NERY, Margaret Cruzzett Ann C.

February 07,2012

II-24 BS Psychology

OPERATING SYSTEM

Definition of Operating System An operating system is the most important software that runs on a computer. It manages the computer's memory, processes, and all of its software and hardware. It also allows you to communicate with the computer without knowing how to speak the computer's "language." Without an operating system, a computer is useless. An operating system, or OS, is a software program that enables the computer hardware to communicate and operate with the computer software. Without a computer operating system, a computer would be useless. the collection of software that directs a computer's operations,controlling and sch eduling the execution of other programs, andmanaging storage, input/output, and communication resources.

History of Operating System First Generations In 1940, the earliest electronic digital computers had no operating systems. Machines of the time were so primitive that programs were often entered one bit at time on rows of mechanical switches (plug boards). Programming languages were unknown (not even assembly languages).

Second Generation By the early 1950's, the routine had improved somewhat with the introduction of punch cards. The General Motors Research Laboratories implemented the first operating systems in early 1950's for their IBM 701. The system of the 50's generally ran one job at a time. These were called single-stream batch processing systems because programs and data were submitted in groups or batches. Third Generation The systems of the 1960's were also batch processing systems, but they were able to take better advantage of the computer's resources by running several jobs at once. So operating systems designers developed the concept of multiprogramming in which several jobs are in main memory at once; a processor is switched from job to job as needed to keep several jobs advancing while keeping the peripheral devices in use. Fourth Generation Operating system entered in the system entered in the personal computer and the workstation age. Microprocessor technology evolved to the point that it

NERY, Margaret Cruzzett Ann C.

February 07,2012

II-24 BS Psychology becomes possible to build desktop computers as powerful as the mainframes of the 1970s. Two operating systems have dominated the personal computer scene: MS-DOS, written by Microsoft, Inc. for the IBM PC and other machines using the Intel 8088 CPU and its successors, and UNIX, which is dominant on the large personal computers using the Motorola 6899 CPU family. Types of Operating System GUI - Short for Graphical User Interface, a GUI Operating System contains graphics and icons and is commonly navigated by using a computer mouse. Example (System 7.x, Windows 98, Windows CE ) Multi-user - multi-user operating system allows for multiple users to use the same computer at the same time and different times Multiprocessing - An operating system capable of supporting and utilizing more than one computer processor Multitasking - An operating system that is capable of allowing multiple software processes to run at the same time. Multithreading - Operating systems that allow different parts of a software program to run concurrently Batch Processing Operating System - In a batch processing operating system interaction between the user and processor is limited or there is no interaction at all during the execution of work. Data and programs that need to be processed are bundled and collected as a batch and executed together. Real-time Operating System - A real-time operating system processes inputs simultaneously, fast enough to affect the next input or process. Real-time systems are usually used to control complex systems that require a lot of processing like machinery and industrial systems. Single User Operating System- A single user OS as the name suggests is designed for one user to effectively use a computer at a time Functions of Operating System Prevents user programs from interfering with the proper operation of the computer and provides services to make programming easier. It runs tests to make sure everything is working correctly. It then starts up the operating system. It manages all of the software and hardware on the computer. Controls the execution of user programs and manages and allocates resources. Efficient operation of the computer system For optimal use of computer resources.

NERY, Margaret Cruzzett Ann C.

February 07,2012

II-24 BS Psychology