Operating System

We all know that a computer has its language, and it understands only numbers. Do you ever wonder how a computer can understand the language you type so easily? Here the Operating system plays its role. An operating system, in a very simple language, can be termed as software that acts as an interface between the components of a computer and the users. 

None of us knows the language of computers. Thus, the operating system helps us communicate with a computer without learning the computer’s language. Every application run on a computer needs the support of an operating system, which provides an environment for the applications to run and perform their respective tasks. 

Operating System: Its Example and Types 

Every user uses a computer or a mobile for various needs. To cater to all these needs, the operating system is divided into several parts. Before starting with the types of operating systems, let us have a look at some of the most popular types of the operating system available in the market for both mobile and computers:

• Windows OS: Windows OS is currently the most popular operating system available in the market. All the computers manufactured by any company (except for Apple) have Windows operating systems installed in them. 

• Android OS: Operating system is not only a part of computers. It is an integral part of mobiles as well. When we talk about mobiles, the Android operating system is the most powerful and popular operating system. 

• iOS: Apple decided to make its operating system that would not be as generalised as Android, and thus, iOS was born. iOS is an operating system dedicated to Apple mobile phones. It can be availed for Apple mobile phones only.

• Mac OS: Just like the mobile phones, Apple designed a dedicated operating system for their laptops, which they call Macbooks. Mac OS is a dedicated operating system available in Macbooks and is dedicated to them only. 

These were some popular examples of operating systems available in the market. Some of the other operating systems include; Linux, Chrome OS, and Windows Phone OS.

Types of Operating System

As mentioned above, every individual uses a mobile phone or a computer to meet their respective needs. Thus, to meet all these needs, operating systems are divided into six different types:

• Batch Operating System

Have you ever punched your attendance through your ID Card or marked your presence through biometrics? In both these processes, the user does not directly interact with the computer, but almost every user does the same thing. Generally, these processes are very time consuming and lengthy and thus, to speed up this process, all the operations of similar functions are run in a batch. To speed up these processes, we use a Batch Operating system. Such an operating system is used to reduce the load on the CPU and the interaction with the computer. 

• Time-Sharing Operating system

Moving forward, let us take a look at the time-sharing operating system. These types of operating systems are used to enable numerous people, who are located at various terminals, to use a particular computer at the same time. The main motive of the time-sharing operating system is to minimise the response rate and maximise the efficiency of a computer. The time-sharing operating system also helps reduce the idle time of the CPU. 

• Real-Time Operating System (RTOS)

As the name suggests, the Real-Time operating system works on a very quick response rate. In a real-time operating system, a computer is time-bound and has a fixed deadline. All the processing must occur within a tenth of a second; otherwise, any delay might also lead to system failure. Real-time operating system or RTOS is used in Airline traffic control systems, Airlines reservation systems, Heart Pacemaker, etc. 

• Distributed Operating System

Distributed Operating system is a very important type of operating system as it caters to real-time applications and responses to the users. In the distributed operating system, numerous computers and sites are connected via LAN or WAN lines. 

• Network Operating System

A network operating system is an OS that includes software and the protocols associated with communicating with other computers with the help of a network conveniently and cost-effectively.

• Mobile Operating System

As the name suggests, an operating system that helps mobile devices to run various applications is called a mobile operating system. The mobile operating system is the lighter version of the operating system that we use in laptops like Windows, Linux, etc. 

Let us discuss what the basic functions of the operating system are and how they help a laptop or a mobile phone. 

Functionalities of Operating System :-

The basic functionalities of the Operating System will include memory management, file management, processor management, security, networking, etc. We will discuss in brief some of the basic functionalities of the operating system in this article. 

• Memory Management

When we talk about the functionalities of operating systems, memory management is the function responsible for managing the primary memory of a computer. The task of allocation and deallocation of memory space is done by the memory management module.

• File Management

File management is one of the essential yet basic functionalities of the operating system. The file management system can be defined as the process of manipulating files in a computer system. File management includes the process of creating, modifying and deleting files.

Conclusion

The operating system is the key software of any computer or mobile that helps the computer to understand the language of its user and to interpret the result accordingly. The operating systems help us interact with the computer or our mobile phones in the most suitable way possible. We are currently experiencing the fourth generation of operating systems. In the future, developers aim to launch more updated operating systems to help computers and mobile phones work with better efficiency and speed.