Wednesday, January 2, 2013

Operating System

An operating system is a program that manages computer hardware and software for the user. Operating systems were originally designed to perform repetitive hardware tasks, which centered around managing files, running programs, and receiving commands from the user. The user interact with an operating system through a user interface, which allows the operating system to receive and interpret instructions sent by the user. The user need only send an instruction to the operating system to perform a task, such as reading a file or printing a document.
 An operating system’s user interface can be as simple as entering commands on a line or as complex as selecting menus and icons on a desktop. An operating system also manages software applications. To perform different tasks, such as editing documents or performing calculations, user need specific software applications. The software itself is a program consisting of instructions to be executed by the computer. For the program to be used, it must first be loaded into computer memory, and then its instructions are executed. The operating system controls the loading and execution of all programs, including any software applications.When you want to use a software , simply instruct the operating system to load the  application and execute it. File management, program management, and user interaction are traditional features common to all operating systems.
Windows,Linux,Unix are different most popular operating systems available in the market.Linux and windows are multiuser and multitasking system.Using these multitasking and multiuser  systems, users can use the system to perform several tasks at the same time and several users can log in to the system at the same time each interacting with the system through their own terminal.

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