4 replies

over 7 years ago

Hello Pooja, I try to explain it in the easiest way I can! An operating system (OS) is system software that manages computer hardware and software resources and provides common services for computer programs. Time-sharing operating systems schedule tasks for efficient use of the system and may also include accounting software for cost allocation of processor time, mass storage, printing, and other resources. For hardware functions such as input and output and memory allocation, the operating system acts as an intermediary between programs and the computer hardware,[1][2] although the application code is usually executed directly by the hardware and frequently makes system calls to an OS function or is interrupted by it. Operating systems are found on many devices that contain a computer – from cellular phones and video game consoles to web servers and supercomputers. The dominant desktop operating system is Microsoft Windows with a market share of around 82.74%. macOS by Apple Inc. is in second place (13.23%), and the varieties of Linux are collectively in third place (1.57%).[3] In the mobile(smartphone and tablet combined) sector, use in 2017 is up to 70% of Google's Android[4] and according to third quarter 2016 data, Android on smartphones is dominant with 87.5 percent and a growth rate 10.3 percent per year, followed by Apple's iOS with 12.1 percent and a per year decrease in market share of 5.2 percent, while other operating systems amount to just 0.3 percent.[5] Linux distributions are dominant in the server and supercomputing sectors. Other specialized classes of operating systems, such as embedded and real-time systems, exist for many applications.

padmalaya

over 7 years ago

An operating system (OS), in its most general sense, is software that allows a user to run other applications on a computing device. While it is possible for a software application to interface directly with hardware, the vast majority of applications are written for an OS, which allows them to take advantage of common libraries and not worry about specific hardware details. The operating system manages a computer's hardware resources, including:

Input devices such as a keyboard and mouse
Output devices such as display monitors, printers and scanners
Network devices such as modems, routers and network connections
Storage devices such as internal and external drives

The OS also provides services to facilitate the efficient execution and management of, and memory allocations for, any additional installed software application programs. Some operating systems were developed in the 1950s, when computers could only execute one program at a time. Later in the decade, computers included many software programs, sometimes called libraries, which were linked together to create the beginning of today's operating systems. The OS consists of many components and features. Which features are defined as part of the OS vary with each OS. However, the three most easily defined components are:

Kernel: This provides basic-level control over all of the computer hardware devices. Main roles include reading data from memory and writing data to memory, processing execution orders, determining how data is received and sent by devices such as the monitor, keyboard and mouse, and determining how to interpret data received from networks.
User Interface: This component allows interaction with the user, which may occur through graphical icons and a desktop or through a command line.
Application Programming Interfaces: This component allows application developers to write modular code.

Examples for OSs include Android, iOS, Mac OS X, Microsoft Windows and Linux.

pankitta

over 7 years ago