Operating System

Operating System

1. Multitasking

   • This appears to the user that we can have lots of programs open at once
   • Resources such as memory and the processor are being shared amongst tasks
   • Giving the processor a small time for each task means taht all tasks seem to be executing at the same time.

2. The user interface

   • Command Line interface
     • Text based
     • DOS, Raspbian
   • Graphical User Interface
     • Contains windows, Icons, Menus, Pointers
     • Visual
     • Windows 10, Windows 8, Android, Mac OS

3. Memory Management

   • The OS allocates memory between the different programs that are open at the same time
   • Programmers/Users don't need to know the location where the memory data is being held, This is the purpose of Operating system

4. Drivers

   • A piece of software used to control a piece of hardware
   • Drivers allow a peripheral device to be connected to a computer used by an Operating System
     • You can get drivers for graphics cards, mouse, sound card, network interface cards
     • Drivers are OS specific and are regularly updated by companies

5. Peripherals management

   • OS manage the way in which hardware interacts with software
   • A peripheral is a piece of hardware that is not directly connected to the CPU - such as a keyboard, a mouse or even a hard disk drive
   • An OS managed all of the peripheral devices that are connected to the computer - this allows them to be disabled, or drivers to be updated
     • In windows you can access Windows Device Management

6. File management

   • Like memory management, the Operating System must identify where files are stored for long term storage on for e.g. the hard disk drive or a solid state drive.
     • The user does not need to know the specific track, sector and surface address - but the Operating System does in order to accurately locate a file on the hard disk drive