introduction to an operating system

After pressing the main switch of a computer, a process called booting takes place automatically. Such things can perform automatically through a master control program of a computer, which is known as operating system.

There is no universally accepted definition of O/S. but its acts as a mediator between the system user and the hardware i.e. peripherals of the system. The main objective of an O/S is to provide an environment/ platform on which user can execute their programs in convenient and efficient manner.

It is a resource allocator of a system i.e. without getting the resources from the O/S the particular process can not execute/perform its task. So O/S can manage CPU timing, memory space, storage space, I/O devices etc. So, it is a manager/supervisor/executive of a system. It is also used to prove the security over the system. Therefore we can define an O/S as the followings:

• It is a master control program
• It is an environment variables
• It is a resource allocator
• It is a supervisor of the system
• It is a manager of the system
• It is a executive of the system
• It is a inspector of the system
• It is a security center

Basically operating system performs the following tasks:

• Provide user interface
• Job management
• Task management
• Process management
• Device management
• Providing security