Introduction
Most people are using their computers, laptops, tablets, and other electrical devices without truly understanding the importance of operating systems.
For most people, an operating system is just a feature that comes with the device. They hardly think about how different operating systems can bring different experiences.
Seeing the lack of knowledge people have on operating systems, we decided to create a guide that will shed some light on operating systems and help people understand their importance.
What Is An Operating System?
Have you ever wondered how communication between the users and the system takes place? Or, how can the system understand what the user wants?
– Still, thinking of an answer?
– The answer is Operating System!
An operating system is software that acts as an interface between the device and the user. Every computer system must have at least one operating system to operate its basic functions.
Without an operating system, it is just a piece of metal.
Applications like Web Browser, Notepad, MS Office, and Games need an environment where they can spread their arms and legs. This environment is offered by the operating system.
That being said, if your system lacks an operating system, download it from the pirate bay.
Types Of Operating Systems?
As the computing landscape has changed, so does the variety of Operating Systems. The operating systems on the market today come in different forms and sizes.
1. Batch OS
Some of the computer processes are lengthy and time-consuming. To speed up the processing process, jobs sharing the same feature or requirement are batched together and run as a group.
As the jobs are batched together of the same types, the total time processing them all together significantly decreases.
2. Real-Time OS
A real-time operating system has a very small time span to process the job. Hence, this software can deal with one job at a time, which also takes a lot of time.
3. Time Sharing OS
Time-sharing operating systems allow users located at different terminals to access the same computer simultaneously.
While different users use the same computer, they share the same CPU. This is why this operating system is called a time-sharing operating system.
4. Distributed OS
The distributed operating system uses many processes – located at different locations – to complete one task. Due to the collective effort of different computer processors, the task takes less time to complete.
5. Network OS
The network operating system runs over a server. This operating system gives the servers capability to manage the data, group them according to their needs and store them in an organized manner.
6. Mobile OS
Mobile operating systems are the software that is specifically designed to power smartphones and other handheld devices.
Some of the most powerful mobile operating systems are iOS and Android.
Features Of Operating System
Although every operating system is different from other operating system, they do come with a basic outline feature.
- Process Management: Process management helps the devices create and delete system processes. It also provides the mechanism of synchronization and communication among the processes.
- File Management: It manages all the file-related activities such as saving, storing, deleting, retrieving, and protecting.
- Memory Management: This feature allows the operating system to allocate memory to different functions of the device.
- Device Management: It keeps track of all the functions going on in your system. It also performs task allocation and deallocation of the devices.
- Security: Protects the data in the computer system against any malware attacks.
Wrapping It Up!
Operating systems act as the connecting bridge between the users and devices. Without the operating system, you might have access to all the data, but the data will be disorganized.
It is because of the operating system; we are able to see images on the screen, run software applications, and poll for various signals.
It stands true for all the types of operating systems we have talked about above.
We know that one article is not enough to talk about everything about operating systems. That being said, if there is anything more you want to know about operating systems, contact us!