An operating system acts as an intermediary between the user of a computer and

computer hardware. The purpose of an operating system is to provide an

environment in which a user can execute programs conveniently and efficiently.
An operating system is software that manages computer hardware. The
hardware must provide appropriate mechanisms to ensure the correct operation
of the computer system and to prevent user programs from interfering with the
proper operation of the system. A more common definition is that the operating
system is the one program running at all times on the computer (usually called
the kernel), with all else being application programs.
An operating system is concerned with the allocation of resources and services,
such as memory, processors, devices, and information. The operating system
correspondingly includes programs to manage these resources, such as a traffic
controller, a scheduler, a memory management module, I/O programs, and a file
system.
History of Operating System
The operating system has been evolving through the years. The following table
shows the history of OS.
Generation Year Electronic device used Types of OS Devices

First 1945-55 Vacuum Tubes Plug Boards

Second 1955-65 Transistors Batch Systems

Third 1965-80 Integrated Circuits(IC) Multiprogramming

Fourth Since 1980 Large Scale Integration PC

Characteristics of Operating Systems

Let us now discuss some of the important characteristic features of operating
systems:
• Device Management: The operating system keeps track of all the devices.
So, it is also called the Input/Output controller that decides which process
gets the device, when, and for how much time.
• File Management: It allocates and de-allocates the resources and also
decides who gets the resource.
• Job Accounting: It keeps track of time and resources used by various jobs
or users.
• Error-detecting Aids: These contain methods that include the production of
dumps, traces, error messages, and other debugging and error-detecting
methods.
• Memory Management: It keeps track of the primary memory, like what part
of it is in use by whom, or what part is not in use, etc. and It also allocates
the memory when a process or program requests it.
• Processor Management: It allocates the processor to a process and then
de-allocates the processor when it is no longer required or the job is done.
• Control on System Performance: It records the delays between the
request for a service and the system.
• Security: It prevents unauthorized access to programs and data using
passwords or some kind of protection technique.
• Convenience: An OS makes a computer more convenient to use.
• Efficiency: An OS allows the computer system resources to be used
efficiently.
• Ability to Evolve: An OS should be constructed in such a way as to permit
the effective development, testing, and introduction of new system functions
at the same time without interfering with service.
• Throughput: An OS should be constructed so that It can give maximum
throughput (Number of tasks per unit time).
Functionalities of Operating System
• Resource Management: When parallel accessing happens in the OS
means when multiple users are accessing the system the OS works as
Resource Manager, Its responsibility is to provide hardware to the user. It
decreases the load in the system.
• Process Management: It includes various tasks like scheduling and
termination of the process. It is done with the help of CPU Scheduling
algorithms.
• Storage Management: The file system mechanism used for the
management of the storage. NIFS, CIFS, CFS, NFS, etc. are some file
systems. All the data is stored in various tracks of Hard disks that are all
managed by the storage manager. It included Hard Disk.
• Memory Management: Refers to the management of primary memory. The
operating system has to keep track of how much memory has been used
and by whom. It has to decide which process needs memory space and how
much. OS also has to allocate and deallocate the memory space.
• Security/Privacy Management: Privacy is also provided by the Operating
system using passwords so that unauthorized applications can’t access
programs or data. For example, Windows uses Kerberos authentication to
prevent unauthorized access to data.
The process operating system as User Interface:
1. User
2. System and application programs
3. Operating system
4. Hardware
Every general-purpose computer consists of hardware, an operating system(s),
system programs, and application programs. The hardware consists of memory,
CPU, ALU, I/O devices, peripheral devices, and storage devices. The system
program consists of compilers, loaders, editors, OS, etc. The application program
consists of business programs and database programs.

