Definition of operating system:
An operating system is defined as ‘It is a software component of a computer system and/or machine system that is responsible for managing various activities of the system as well as for sharing of system resources’. It hosts several applications that run on the system and handles the operations of internal and external hardware devices. End users interact with the operating system through two interface techniques:
- Command line interface (CUI)
- Graphical user interface (GUI)
Hence, we can say that the behavior of the operating system deals with the computer system and end users. In short, it enables user interaction with the computer system by acting as an interface between users or application programs and the attached computer hardware. Sometimes its called by the name OS, which full form, is the operating system.
In other words, OS can be defined as ‘an OS is a set of programs that acts as an intermediary between the end users and the computer hardware’.
Services provided by operating system:
The operating system plays an important role in communicating system software and hardware devices. The functionality of the operating system is not restricted to just providing the interface environment although it offers more important and necessary services and/or functionality to both end users and application programs. Some of the main services of the operating system are listed below.
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System initialization:
It’s responsible for initializing the program, loading the programs, and transferring the program between the main memory and the secondary memory of the computer system. An operating system is the first program that is automatically loaded when the system is under the booted stage or switched ON.
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Routines provider:
One of the most important services provided by the OS, is providing routines for handling input/ output requests. It supervises the connected input/ output devices and incorporates specialized input/ output routines.
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Driver configuration:
Most of the connected peripheral devices have their own drives to perform operations and/or provide the interface. These peripheral devices need to be installed for the operating system to enable communication with devices. Hence device drivers accompany the operating system and enable the system to be configured for specific hardware.
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Memory allocation:
To allocate the required memory space to the processes and manage the database of the memory allocation done by the operating system
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File management/handling system:
This service of OS allows the authorized user to file management and/or file handling functionality, located in the system memory (either, main memory and/or secondary memory). This service is responsible to enable the user to manipulate the program, and data file contents and managing the stored location of the file.
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Security services:
To protect the system from unauthorized access and information crash/damage. It provides privacy policies that ensure secure access to the authorized user. This service achieves through the use of passwords and access rights.
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Goals of operating system:
There are many important goals of an OS, some of which are listed below;
- It simplifies the execution of user programs and makes solving user problems easier.
- It allows efficient sharing of hardware and/or software resources in computer systems.
- It allows to makes software applications portable and versatile.
- Provide isolation, security, and protection among user programs.
- Make the system more reliable and reduce error confinement, fault tolerance and reconfiguration.
