OPERATING SYSTEMS

Operating Systems

Introduction

An operating system (OS) is basically software that is used to run the data, text and multimedia documents on your PC. It provides a common service for efficient execution of application software. Handling all the important tasks related to software is what a duty of an operating system.

A CPU is a piece of trash without the operating system. It is basically a soul of a PC.

Most operating systems we use today are old. And I mean very old past. Mac OS X for example, dates only from 2001, but would do well to remember that it is but a more advanced version of Next Step / Open Step, which dates from 1989 but that in turn, had been built as a "Frankenstein monster" from two other older operating systems: BSD (1977) and Mach (1985). The story of Windows is not very different, with their direct ancestors to be MS-DOS (1981, itself a rehash of QDOS, 1980) and VMS (1975). Linux is probably the most "young" operating systems, whose kernel was begun in 1991, but its design is based on UNIX, 1969, and many of the utilities that accompany it are the GNU project, which began in 1983. See what I mean? Even the latest operating systems, for devices that did not exist in the wildest of imaginations of engineers just fifteen years ago, are based on decades-old designs: I-Phone OS is a modified version of Mac OS X, while Android what is Linux. Can we then conclude that there is nothing new under the sun, at least as far as operating systems are concerned? Today yes, but not long ago, there was a project that sought to develop a new operating system from scratch, using the occasion to create a suitable computer to new uses: high-capacity multimedia, ready to deal with large numbers of files with metadata and without the constraints that the systems of the day were for historical reasons and backwards compatibility. Now a day's information technology, both in business and in research teaching, use smaller machines, operating with systems. Operating universal character among these operating systems, two are Windows, multi- particularly distinguished, a single-user system, Windows, and another multi- , UNIX. As a rough - and with questionable emergence of networks - it can be said that the first system is intended to PCs, while the other is reserved for group work. The current systems have a graphical interface, with the pioneering. The Macintosh Finder The current operating systems have integrated so generalized multitasking and service to multiple users with the widespread architectures, for example with OS / 2 from IBM and Windows / NT. These systems include UNIX, which is the oldest, is one that offers the most versions wealth, more consistency and greater flexibility, it has, in versions standard extensions for networks. (Galliards, 2000)

We can divide the conventional operating systems into four main parts:

Processes

They correspond to the execution of programs. These processes can run simultaneously in a multitasking ...