James Green

What is an operating system?

An operating system is a collection of software that manages hardware and provides services for computer programs; it is an essential part of the computer system. It provides a stable platform for software to work with the hardware, it also brings together all of the components and allows them to work together.

Android is a mobile operating based around Linux one of the operating systems is android jelly bean. Windows is another operating system, designed by Microsoft their OS include - MS-DOS, windows 1.0, Windows 2.0-2.1, windows 3.0, Windows NT, 95, 98, me, 2000, XP, vista, 7, 8. Macintosh is an Operating system designed by Apple- system 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7. Mac OS 7.6, mac OS 8 mac OS 9, OS X, iOS is a mobile operating system made by apple for their I-devices e.g. iPhone. Linux is an open source operating system made by Linus Torvalds and many more developers. (Due to the sheer amount of Linux operating systems I’m using the top 5)

1. Mint Linux2. Mageia3. Ubuntu4. Fedora5. Debain

Peripheral management is the ability to manage the peripherals connected to the computer.

Peripheral management for windows

Device manager is the way windows manages its peripherals and other components, it shows the user what is connected to the computer, it also allows the user to update drivers and uninstall drivers. You can also in the control panel change the mouse keyboard and monitor settings.

Security- windows 7

Windows has a category in the control panel, that handles the system and security of the

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machine, this allows the user to set up firewalls there is also the user accounts section in the control panel this allows the user to make password protected user profiles to protect sensitive files, it also allows parents to add restrictions.

Here is the user accounts section of windows 7, here it allows you to make user accounts, both standard and aministrator accounts. It also allows the user to add passwords to the account.

This is the parental control section where you can add restrictions to a user account.

Windows also has a security feature that notifies the user when a program is trying to alter the system; this is to protect the user from programs that want to harm the computer by altering

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program files to make the program do what it is not designed to do.

File management- windows 7

Windows 7 uses a windows explorer to locate files on the computer; it allows the user to browse through all of their files to find a specific one, there is a search tool to allow the user to find a file if they want it quickly or if they can’t remember where they put it.

Device drivers- windows

On windows 7 when the user plugs an external device in the computer it will automatically detect it and search for the driver in windows update if it can’t find it in windows update it does nothing and the user will have to manually install the driver form either a supplied disk from the device manufacture or from their website.

Customising- windows

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On windows you can customise the background and theme of your computer, you can also change the mouse pointer and user icon, this is all found in the Personalisation section of the control panel.

You can also install and uninstall programs; this is the program and features section it allows the user to remove programs that they have installed.

Support for media- windows

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Windows has windows media player which will play most common file formats of audio and video

Stability and reliability- windows

Windows is not the most stable operating system available using windows vista as an example but since then windows has become more stable and reliable for the user and their needs.

Cost and support- windows

There are different editions of a windows operating system that each have different features for example windows 7 home premium can only support up to 16GB of RAM whereas Windows 7 ultimate can support up to 192GB of RAM but this is more expensive, windows 7 ultimate costs £139.07 from eBuyer (may be more or less depending on where you get it). The support windows gets consist of either customer support on their website or the help and support program on the computer

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Peripheral management- mac os x

Although Mac os x does not have any sort of peripheral management like windows, it does allow the user to change the display, mouse and keyboard settings.

Security- mac os x

OS X checks for updates everyday so that the user will always have the latest security features, it also has Gatekeeper this makes downloading apps onto the computer safer because it has three options: 1. To completely block any app apart those downloaded from the app store, 2. To allow app downloaded from the app store and apps from the internet that has a developer ID, and the 3 rd setting is to allow everything to be downloaded. Mac OS X also has filevault 2 they encrypts the users data, there is privacy controls, better passwords which are harder to crack, it also has iCloud keychain which stores all of the users passwords to make it easier for them because they won’t have to remember their passwords, Sandboxing blocks malicious code, by isolating the app away from critical parts of the system and the user files, the runtime in OS X protects the system by creating a strong wall between the memory used for data and the memory used for executable instructions, this feature is built into the CPU, anti-phishing protects the user from fraudulent websites, the user can also create password protected user accounts, the user can set the time it takes for the mac to lock the screen.

File management- mac os x

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Mac os x has the finder, much like windows has windows explore, they both essentially do the same thing but with a different GUI style.

Device drivers- mac OS X

Mac OS X doesn’t need to use device drivers all apple products are compatible with each other so its plug ‘n’ play, however if the user is connecting a printer to the mac they need to make sure that it is mac compatible because it will need drivers, this goes with all non-apple peripherals

Customisation- mac os x

In mac OS X the user can change the desktop background, the appearance and the dock via the corresponding sections in the system preferences.

Support for media- os x

Mac OS X has quick time that is much like windows media player, it can support most forms of audio and video.

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Stability and reliability- mac os x

The older versions of Mac OS X for example Mac OS X Cheetah was not as stable as the new versions of mac OS X, OS X is based on UNIX which is more reliable than Windows NT.

Cost and support- mac os x

You cannot really buy OS X from anywhere because it comes pre-installed on every mac that is sold, the support you get on a mac is like that of windows you have the online support on apple.com but the user does not have any support built in to the operating system.

