Introduction to Operating System (OS)

By Vinod Sencha
Core Faculty(IS), RTI Jaipur
 What is an Operating System?
• Computer System = Hardware + Software
• Software = Application Software + System Software(OS)
• An Operating System is a system Software that acts as an
intermediary/interface between a user of a computer and the computer
hardware.
• Operating system goals:
➢ Execute user programs and make solving user problems easier
➢ Make the computer system convenient to use
➢ Use the computer hardware in an efficient manner

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 CPU – Central Processing Unit
➢ This is the brain of your computer.
➢ It performs all of the calculations.
➢ In order to do its job, the CPU needs commands to perform, and data to
work with.
➢ The instructions and data travel to and from the CPU on the system bus.
➢ The operating system provides rules for how that information gets back and
forth, and how it will be used by the CPU.

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 RAM – Random Access Memory
➢ This is like a desk, or a workspace, where your computer temporarily stores all of
the information (data) and instructions (software or program code) that it is
currently using.
➢ Each RAM chip contains millions of address spaces.
➢ Each address space is the same size, and has its own unique identifying number
(address).
➢ The operating system provides the rules for using these memory spaces, and
controls storage and retrieval of information from RAM.
➢ Device drivers for RAM chips are included with the operating system.

Problem: If RAM needs an operating system to work, and an operating system needs
RAM in order to work, how does your computer activate its RAM to load the
operating system?
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 Functions of Operating System

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 6. User Interface Mechanism
• A user interface (UI) controls how you enter data and
instructions and how information is displayed on the
screen
• There are two types of user interfaces
1. Command Line Interface
2. Graphical user Interface

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 1. Command-line interface
• In a command-line interface, a user types commands
represented by short keywords or abbreviations or presses
special keys on the keyboard to enter data and instructions

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 2. Graphical User Interface
• With a graphical user interface (GUI), you interact with
menus and visual images

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 History of Operating System
❖ The First Generation (1940's to early 1950's)
➢ No Operating System
➢ All programming was done in absolute machine language, often by wiring up plug-boards to control
the machine’s basic functions.
❖ The Second Generation (1955-1965)
➢ First operating system was introduced in the early 1950's.It was called GMOS
➢ Created by General Motors for IBM's machine the 701.
➢ Single-stream batch processing systems
❖ The Third Generation (1965-1980)
➢ Introduction of multiprogramming
➢ Development of Minicomputer
❖ The Fourth Generation (1980-Present Day)
➢ Development of PCs
➢ Birth of Windows/MaC OS
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 Types of Operating Systems
1. Batch Operating System
2. Multiprogramming Operating System
3. Time-Sharing OS
4. Multiprocessing OS
5. Distributed OS
6. Network OS
7. Real Time OS
8. Embedded OS
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 Popular types of OS
• Desktop Class
❖ Windows
❖ OS X
❖ Unix/Linux
❖ Chrome OS
• Server Class
❖ Windows Server
❖ Mac OS X Server
❖ Unix/Linux
• Mobile Class
❖ Android
❖ iOS
❖ Windows Phone
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 Desktop Class Operating Systems:-
• Platform: the hardware required to run a particular
operating system
– Intel platform (IBM-compatible)
• Windows
• DOS
• UNIX
• Linux
– Macintosh platform
• Mac OS

38 – iPad and iPhone platform

 Ms-DOS
• Single User Single Tasking OS.
• It had no built-in support for networking, and users had to manually install
drivers any time they added a new hardware component to their PC.
• DOS supports only 16-bit programs.
• Command line user interface.
• So, why is DOS still in use? Two reasons are its size and simplicity. It does
not require much memory or storage space for the system, and it docs not
require a powerful computer.

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 Microsoft Windows
• The graphical Microsoft operating system designed for Intel-platform desktop
and notebook computers.
• Best known, greatest selection of applications available.
• Current editions include Windows 7, 8, 8.1 and 10.

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 Mac OS
• User-friendly, runs on Mac hardware. Many applications available.
• Current editions include: Sierra, High Sierra, Mojave, Catalina & Big Sur—Version
XI(Released in Nov 2020)

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 Linux
• Linux: An open-source, cross-platform operating system that runs on
desktops, notebooks, tablets, and smartphones.
– The name Linux is a combination Linus (the first name of
the first developer) and UNIX (another operating system.
• Users are free to modify the code, improve it, and redistribute it,
• Developers are not allowed to charge money for the Linux kernel itself
(the main part of the operating system), but they can charge money for
distributions (distros for short).

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 Google Chrome OS
• Chrome OS. Is a popular thin client operating system.
• Thin client A computer with minimal hardware, designed for a specific task.
For example, a thin web client is designed for using the Internet.