Every computer must have an operating system to run other programs. The
operating system coordinates the use of the hardware among the various system
programs and application programs for various users. It simply provides an
environment within which other programs can do useful work.
The operating system is a set of special programs that run on a computer
system that allows it to work properly. It performs basic tasks such as
recognizing input from the keyboard, keeping track of files and directories on
the disk, sending output to the display screen, and controlling peripheral
devices.
Purposes and Tasks of Operating Systems
Several tasks are performed by the Operating Systems and it also helps in
serving a lot of purposes which are mentioned below. We will see how Operating
System helps us in serving in a better way with the help of the task performed by
it.
Purposes of an Operating System
• It controls the allocation and use of the computing System’s resources
among the various user and tasks.
• It provides an interface between the computer hardware and the
programmer that simplifies and makes it feasible for coding and debugging
of application programs.
Tasks of an Operating System
1. Provides the facilities to create and modify programs and data files using an
editor.
2. Access to the compiler for translating the user program from high-level
language to machine language.
3. Provide a loader program to move the compiled program code to the
computer’s memory for execution.
4. Provide routines that handle the details of I/O programming.
I/O System Management
The module that keeps track of the status of devices is called the I/O traffic
controller. Each I/O device has a device handler that resides in a separate
process associated with that device.
The I/O subsystem consists of
• A memory Management component that includes buffering caching and
spooling.
• A general device driver interface.
Drivers for Specific Hardware Devices
Below mentioned are the drivers which are required for a specific Hardware
Device. Here we discussed Assemblers, compilers, and interpreters, loaders.
Assembler
The input to an assembler is an assembly language program. The output is an
object program plus information that enables the loader to prepare the object
program for execution. At one time, the computer programmer had at his disposal
a basic machine that interpreted, through hardware, certain fundamental
instructions. He would program this computer by writing a series of ones and
Zeros (Machine language) and placing them into the memory of the
machine. Examples of assembly languages include
Compiler and Interpreter
The High-level languages– examples are C, C++, Java, Python, etc (around 300+
famous high-level languages) are processed by compilers and interpreters. A
compiler is a program that accepts a source program in a “high-level language
“and produces machine code in one go. Some of the compiled languages are
FORTRAN, COBOL, C, C++, Rust, and Go. An interpreter is a program that does
the same thing but converts high-level code to machine code line-by-line and not
all at once. Examples of interpreted languages are
• Python
• Perl
• Ruby
Loader
A Loader is a routine that loads an object program and prepares it for execution.
There are various loading schemes: absolute, relocating, and direct-linking. In
general, the loader must load, relocate and link the object program. The loader
is a program that places programs into memory and prepares them for execution.
In a simple loading scheme, the assembler outputs the machine language
translation of a program on a secondary device and a loader places it in the core.
The loader places into memory the machine language version of the user’s
program and transfers control to it. Since the loader program is much smaller
than the assembler, those make more core available to the user’s program.
Components of an Operating Systems
There are two basic components of an Operating System.
• Shell
• Kernel
Shell
Shell is the outermost layer of the Operating System and it handles the interaction
with the user. The main task of the Shell is the management of interaction
between the User and OS. Shell provides better communication with the user and
the Operating System Shell does it by giving proper input to the user it also
interprets input for the OS and handles the output from the OS. It works as a way
of communication between the User and the OS.
Kernel
The kernel is one of the components of the Operating System which works as a
core component. The rest of the components depends on Kernel for the supply
of the important services that are provided by the Operating System. The kernel
is the primary interface between the Operating system and Hardware.
Functions of Kernel
The following functions are to be performed by the Kernel.
• It helps in controlling the System Calls.
• It helps in I/O Management.
• It helps in the management of applications, memory, etc.
Types of Kernel
There are four types of Kernel that are mentioned below.
• Monolithic Kernel
• Microkernel
• Hybrid Kernel
• Exokernel
For more, refer to Kernel in Operating System.
Difference Between 32-Bit and 64-Bit Operating Systems
32-Bit Operating System 64-Bit Operating System

32-Bit OS is required for running of 32-Bit 64-Bit Processors can run on any
Processors, as they are not capable of of the Operating Systems, like 32-
running on 64-bit processors. Bit OS or 64-Bit OS.
 32-Bit Operating System 64-Bit Operating System

32-Bit OS gives a low efficient 64-Bit Operating System provides

performance. highly efficient Performance.

Less amount of data is managed in 32-Bit

A large amount of data can be
Operating System as compared to 64-Bit
stored in 64-Bit Operating System.
Os.

32-Bit Operating System can address 64-Bit Operating System can

2^32 bytes of RAM. address 2^64 bytes of RAM.

Advantages of Operating System

• It helps in managing the data present in the device i.e. Memory
Management.
• It helps in making the best use of computer hardware.
• It helps in maintaining the security of the device.
• It helps different applications in running them efficiently.
Disadvantages of Operating System
• Operating Systems can be difficult for someone to use.
• Some OS are expensive and they require heavy maintenance.
• Operating Systems can come under threat if used by hackers.
FAQs
1. Explain Operating System.
Answer:
The operating system can be explained as the intermediate, which works
between the user and the system hardware so that the user can get a nice
experience while using a system. Without an Operating system, there will be a
lot of difficulties can be faced by the user while running a system.
2. What are the types of operating Systems?
Answer:
The types of Operating systems are listed below.
• Batch Operating System
• Multi-Programming System
• Multi-Processing System
• Multi-Tasking Operating System
• Time-Sharing Operating System
• Distributed Operating System
• Network Operating System
• Real-Time Operating System
3. What is the importance of an Operating System?
Answer:
The operating system is one of the most important parts of a Computer System.
Without an Operating System, the system will not be able to work. As Operating
System works as an interpreter between the user and the hardware part, which
helps in the smooth functioning of the system.
4. What is an OS Structure?
Answer:
Operating System structure is basically the model in which the system works.
The structure of the operating system should be user-friendly, such that if any
user having less knowledge about the system comes then he/she will not face
any difficulties while running the system.
5. What do you mean by a process in Operating System?
Answer:
A process can be simply defined as the instance of a computer. The process
always includes the program code and its operations both. The process also
includes the threads running in the computer system. It can be a single thread or
a multiple thread.