Operating systems and difference amongst them
An operating system is like a soul to the computer. Without the soul body would still be a body but can not function. Just like that, OS can be defined as soul software that acts as an interface between end user and computer hardware. Any technological machine which has screen to present Audio and video data should have at least one OS that can run such programmes like Microsoft office, paint, notepad, games, internet browsers etc. OS is basically that intermediator which helps user communicate with the machine’s without knowing the computer’s language. So in a Nut shell, OS is a must soul to any computer or smartphones.
History of OS
OS was first introduced in the year 1950 to manage the tape storage. According to the sources, the General motors research lab firstly used OS in their IBM 701. For the very first time, Unix OS was developed in 1960s. then Microsoft build their first OS called DOS in 1981 and by the 1985, OS windows started to take curve for it’s journey. Today there are different OS available such as windows, android, iOS, Mac OS, Linux, Chrome, windows phone.
Types of Operating System (OS)
- Batch Operating System
- Multitasking/Time Sharing OS
- Multiprocessing OS
- Real Time OS
- Distributed OS
- Network OS
- Mobile OS
Batch Operating System
Some computer processes are very long and time-consuming. To speed up the process, a job with a same sort of needs are batched together and run as a group. In this OS, End user never directly interacts with the computer. In this OS, every user would make a job in offline device like a punch card and submit it to the computer operator.
Multi-Tasking/Time-sharing Operating systems
Time-sharing OS enables people located at a different terminal(shell) to use a single computer system at the same time. The processor time (CPU) which is shared among different users is called time sharing.
Real time OS
A real time operating system respond to inputs is very small. Examples: Military Software Systems, Space Software Systems are example of Real time OS.
Distributed Operating System
Several processors are used in this OS that are located in different machines to provide very fast performance to end users.
Network Operating System
This OS runs on a server. It serves to manage data, user, groups, security, application, and other networking functions.
Mobile OS
These OS are designed to power smartphones, tablets, and wearables devices. Some examples of mobile operating systems are Android and iOS, but others include BlackBerry, Web, and watchOS.
Functions of Operating System
Some typical operating system functions may include managing memory, files, processes, I/O system & devices, security, etc.
Core functions of Operating System:
- Process management – OS helps in creating and deleting the process. It also helps in syncing the process according to your command.
- Memory management: OS helps in allocation of memory space to specific task or application related to the required usage.
- File management: OS helps to manage all the files in machine and related activities. For example – file storage, naming, sharing etc.
- Device Management: Device management keeps tracks of all devices. This module also responsible for this task is known as the I/O controller. It also performs the task of allocation and de-allocation of the devices.
- I/O System Management: One of the main objects of any OS is to hide the peculiarities of that hardware devices from the user.
- Secondary-Storage Management: Systems have several levels of storage which includes primary storage, secondary storage, and cache storage. Instructions and data must be stored in primary storage or cache so that a running program can reference it.
- Security: Security module protects the Data and information of a computer system against malware threat and authorized access.
- Command interpretation: This module is interpreting commands given by the and acting system resources to process those commands.
- Networking: A distributed system is a group of processors which do not share memory, hardware devices, or a clock. The processors communicate with one another through the network.
- Job accounting: Keeping track of time & resource used by various job and users.
- Communication management: Coordination and assignment of compilers, interpreters, and another software resource of the various users of the computer systems.
Features of Operating System (OS)
- Protected and supervisor mode.
- Allows disk access and file systems Device drivers Networking Security
- Program Execution
- Memory management Virtual Memory Multitasking
- Handling I/O operations
- Manipulation of the file system
- Error Detection and handling
- Resource allocation
- Information and Resource Protection
Advantage of Operating System
- Allows you to hide details of hardware by creating an abstraction
- Easy to use with a GUI
- Offers an environment in which a user may execute programs/applications
- The operating system must make sure that the computer system convenient to use
- Operating System acts as an intermediary among applications and the hardware components
- It provides the computer system resources with easy to use format
- Acts as an intermediator between all hardware’s and software’s of the system
Disadvantages of Operating System
- If any issue happens in OS, you might lose all the contents which have been stored in your system
- Operating system’s software is quite expensive for small size organization which adds burden on them. Example Windows
- It is never entirely secure as a threat can occur at any time
Difference between 32-Bit and 64-Bit Operating System
| Parameters | 32. Bit | 64. Bit |
| Architecture and Software | Allows 32 bits of data processing | Allows 64 bits of data processing s |
| Compatibility | It requires 32-bit OS and CPUs. | It requires a 64-bit OS and CPU. |
| Systems Available | All versions of Windows 8, Windows 7, Windows Vista, and Windows XP, Linux, etc. | Windows XP Professional, Vista, 7, Mac OS X and Linux. |
| Memory Limits | 32-bit systems are limited to 3.2 GB of RAM. | 64-bit systems allow a maximum 17 billion GB of RAM. |
Summary
- This blog has talked about What is OS and its Types: An operating system is a software which acts as an interface between the end user and computer hardware. Different types of Operating System in computer and other devices are: Batch Operating System, Multitasking/Time Sharing OS, Multiprocessing OS, Real Time OS, Distributed OS, Network OS & Mobile OS
- It Explained the work of Operating System: OS works as an intermediate between the user and computer. It helps the user to communicate with the computer without knowing how to speak the computer’s language.
- The kernel is the central component of a computer operating systems. The only job performed by the kernel is to the manage the communication between the software and the hardware
- Two most popular kernels are Monolithic and Microkernels
- Process, Device, File, I/O, Secondary-Storage, Memory management are various functions of an Operating System
