LESSON 5 OPERATING SYSTEM BASICS

OPERATING SYSTEM ACTIVITIES

What is an operating system?

An operating system (abbreviated OS) is a type of system software that acts as the master controller
for all activities that take place within a computer system. It is one of the factors that determines your
computer’s compatibility and platform.

Windows (left) is typically preinstalled on IBM-compatible computers manufactured by

companies such as Dell and Hewlett-Packard. Mac OS (middle) is preinstalled on Apple
Macintosh computers. Linux (right) is an open source operating system that’s available as a
free download.
What does an operating system do?
The most obvious responsibility of your computer’s operating system is to provide an environment for
running software. The operating system interacts with application software, device drivers, and
hardware to manage a computer’s resources. In the context of a computer system, the term
resource refers to any component that is required to perform work.

A command to print a document is relayed through various levels of software, including the
operating system, until it reaches the printer.

How do operating systems manage processor resources?

Many activities—called processes—compete for the attention of your computer’s microprocessor.
To manage all these competing processes, your computer’s operating system must ensure that each
process receives its share of microprocessor cycles.

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 The Windows operating system displays a list of
processes when you hold down the Ctrl, Alt, and Del
keys. Most processes are legitimate programs that run in
the background to carry out tasks for the operating
system, device drivers, and applications.

Occasionally a bot or worm will launch rogue processes.

If you want to know if a process is legitimate, you can
google it.

How do operating systems handle so many processes?

Depending on the capabilities of the operating system and computer hardware, processes can be
managed by multitasking, multithreading, and multiprocessing.

Multitasking provides process and memory management services that allow two or more tasks, jobs,
or programs to run simultaneously.

Within a single program, multithreading allows multiple parts, or threads, to run simultaneously.
Multithreading can speed up performance on single or multiple processor computers.

Many new computers include multi-core processors or multiple processors. An operating system’s
multiprocessing capability supports a division of labor among all the processing units.

How does an operating system manage memory?

A microprocessor works with data and executes instructions stored in RAM –one of your computer’s
most important resources. When you want to run more
than one program at a time, the operating system has to allocate specific areas of memory for each
program

When multiple programs are running, the OS should prevent a memory leak—a situation in which
instructions and data from one area of memory overflow into memory allocated to another
program.

Why does the operating system get involved with peripheral devices?
Your computer’s operating system ensures that input and output proceed in an orderly manner,
using buffers to collect and hold data while the computer is busy with other tasks. The term buffer is
technical jargon for a region of memory that holds data waiting to be transferred from one device
to another.

Are different operating systems needed for different computing tasks?

To provide clues to their strengths and weaknesses, operating systems are informally categorized
and characterized using one or more of the following terms:

 A single-user operating system expects to deal with one set of input devices—those that can
be controlled by one user at a time.
 A multiuser operating system allows a single, centralized computer to deal with simultaneous
input, output, and processing requests from many users.

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  A server operating system provides tools for managing distributed networks, e-mail servers,
and Web hosting sites.
 A desktop operating system is designed for a personal computer—a desktop, notebook, or
tablet computer.

USER INTERFACES

What is a user interface?

A user interface can be defined as the combination of hardware and software that helps people
and computers communicate with each other.

How does the operating system affect the user interface?

Originally, computers had a command-line interface that required users to type memorized
commands to run programs and accomplish tasks.

A command-line user interface

requires users to type commands.
Here the prompt C:\MYDATA> means
the computer is looking at the
MYDATA folder of drive C. The user
has tried to start a program called
Paint, but that program does not exist
in the current folder, so the computer
has produced the error message “Bad
command or file name.”

Most computers today feature a graphical user interface. A graphical user interface provides a way
to point and click a mouse to select menu options and manipulate graphical objects displayed on
the screen.

Icons and windows can be displayed on a screen-based desktop. An icon is a small picture that
represents a program, file, or hardware device. A window is a rectangular work area that can hold
a program, data, or controls. A button is a graphic—usually rectangular in shape—that can be
clicked to make a selection.

Microsoft Windows displays a

desktop that can contain icons,
menus, windows, and taskbars.

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 Buttons and command options can be
arranged on menu bars, toolbars,
taskbars, or ribbons (shown top to
bottom).

A menu displays a list of commands or options. Each line of the menu is referred to as a menu option
or a menu item. A submenu is an additional set of commands that the computer displays after you
make a selection from the main menu.

Instead of leading to a submenu, some menu options lead to a dialog box. A dialog box displays
the options associated with a command.

THE BOOT PROCESS

Where is the operating system stored?

For most other computers, the operating system program is quite large, so most of it is stored on a
hard disk. During the boot process, the operating system kernel is loaded into RAM. The kernel
provides essential operating system services, such as memory management and file access.

What is the boot process?

The sequence of events that occurs between the time that you turn on a computer and the time
that it is ready for you to issue commands is referred to as the boot process, or booting your
computer.

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Your computer’s small bootstrap program is built into special ROM circuitry housed in the computer’s
system unit.

Six major events happen during the boot process:

 Power up. When you turn on the power switch, the power light is illuminated, and power is
distributed to the computer circuitry.
 Start boot program. The microprocessor begins to execute the bootstrap program that is
stored in ROM.
 Power-on self-test. The computer performs diagnostic tests of several crucial system
components.
 Identify peripheral devices. The computer identifies the peripheral devices that are
connected and checks their settings.
 Load operating system. The operating system is copied from the hard disk to RAM.
 Check configuration and customization. The microprocessor reads configuration data and
executes any customized startup routines specified by the user.

The bootstrap program

copies the operating
system into RAM, where it
can be directly accessed
by the processor to carry
out input, output, or
storage operations.

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