operating system = 'hidden' software that interacts between the hardware and the application software, helps a user use the computer
Purpose of an operating system
to allow a human to interact with a computer, no operating system = computer will not work
to be the 'bridge' between the computer hardware and the application software
to enable the screen, mouse, keyboard, printer and all other peripherals
starts and shuts down the computer
to enable communication such as the internet
to coordinate all ports and connectors in the computer
provides system utilities like virus protection, disk defragmentation
provides file management
provides network shares with other computers
manages memory
monitors computer performance
provides its own updates so it works with best performance
provides a user interface, command line interface or graphical user interface (GUI)
manages programs
administers security
Types of operating systems - mobile or handheld or embedded
iPhone or iOS 6, iOS5
iPhone examples, iPhone 5, iPhone 6
Windows Mobile OS, Windows Phone 7
Windows Mobile eg Windows smartphones, PDAs, Pocket PCs
Android OS based on a linux kernel eg Google Android
Embedded Linux
Symbian OS eg in Nokia and Ericsson smartphones
Palm OS eg in Palm Brand PDAs
these operating systems provide similar services to desktop OS, but less complex
these operating systems run from Read Only Memory ROM and load quickly
Types of operating systems - desktop
Windows XP, Windows 7, Windows 8 and lots more earlier ones
Windows OS is the most widely used
Windows OS - Advantages; most selection of programs, many hardware platforms, vast documentation
Windows OS - Disadvantages; reliability (error messages, unstable) , many security holes (virus, worm attack)
Mac OS 9, Mac OS X 10.1 based on unix-like code, Mac OS X 10.9 Mavericks, Mac OS X 10.10 Yosemite
Mac OS based on unix
Mac OS - Advantages; easy to use, reliable and secure, very few virus attacks, dual-boot
Mac OS - Disadvantages; limited software than windows (esp games), resource fork (2 files for one)
Unix / Linux - Unix started 1969, Linux based on unix started 1991
Linus Red Hat, SUSE, Ubuntu
Linux is unique as it is free and is distributed with source code under a GPL which allows it to be given it away, or to sold
Linux - Advantages; secure, reliable, shared over the web
Linux - Disadvantages; not so user friendly, less number of programs available
Types of operating systems - server
Windows Server 2003
Windows Server 2008
Mac OS X server 10.6, server 10.7, server 10.8, server 10.9, server 10.10
Unix (can handle high volume of transactions) multipurpose because standalone and server
Linux ubuntu, Red Hat, SUSE
Linux (multipurpose)
Solaris server designed especially for e-commerce applications
NetWare by Novell
server operating systems are especially needed for networking
they coordinate user accounts and other computers
they share networked resources
Complete the attached worksheet based on the DETAILS above and also statistics from the wikipedia link below.
Learn about operating system statistics at wikipedia HERE.
operating system = 'hidden' software that interacts between the hardware and the application software, helps a user use the computer
OS = Operating System
1. To provide a user interface
to allow user to input data and how information is displayed on the screen
Graphical User Interface (GUI) has menus and visual images
GUI has links and buttons
Command Line Interface (CLI) the keyboard is used to enter data
CLI users use normal keys on the keyboard but also function keys
CLI requires exact spellings (no spell check)
CLI input = set of command language
2. To manage system resources
the operating system manages resources by controlling what can start up and what should stop
the secret to doing this is Random Access Memory (RAM)
when the OS starts a process, it is allocated RAM
when another process is started it is allocated RAM
when the computer system runs out of RAM, the processes run slower, or the computer can 'crash'
the OS uses virtual memory on the main disk drive (to make up bigger memory allocations)
this virtual memory swapping is called page swap
in this setup, part of a program may be in RAM and also part on the disk drive as a page swap
to coordinate different tasks such as printing several documents from different users, an OS places these in a buffer for printing one after the other
a buffer is a place in memory
3. To manage security and access rights
an operating system can allow access to, or deny access to, a computer
an operating system allocates rights to particular users based on administrator requirements
it can give access to all, or some, network resources such as hardware, software, data and information
4. To run applications
an operating system provides users the opportunity to start applications
when an application is started it is placed into RAM
microsoft word, adobe photoshop are examples of applications
when a user shuts down an application, it is the operating system that removes it from RAM, to free up RAM ready for another application
Complete the attached worksheet using the DETAILS above.
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