Peripheral management- Linux cent os

If it is text based Linux like cent os there is no peripheral manager, if it is not text based like Ubuntu you can get a program that can either list in plain what the computer has connected to it or convert it to HTML to look in a web browser.

Security- Linux cent os

There is no security for cent os because it is texted based but for non-text based Operating system the it has basically the same security as windows.

File management- Linux cent os

In cent os the file management is done by command line codes whereas GUI operating systems have much the same file management as windows and OS X

Device drivers. – Linux cent os

Doesn’t really need driver however GUI based Linux operating systems do need device drivers.

Customising- Linux cent os

CLI can’t customise anything as its text based, however GUI based OS’ can change their desktop background.

Support for media- Linux cent os

No support for media on cent os as its text based, Ubuntu has much the same as windows.

Stability and reliability- Linux

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Linux operating systems are very stable and reliable; the operating systems hardly ever crash

Cost and support- Linux

The cost of linux is £0, it is completely free because it is open source, but it doesn’t have any user support available.

Peripheral Management- iOS

In iOS there isn’t really a peripheral management as such the user can go into the settings and turn on and off different peripherals they can however add Bluetooth headsets and other Bluetooth devices to the device

Security-iOS

The security available to iOS is password protection on the lock screen enabling the user to apply a password to protect their device from unauthorised access, all iOS devices have a UID( unique ID) and GID(group ID) these have AES 256 bit keys fused into, no software or firmware can read them directly making file encryption more efficient.

File management

iOS doesn’t really have any file management, the user cannot delete any files from the device with connecting it to a computer, it also makes it so the user cannot access the operating system files . When the device is connected to a computer the user can choose whether they want to remove media from the device, the user can also choose if they want to back up their device or factory rest their device.

Device driver’s iOS

iOS doesn’t need any drivers because it comes with all of the drivers it needs pre-installed on to it.

Customising- iOS

Customising on iOS is very basic the user can change the home and lock screen wallpaper, and can move the apps on the home screen to where they want or they can put them into folders.

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Media support- iOS

iOS can support most types of media ranging from photos to apps.

Stability and reliability iOS

As has been for windows and mac os, iOS is very much the same where the older versions where less stable than the newer versions, when it comes to reliability it depends what generation the device is for example an iPhone 4s would freeze quite often with iOS 7, where as an iPhone 5 is much different.

Cost and support iOS

You can’t buy iOS separate from an iDevice, however the support you get on the device is the same as you would get form the mac OS, online support or phone support

Peripheral management- Android

Android allows the user to turn on and off different parts of the device through the settings menu, the user can choose how bright they want the screen, if they want Wi-Fi on or off, they can also connect Bluetooth deceives to their device for example a hands free ear piece, there is also the ability to make a personal hotspot with their mobile data, and choose whether they want certain people on it.

Security- Android

Android doesn’t nearly have as much security as iOS, but it makes up for that with the apps that you can download to protect the device against malware and other malicious software, Android also allows the user to make a password lock to their device so no one can access it with out the password, also on some devices I you set a number passcode and repeatedly get it wrong the device will not lock the user out.

File management- Android

Android allows the user to go in to all the files on the device which is unlike iOS where they want to protect that part of the OS, Android allows the user to access it and change files at their own risk,

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android also allows the use of external SD cards for storage. The user can also go onto a computer and manage their files that way either through the operating systems file management e.g. windows explorer or through the program that the device comes with.

Device drivers- Android

Like iOS Android doesn’t really have device drivers it already come pre-installed with everything it needs including on some devices the computer program that allows the user to interact with the device on the computer with ease.

Customising- Android

Android has about the same level of customisation as iOS but it has some features that iOS doesn’t have, for example android allows the user to use widgets on their home screens instead of just apps, it also allows the user to have a different type of back ground, a live wallpaper that is animated so the user can download one of their choice and put it on, the user can also choose what type of text input they want to us.

Media support- Android

Android has the same amount of media support as iOS , however android does allow the use of external SD cards for storage.

Stability and reliability

From the use of an android device I can say that it s stable but as always it never used to be, however the reliability is un paramount to iOS , it does rely on the device slightly but normally it is optimised for that device, and it rarely crashes.

Cost and support- Android

Android is a open source project, you can not get it separately from the a device unless you are editing the code in order to make it to your liking. The support for android is like the support of iOS but you need to know a bit more about your device like its serial number.

GUI- Graphical user interface- commonly used in everyday use operating system, due to the ease in which the user can use it

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CLI- Command line interface- Most commonly used in data centres and server hosting due to the low resource cost on the machine

The advantages of a GUI Operating system is

It is more user friendly than CLI The user does not have to remember loads of code and the order they have to input that

code for it to work. The user gets instant fed back when clicking on things. It is easier to detect errors because of prompts and alerts.

The disadvantages of a GUI operating system

GUIs need a lot of memory and processor power to function The screen can become cluttered and hard to navigate. People with disability’s can still have trouble.

The advantages of a CLI operating system

It uses a lot less memory than the GUI It doesn’t freeze unless you loose connection to the internet Users have a lot of control

The disadvantages of a CLI operating system

It can be very confusing for a beginner If the user inputs something wrong they have to do the whole thing over again The user cannot guess the instructions The user has to remember lots of code to be able to use the CLI.