ICT Lesson 5 – Operating systems

The operating system

Computer hardware on its own is a useless lump of mental and software cannot be utilized
without supporting hardware. Although computer system hardware is, by design, general
purpose, application software enables the user to instruct a computer system to perform specific
tasks. Operating systems are an essential part of any computer system.
An operating system is a mandatory program that enables application software to interact with a
computer’s hardware, acts as an intermediary between the computer users and computer
hardware and controls the execution as well as provide a basis or platform for application
programs.

Figure 1: The conceptual view of a computer system

The user interacts with the application programs, which in turn interacts with the hardware via
the operating system. The purpose of the operating system is to provide an environment in which
a user can execute programs. It controls the use of hardware among the various system programs
and application programs for various users while providing an environment within which other
programs can do useful work.

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ICT Lesson 5 – Operating systems

Figure 2: Relationship between hardware, system software, application software and end users, the positioning of the OS in the
overall computer system

From the diagrams above one is able to see that the operating system directly controls the
computer hardware resources. Other programs rely on facilities provided by the operating system
to gain access to the computer systems. Some of the commonly used operating systems include,
Microsoft Disk Operating System(MS-DOS), Windows family of OS, Linux, Mac OS, Unix,
OS/2, Android, OSF- 1, Solaris, IRIX, OS2, OS/39,0 VMS etc.

Objectives/ goals of the operating systems

The operating system can be thought of as having three objectives namely
 Convenience: An operating system makes the computer more convenient to use by
hiding the complexity or lower level details of the hardware and provides a pleasant and
effective user interface.
 Efficiency: An operating system allows the computer system resources to be used in an
efficient manner by undertaking its responsibilities with minimal effort and with no
wastage of time or resources.
 Scalability: An operating system evolves over time by permitting the effective
development, testing and introduction of new system functions without interfering with
service.

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Characteristics of the operating systems

Users have come to expect certain characteristics/features of the operating system. These
characteristics include:
 Efficiency: An efficient operating system achieves high throughput and low average
turnaround time. Throughput measures the amount of work a processor can complete
within a certain time period. Remember, that one role of an operating system is to
provide service to many applications. An efficient operating system minimizes the time
spent providing these services by adequately managing the communication between
different devices, controlling the sequence and execution of processes, allocating space
on hard disk, providing error handling procedures etc. It also supervises and manages the
hardware of the computer. The operating system should be able to undertake all it
responsibilities with minimal effort and with no wastage of time or resources.
 Robustness: A robust operating system is fault tolerant and reliable i.e. it will not fail
due to isolated application or hardware errors and if it fails, it does so gracefully by
minimizing loss of work and by preventing damage to the system’s hardware. If a
software or hardware error occurs, the operating system should detect the error and either
try to correct the problem or at worse try to minimize the damage to the users of the
system from the error.
 Scalable: A scalable operating system is able to use resources as they are added. If an
operating system is not scalable, then it will quickly reach a point where additional
resources will not be fully utilized.
 Extensible: An extensible operating system will adapt well to new technology and
provide capabilities to extend the operating system to perform tasks beyond its original
design.
 Portable: A portable operating system is designed such that it can operate on many
hardware configurations. Application portability is also important because it is costly to
develop applications so the same application should run on should run on a variety of
hardware configurations to reduce development costs. The operating system is critical to
achieving this kind of portability.
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 Secure: A secure operating system prevents users and software from accessing service
and resources without authorization. Protection refers to the mechanisms that
implements the system’s security policy.
 Usable: A usable operating system is one that has the potential to serve a significant user
base. These operating systems generally provide an easy to use user interface. Operating
systems such as Linux, Windows XP and MacOS X are characterized as usable operating
systems because each supports a large set of applications and provides standard user
interfaces.
 Convenient: A convenient operating system should make a computer more convenient
and easy to use by hiding the working of hardware from the user. It should also allow the
sharing of resources and at the same time achieve its overall objectives. The operating
system must be in complete control of resource allocation and comfortably achieve a
balance between user requirements and performance constraints.
 Predictable: A predictable operating system’s services should not vary widely over
extended periods of time. The user should have a rough idea of what to expect from the
computer system or its behavior.
 Interactive: An interactive operating system allows applications respond quickly to user
actions or events.

Functions of the operating system

The main functions of the operating system are as follows:
 Process Management: As a process manager, the operating system handles the creation
and deletion of processes, suspension and resumption of processes, and scheduling and
synchronization of processes. A multi user or multi-tasking computer system can be
accessed by several users or applications simultaneously. The CPU can only execute one
program at any one time and therefore access to the CPU must be carefully controlled
and monitored. The operating system must decide which program will be allowed into the
system and for how long.
 Memory Management: As a memory manager, the operating system handles allocation
and deallocation of memory space as required by various programs. It keeps track of

