Operating Systems Overview
P2 grading criterion
Report –
Why do PC’s need an Operating System (OS)
Features and Functions of a OS
How are operating system used to facilitate
users?
Where to find the information?
Plenty of
info out
there!
What is an operating system?
A software program (or collection of
programs) which manages a computer and
allows other programs to run.
Manages computer’s resources
Provides an interface for
Programmers
Users
Provides a platform for application programs
Without O/S computer will not work!
Features / functions of O/S
File & Disk Management
Memory Management
Process Management
I/O Management
Configuration / administration
Networking
Security
Managing computer resources
File / Disk Management
Drive partitioning / formatting
Directory (folder) structures
File / folder management
Copy, Cut, Paste
Rename
Delete
File operations for programs
Open, Close, Save
Managing computer resources
Memory Management
Allocates memory to programs
Recovers memory after use
Prevents programs from accessing
memory allocated to another program
Manages virtual memory
Managing computer resources
Process Management
CPU can only do one thing at a time
O/S allocates CPU time to programs
Allows >1 program to run at a time
Prevents one program hogging the CPU
Gives impression of multi-tasking
Managing computer resources
Input / output management
Wide range of peripherals
Screen, keyboard, mouse
Disk drives (HDD, FDD, CD, DVD)
Printers
Webcam, graphics tablets etc
Device drivers make O/S more flexible
Software types
User
Applications
Operating System
BIOS Device Drivers
Hardware
Platform for application software
Operating system sits between
hardware and application software
Provides standardised way for
applications to work on wide range of
different computers
No need for software developers to
know details of individual computers
OS or Applications ?
Operating systems Applications
DOS Word
Windows What about Excel
3.1 programs Photoshop
95/98/ME like
Calculator, Visual Basic
NT/2000/XP Wordpad or Nero Burning ROM
Unix Internet
Explorer? Firefox
Linux
Outlook Express
Mac OS etc. etc. etc.
User Interface
Command Line Interface (CLI)
Graphical User Interface (GUI)
User interface
Allows User to manage the computer
e.g.
Create files / folders
User management
Install / remove computers
Configure user interface
System configuration / maintenance
Programmer interface
Standard system functions e.g.
Open a file
Save a file
List files in a folder
Use a printer
Display things on screen etc. etc.
Programmer does not need to know about
the particular computer
Quicker, easier, safer etc.
Configuration / Maintenance
User Management
Device Management
Defragmenting
Updates / Patches
etc.
Networking
Modern computers assumed to be
networked
O/S provides means to
Add, remove network connections
Manage network connections
Share resources over network
Share network connections
Security
Different aspects relating to other parts
of O/S
User management
File / folder permissions
Network security
Program security etc.
Comparing Operating Systems
Parts you can see
User interface
File / Disk Management
Configuration / Administration
Security
Networking
Parts you can’t see (directly)
Process Management (Task Manager?)
Memory Management (VM settings?)
I/O Management (Device drivers?)
Comparing Operating Systems
Comparison
1. How it works in Windows
2. How it works in Linux
3. What do you think about this?
