What is an operating system? 

An operating system is the core software that allows a computer to run a

device. It manages the hardware, the user interface and all other software
the computer. 

Without an operating system, a computer is just a collection of componen

the room as no-one would be able to make any practical use of the mach

A large number of operating systems have been developed over the years
designed with a certain kind of computer in mind. For instance: 

● Windows or Linux - for personal computers 

● MacOS - for Macs 
● Unix - for mainframes 
● Symbian, Android - for mobile phones 

Although these operating systems have been developed to work with very
types of computers, they all share a number of common functions: 

● Providing a user interface 

● Managing the computer's memory 
● Managing the hardware 

User Interface 
 People need a way o
with machines if they are to be useful. 

Think of a vending machine - you want a drink, but how do you get the ma
to you? 

Well, you will have to read the display and follow the instructions, put you
slot, press the right buttons and eventually your drink will pop out (hopefu

Y h hi i d i kb i i i hi i i ' i
You got the machine to give you a drink by interacting with it via its 'user i

People must also be able to interact with the computer. 

They have to be able to open applications, run them and finally shut them
need to be able to enter data and either see (or listen) to the result of com
processing. 

This interaction is made possible by the user interface. 

There are many different types of user interface and we will look at them
in another mini-website. 

However, the one that you are most familiar with is probably the Graphica
Interface (GUI). 

A GUI provides you with the functionality to create and manage the windo
use on your screen. It also provides you with features such as icons on yo
buttons and scrollbars. 

Memory Management 

One of the most vital resources that the operating system needs to mana

The amount of memory that you have in your computer is limited. (Such a
held on the RAM stick shown above). And so, like any limited resource, it
managed. This is the task of the memory manager which is part of the op
system. 
When you double click on a desktop icon to open an application, the oper
loads the necessary parts of the application into memory. As you start us
application, the operating system will load extra modules into memory as
required. If you do not use some of the features of the application for a w
operating system will remove them from memory to try to free up space. 

While you are doing your work, your data will be stored in memory. When
finished your task and closed the application, the operating system will re
memory. 
Memory management is one of the main duties of the operating system 

Hardware Management 

A computer is a mix of hardware and software. Software has to interact w

hardware in order to receive data from input devices and to send its resul

devices.

Another important function of the operating system is to manage the way

Every piece of hardware comes with software called a 'device driver', for e
printer will have a print driver, a mouse will have its own mouse driver. A d
acts as the go-between for other software to 'talk' to the hardware.
acts as the go between for other software to talk to the hardware. 

For instance a word-processor will send text and images to a printer by se

instructions and data through the printer's device driver. A music player w
to the sound card by means of the sound card's device driver and so on. 

Most device drivers are loaded into memory by the operating system duri
some are loaded by the operating system when a piece of hardware is co
computer. For instance inserting a memory stick will cause the operating
the right USB driver and a message appears telling you that the device is
 

Operating systems are very complicated pieces of software that have ma

as well such as: 

● Handling files 
● Security such as handling user names and passwords 
● Allocating resources on networks such as disk space 
● Scheduling CPU processing cycles for all the tasks it needs to ru
● Moving data to and from the hard disk 
● Deal with errors which occur while users are working 
● Manage the installation of new applications and the de-installati
unwanted applications 
● Providing services such as print spooling