Operating system is the most important part of every computer system. It is collection of system programs that controls the operation of a computer system. It acts as an interface between a user and the computer hardware. The prime objective of the operating system is to manage and control the various hardware resources of a computer system. These hardware resources include processor, memory, disk space, etc. The another objective is to provide an interactive interface to the user and interpret commands so that the user can communicate with the hardware.
Functions of the operating system
The main functions of the operating system are as follows:
a) It handles allocation and de-allocation of memory space as required by various programs.
b) It manages files on a disk. It permits the users to create, print, copy, delete, read and write to files.
c) It controls input and output devices.
d) It protects system resources and information from destruction and unauthorized use.
e) It provides the interface between the user and the hardware.
Types of operating system
The operating system has evolved successfully from the primitive days to the present digital era. Several operating systems have been developed over the years. Basically, operating system is classified into two types:
a. Single-user operating system
b. Multi-user operating system
a. Single-user operating system
An operating system that allows a single user to perform just one task at a time such as printing a document, writing a file to disk, editing a file, or downloading a file from a network server is called single-user operating system. MS-DOS is the example of single-user operating system.
b. Multi-user operating system
A multi-user operating system allows multiple users to use programs that are simultaneously running on single network server. In a multi-user operating system environment, all or most of the computing is done at the server. UNIX, Linux, Novell network are the examples of multi-user operating system.
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