longer needed. The management of main memory is critical to the computer system.

Device ManagementDevice management on a computer is accomplished through the operating system, motherboard and drivers. A driver helps the operating system communicate with the electrical signals from computer hardware.

File ManagementA file system is a means to organize data expected to be retained after a program terminates by providing procedures to store, retrieve and update data, as well as manage the available space on the device which contains it. A file system organizes data in an efficient manner and is tuned to the specific characteristics of the device. There is usually a tight coupling between the operating system and the file system.

User InterfaceUser interface is where Humans interact with technology. The user interface includes hardware and software components. User interfaces exist for various systems, and provide a means of input/output.

User interfaces, the goal of human-machine interaction engineering is to produce a user interface which makes it easy, efficient, and enjoyable to operate a machine in the way which produces the desired result. This generally means that the operator needs to provide minimal input to achieve the desired output, and also that the machine minimizes undesired outputs to the human.

What Role does the OS Play in Managing the Processor

The Operating System has the role of Swapping commands in and out, it can switch between processes thousands of times per second.

What is Virtual Memory?

Virtual Memory is where if your computer lacks the RAM needed to run a programme/operation, the Operating system uses virtual memory to compensate for the needed memory.

Virtual Memory combines your RAM with the temporary space on your HDD, So when there isn't enough space on the RAM the Virtual Memory moves the data to a temporary storage destination (paging file).

What is a Fi le Allocati on Table?

A File Allocation Table is a computer file system architecture now commonly

used on a substantial amount of computers, memory cards and floppy

disks.

How does a Buff er Work?

A Buffer temporarily holds data (Queues it up) before moving it onto another place. Data is stored in the buffer as it is retrieved from an input device or sent to an output device e.g. Mouse or speakers.

Data is put out in order, or for example in a line, normally as first come first serve, so it outputs data in the order it arrived.

What is a Device Driver?A Device Driver or software driver is a computer program which converts the messages from the Operating system into messages that the hardware device can understand.