What is operating System?
The most important program that runs on a computer. Every general-purpose computer must have an operating system to run other programs. Operating systems perform basic tasks, such as recognizing input from the keyboard, sending output to the display screen, keeping track of files and directories on the disk, and controlling peripheral devices such as disk drives and printers.
For large systems, the operating system has even greater responsibilities and powers. It is like a traffic cop -- it makes sure that different programs and users running at the same time do not interfere with each other. The operating system is also responsible for security, ensuring that unauthorized users do not access the system.
Operating systems can be classified as follows:
operating systems permit hundreds or even thousands of concurrent users.
Operating systems provide a software platform on top of which other programs, called application programs, can run. The application programs must be written to run on top of a particular operating system. Your choice of operating system, therefore, determines to a great extent the applications you can run. For PCs, the most popular operating systems are DOS, OS/2, and Windows, but others are available, such as Linux.
As a user, you normally interact with the operating system through a set of commands. For example, the DOS operating system contains commands such as COPY and RENAME for copying files and changing the names of files, respectively. The commands are accepted and executed by a part of the operating system called the command processor or command line interpreter. Graphical user interfaces allow you to enter commands by pointing and clicking at objects that appear on the screen.
What are the various components of an Operating System?
In this section we look at that part of the operating system that is responsible for running programs, called the real-time executive or kernel.
The central module of an operating system. It is the part of the operating system that loads first, and it remains in main memory. Because it stays in memory, it is important for the kernel to be as small as possible while still providing all the essential services required by other parts of the operating system and applications. Typically, the kernel is responsible for memory management, process and task management, and disk management.
computer hardware that arranges jobs to be done by the computer in an appropriate order. In general-purpose operating systems, the goal of the scheduler is to balance processor loads, and prevent any one process from either monopolizing the processor or being starved for resources. In real-time environments, such as devices for automatic control in industry (for example robotics), the scheduler also must ensure that processes can meet deadlines; this is crucial for keeping the system stable.
File Manager
A software tool that provides a user interface to work with computer files. The most common operations on files are Create, Open, Edit, View, Print, Play, Rename, Move, Copy, Delete, Attributes, Properties, Search/Find. Typically files are displayed in a hierarchy. File managers may contain features inherited from Web browsers, including forward and back navigational buttons.
Sources:
http://www.webopedia.com/TERM/k/kernel.html
http://www.efsoftware.com/pm/e.htm
http://www.webopedia.com/TERM/o/operating_system.html
The most important program that runs on a computer. Every general-purpose computer must have an operating system to run other programs. Operating systems perform basic tasks, such as recognizing input from the keyboard, sending output to the display screen, keeping track of files and directories on the disk, and controlling peripheral devices such as disk drives and printers.
For large systems, the operating system has even greater responsibilities and powers. It is like a traffic cop -- it makes sure that different programs and users running at the same time do not interfere with each other. The operating system is also responsible for security, ensuring that unauthorized users do not access the system.
Operating systems can be classified as follows:
- multi-user :
operating systems permit hundreds or even thousands of concurrent users.
- multiprocessing :
- multitasking :
- multithreading :
- real time:
Operating systems provide a software platform on top of which other programs, called application programs, can run. The application programs must be written to run on top of a particular operating system. Your choice of operating system, therefore, determines to a great extent the applications you can run. For PCs, the most popular operating systems are DOS, OS/2, and Windows, but others are available, such as Linux.
As a user, you normally interact with the operating system through a set of commands. For example, the DOS operating system contains commands such as COPY and RENAME for copying files and changing the names of files, respectively. The commands are accepted and executed by a part of the operating system called the command processor or command line interpreter. Graphical user interfaces allow you to enter commands by pointing and clicking at objects that appear on the screen.
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What are the various components of an Operating System?
In this section we look at that part of the operating system that is responsible for running programs, called the real-time executive or kernel.
An operating system for a large-scale computer that is used by many people at once is a very complex system. It contains many millions of lines of instructions (commands that the computer executes) written by programmers. To make operating systems easier to write, they are constructed as a series of modules (programs), each module responsible for one function.
The central module of an operating system. It is the part of the operating system that loads first, and it remains in main memory. Because it stays in memory, it is important for the kernel to be as small as possible while still providing all the essential services required by other parts of the operating system and applications. Typically, the kernel is responsible for memory management, process and task management, and disk management.
What the Process Manager is and what you can do with it:
- you can easily see what's happening behind the desktop
- which processes are running on your computer
- you can see all modules which are loaded, or only those used by a particular process
- you're the master: Process Manager lets you close normally or kill any running process
- register and unregister modules
- complete information about process and modules
- see Windows error codes
- consult environment variables
- search for modules on the disk
- export the information for further use in Excel
So, with one quick look you can see that Process Manager is the tool you're looking for a long time, it shows you the backstage of your computer, and more, it lets you control things.
Schedulercomputer hardware that arranges jobs to be done by the computer in an appropriate order. In general-purpose operating systems, the goal of the scheduler is to balance processor loads, and prevent any one process from either monopolizing the processor or being starved for resources. In real-time environments, such as devices for automatic control in industry (for example robotics), the scheduler also must ensure that processes can meet deadlines; this is crucial for keeping the system stable.
File Manager
A software tool that provides a user interface to work with computer files. The most common operations on files are Create, Open, Edit, View, Print, Play, Rename, Move, Copy, Delete, Attributes, Properties, Search/Find. Typically files are displayed in a hierarchy. File managers may contain features inherited from Web browsers, including forward and back navigational buttons.
Sources:
http://www.webopedia.com/TERM/k/kernel.html
http://www.efsoftware.com/pm/e.htm
http://www.webopedia.com/TERM/o/operating_system.html
posted by kenrick @ 9:31 PM
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