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No matter how fancy a system is - it can have an expensive motherboard, the fastest processor, lots of memory, and superior graphics - it is completely useless without an operating system (OS). Every computer must have one. What is the operating system? You can look at it as being the "middle man". Application software such as a spreadsheet cannot communicate directly with hardware. Whether pressing a key on your keyboard or clicking your mouse, it's the computer operating system that provides the interface between software and hardware. It handles all of the computer's resources and has the ability to support devices from many different vendors via device drivers. All these tasks are quietly working behind the scenes without the user's knowledge.
Types of Operating Systems
There are four types of computer operating systems: A Real Time OS is for industry and machines. There's basically no user involvement. A single-user single task operating system is for one person to do one thing at a time. A single-user multitask OS allows one person to run more than one application on a computer simultaneously. A multi-user operating system permits multiple users to access a single computer.
Other Basics
Whether it's Windows, Mac, or Linux, operating systems have a Kernel. The Kernel is the heart of an operating system, the part that does the invisible work such as allowing user applications access to hardware, managing resources like the memory and CPU, scheduling tasks, and storing device drivers. It is usually the first part of the OS that is loaded after you turn on your computer and it completes the POST (Power On Self Test). If a problem occurs at any point when the OS is loading, usually an error message appears on the screen.
Since Win 2000, the Windows family is based on the WinNT architecture. The first version was NT 3.1, and there were other versions in the 3.x group. Win 2000 is actually NT 4.0, XP is NT 5.1, Vista is NT 6.0, and Windows 7 is NT 6.1. You can see the NT version by going to the command prompt. Linux and Mac are based on Unix. Both the Windows and Linux/Mac architecures consist of a layered structure with User mode sitting on top of the Kernel.
Types of Operating Systems
There are four types of computer operating systems: A Real Time OS is for industry and machines. There's basically no user involvement. A single-user single task operating system is for one person to do one thing at a time. A single-user multitask OS allows one person to run more than one application on a computer simultaneously. A multi-user operating system permits multiple users to access a single computer.
Other Basics
Whether it's Windows, Mac, or Linux, operating systems have a Kernel. The Kernel is the heart of an operating system, the part that does the invisible work such as allowing user applications access to hardware, managing resources like the memory and CPU, scheduling tasks, and storing device drivers. It is usually the first part of the OS that is loaded after you turn on your computer and it completes the POST (Power On Self Test). If a problem occurs at any point when the OS is loading, usually an error message appears on the screen.
Since Win 2000, the Windows family is based on the WinNT architecture. The first version was NT 3.1, and there were other versions in the 3.x group. Win 2000 is actually NT 4.0, XP is NT 5.1, Vista is NT 6.0, and Windows 7 is NT 6.1. You can see the NT version by going to the command prompt. Linux and Mac are based on Unix. Both the Windows and Linux/Mac architecures consist of a layered structure with User mode sitting on top of the Kernel.
In order to make user applications work it takes an API (Application Program Interface) & libraries. An API consists of pre-made tools that aid in writing software. A library is a collection of often used functions or other code that can be implemented by various programs. That way, a programmer doesn't have to rewrite the same code every time it's needed. Windows uses Dynamic Link Libraries, which simply means the library is called during run time, i.e. when a program is actually running. Another way of looking at it is the library is used only when needed. Dynamic Link Libraries usually have a .dll extension.
How popular an OS becomes ultimately depends on how much software there is available for it. Most software is written for Windows. Apple's MAC OS is popular followed by Linux. Regardless of how many features an operating system has or how memory efficient it is, if there aren't enough user applications for it, it's pretty useless.
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