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 Server Operating Systems
• Windows Server
– Familiar GUI interface for those experienced with Windows
• UNIX
– Very mature server capabilities, time-tested, large user
community, stable
• Linux
– Free, customizable, many free services and utilities available

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 Windows Server

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 UNIX

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 Tablet and Phone Operating Systems
• System-on-chip (SoC): An operating system that comes preinstalled on a
chip on a portable device such as a smartphone.
• Popular SoC operating systems:
▪ iOS: for iPad, iPhone
▪ Android: for a variety of tablets and phones
• Downloadable applications (apps) from an App store, for example:
▪ Apple App Store
▪ Google Play Store

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 iOS on the iPhone and iPad
• The Apple-created operating system for Apple tablets and phones.
• The current stable version, iOS 14, was released to the public on September
16, 2020.
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 Android
• Android, a popular OS for smartphones and tablets, is
based on Linux Kernel.
– Developed by Google
• Current versions include:
– Android 8 Oreo
– Android 9 Pie
– Android 10
– Android 11 (released on Sep, 2020)

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 Advantage of Linux Operating System
1. Open Source
As it is open-source, its source code is easily available.
Anyone having programming knowledge can customize the operating system.
One can contribute, modify, distribute, and enhance the code for any purpose.
2. Security
The Linux security feature is the main reason that it is the most favourable option for developers.
It is not completely safe, but it is less vulnerable than others.
Each application needs to authorize by the admin user.
Linux systems do not require any antivirus program.

3. Free
Certainly, the biggest advantage of the Linux system is that it is free to use.
We can easily download it, and there is no need to buy the license for it.
It is distributed under GPL (General Public License).
Comparatively, we have to pay a huge amount for the license of the other OS
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 Advantage of Linux Operating System
4. Lightweight
The requirements for running Linux are much less than other operating system
In Linux, the memory footprint and disk space are also lower.
Generally, most of the Linux distributions required as little as 128MB of RAM
around the same amount for disk space.
5. Stability
Linux is more stable than other operating systems.
Linux does not require to reboot the system to maintain performance levels.
It rarely hangs up or slow down. It has big up-times.

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 Advantage of Linux Operating System
6. Performance
Linux system provides high performance over different networks.
It is capable of handling a large number of users simultaneously.
7. Flexibility
Linux operating system is very flexible.
It can be used for desktop applications, embedded systems, and server applications too.
It also provides various restriction options for specific computers.
We can install only necessary components for a system.
8. Software Updates
In Linux, the software updates are in user control.
We can select the required updates.
There a large number of system updates are available.
These updates are much faster than other operating systems.
So, the system updates can be installed easily without facing any issue.
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 Advantage of Linux Operating System
9. Distributions/ Distros
There are many Linux distributions available in the market.
It provides various options and flavors of Linux to the users.
We can choose any distros according to our needs.
Some popular distros are Ubuntu, Fedora, Debian, Linux Mint, Arch Linux,
For the beginners, Ubuntu and Linux Mint would be useful.
Debian and Fedora would be good choices for proficient programmers.
10. Live CD/USB
Almost all Linux distributions have a Live CD/USB option.
It allows us to try or run the Linux operating system without installing it.
11. Graphical User Interface
Linux is a command-line based OS but it provides an interactive user interface like
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 Advantage of Linux Operating System
12. Suitable for programmers
It supports almost all of the most used programming languages such as C/C++, Java, Python, Ruby,
and more.
Further, it offers a vast range of useful applications for development.
The programmers prefer the Linux terminal over the Windows command line.
The package manager on Linux system helps programmers to understand how things are done.
Bash scripting is also a functional feature for the programmers.
It also provides support for SSH, which helps in managing the servers quickly.
13. Community Support
Linux provides large community support.
We can find support from various sources.
There are many forums available on the web to assist users.
Further, developers from the various open source communities are ready to help us.
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 Advantage of Linux Operating System
14. Privacy
Linux always takes care of user privacy as it never takes much private data from the user.
Comparatively, other operating systems ask for the user's private data.
15. Networking
Linux facilitates with powerful support for networking. The client-server systems can be easily set
to a Linux system. It provides various command-line tools such as ssh, ip, mail, telnet, and more
for connectivity with the other systems and servers. Tasks such as network backup are much
faster than others.
16. Compatibility
Linux is compatible with a large number of file formats as it supports almost all file formats.
17. Installation
Linux installation process takes less time than other operating systems such as Windows. Further,
its installation process is much easy as it requires less user input. It does not require much more
system configuration even it can be easily installed on old machines having less configuration.
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 Advantage of Linux Operating System
18. Multiple Desktop Support
Linux system provides multiple desktop environment support for its enhanced use. The desktop
environment option can be selected during installation. We can select any desktop environment
such as GNOME (GNU Network Object Model Environment) or KDE (K Desktop
Environment) as both have their specific environment.
19. Multitasking
It is a multitasking operating system as it can run multiple tasks simultaneously without affecting
the system speed.
20. Heavily Documented for beginners
There are many command-line options that provide documentation on commands, libraries,
standards such as manual pages and info pages. Also, there are plenty of documents available on
the internet in different formats, such as Linux tutorials, Linux documentation project,
Serverfault, and more. To help the beginners, several communities are available such as Ask
Ubuntu, Reddit, and StackOverflow.
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