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what part of memory are in use and by whom, and what parts are free. Programs (or parts
of programs) must be loaded into memory before they can be executed and moved out of
memory when no longer required. Storage space must also be provided for data generated
by programs and during data transfer operations such as copying to disk or printing.
 File Management: The operating system is responsible for creation and deletion of files
and directories. It also takes care of other file-related activities such as organizing,
storing, retrieving, naming, and protecting the files. It also keeps track of the information,
its location, use, status etc. It achieves this through a facility called the file system. A file
system is concerned with the logical organization of the information and provides a
means for starting, retrieving and sharing of files.
 Device Management: Operating system provides input/output subsystem between
process and device driver. Programs will request the use of input/output devices during
the course of their execution and in multiuser systems conflicts are bound to arise, when a
device being utilized by one program is requested by another. The operating system will
control allocation of I/O devices and attempt to resolve any conflicts which arise. It will
also monitor the state of each I/O device and signal any faults detected.
 User Interface: Operating system provides the interface between the user and the
hardware. The user interface is the layer that actually interacts with the computer
operator. The interface consists of a set of commands or menus through which a user
communicates with a program.
 Resource management and allocation: Operating Systems allocates computer resources
such as CPU time, main memory, secondary storage, and input and output devices for
use. Each resource is given a unique identification number called an interrupt number for
recognition hence when two tasks request to use a resource at the same time the higher
priority interrupt is granted control.
 Error handling: The operating system has many ways of alerting the user of errors that
may rise out of illegal operations, hardware or software failure. Most operating systems
express what the error is and where possible make suggestions on how to correct the
error. The operating system does this by monitoring the status of the computer system

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and performing audit checks on users, hardware and software and produces dumps,
traces, error messages, and other debugging and error detecting aids.
 Logging and accounting: The operating system keeps track of computer system time
and resources used by various jobs and users. A log of the tasks carried out by the
computer is kept. It also keeps internal logs on the CPU time, memory usage, peripherals
being used etc. as well as a complete record of all that happens during processing.
Recording delays between request for a service and response from the system.
 Security Management: The operating system protects system resources and information
against destruction and unauthorized use.
 Coordination between other software and users: Coordination and assignment of
compilers, interpreters, assemblers and other software to the various users of the
computer systems.

Classification of operating systems/Types of operating systems

Operating systems can be classified into three major categories namely
 Based on number of tasks handled at the same time.
 Based on number of users handled at the same time.
 Based on Human Computer Interface (HCI)/user interface

Based on number of tasks handled at the same time

Based on the number of tasks handled, the operating system is classified into two categories
namely:
 Single tasking: This operating system allows only one task or program to be executed or
processed in the main memory at a time, e.g. MS-DOS.
 Multitasking: This is operating system allows several tasks or programs to be processed
in the main memory at a time. This is achieved by allocating time slice for each task thus
the tasks are processed apparently at the same time, e.g. Windows (95,98, NT,2000, XP,
Vista,7 and 8), UNIX, Novell or Macintosh.

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Based on number of users handled at the same time

Based on the number of users handled, the operating system is classified into two categories
namely:

 Single user: This operating system allows only one person to interact with the computer
at time, e.g. MS DOS.
 Multiuser: This operating system allows two or more users to actively interact with the
computer at a time, e.g. Windows ((95,98, NT,2000, XP, VISTA,7 and 8), UNIX, Novell
or Macintosh.

Based on Human Computer Interface (HCI)/ User interface

According to the type of human computer interface or user interface, the operating system is
classified into three categories namely:

 Command line interface: This operating system allows the user to interact with the
computer by providing a command prompt interface where the user types the commands
to execute the command. The user must memorize the commands hence; it is not user
friendly, e.g. MS DOS.
 Menu driven interface: This operating system provides the user with a set of list of
options called menu, where the user can choose from. The user does not have to
memorize the commands, e.g. DOS shell or DOS editor.
 Graphical User Interface (GUI): Graphical User Interfaces (GUI) is the latest effort to
make the user interface more user friendly. It implements the WIMP concept which
stands for Windows, the rectangular works areas, Icons, graphical objects or small
pictures that represent commands, files or windows or programs, which act as a shortcut
to an action the computer performs (e.g. execute a program or task), Menus, text or icon-
based selection systems that select and execute programs or tasks and Pointer, an on
screen symbol that appears on the display screen and that a user moves to select objects
and commands. This operating system allows the user to enter commands by pointing and
clicking on the icons displayed on the screen. The end user will choose the command
needed for a task by clicking on the appropriate icon using a mouse or touching with a
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finger for touch screens, e.g. Windows (95,98, NT, 2000, XP, Vista, 7 and 8), UNIX,
Novell or Macintosh.

Ways of acquiring an operating system

 Purchasing it from software vendors or the internet

 Downloading it freely from the internet
 Outsourcing

Factors to consider when choosing an operating system

 User interface or user friendliness.

 Availability of both the user and technical documentation.
 System or hardware configuration e.g. RAM, hard disk capacity, processor speed etc.
 Applications intended for the computer.
 Basic computer design e.g. IBM computer, Apple Macintosh or HP.
 Availability in the market
 Reliability and security provision
 Number of users required to use.

References
1. C.S French (2001) Data processing and information technology. Martins the printers Ltd.

2. N.A Saleemi (2000) Information technology simplified. N.A Saleemi publishers.

3. Dr John Onunga (2007) Introduction to microcomputers and programming. Mariwa

publishers Ltd.

4. S. Mburu and G. Chemwa (2009) Computer Studies Book 1. Longhorn publishers.

5. Dr John Onunga and Renu Shah (2008) Computer Studies Book 1. Mariwa publishers
Ltd.

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