Some information is here about the operating system in your PC.

Definition of Operating System: -

An Operating System is an essential component of a computer system. It is a large set of large and complex program that acts as an interface between the computer hardware & its user. Its serves twin objectives, interpreting the user program instructions to the hardware as well as providing coordination services necessary to enable a group of users to share computer system resources efficiently.

Need of Operating System:

In earlier day’s user had to design the application according to the internal structure of the hardware. Operating System was needed to enable the user to design the application without concerning the details of the computer’s internal structure. In general the boundary between the hardware & software is transparent to the user.

Usage of Operating System:

1. Easy interaction between the human & computer.
2. Starting computer operation automatically when power in turned on.
3. Loading & scheduling users program.
4. Controlling input & output.
5. Controlling program execution.
6. Managing use of main memory.
7. Providing security to users program.

Functions of Operating System :

The main functions perform by most Operating System of today are as follow: -

1. Process Management: - The process management module of an Operating System takes care of the creation & deletion of processes, scheduling of various system resources to the different process requesting them, & providing mechanism for synchronization & communication among processes.

2. Memory Management: - The memory management module of an Operating System takes care of the allocation & reallocation of memory space to the various program in need of this resource.

3. File Management: - computer use a lot of data & programs, which are, stored on secondary storage devices. File management functions of an Operating System. Involves keeping track of all different files & maintaining the integrity of data stored in the files including file directory structure.

4. Security: - The security modules of an Operating System protect the resources & information of a computer system against destruction& unauthorized access.

5. Command Interpretation: -The Command Interpretation module of an Operating System takes care of interpreting of user commands, & directing the system resources to handle the requests. With this mode of interaction with the system, the user is usually not too concerned with the hardware details of the system.

6. Input/Output or Device Management: - coordination & control of various input & output devices is an important function of the Operating System. This involves receiving the request for I/O interrupts, & communicating back to the requesting process.

7. Job Control: - When the user wants to run an application program, he must communicate with the Operating System telling it what to do. He does this using Operating System job control language or JCL. JCL consists of a number of Operating Systems commands, called system commands that control the functioning of the Operating System.

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