What is Operating System? Explain Types of OS, Features and Examples

 

What is an Operating System?

An Operating System (OS) is a software that acts as an interface between computer hardware components and the user. Every computer system must have at least one operating system to run other programs. Applications like Browsers, MS Office, Notepad Games, etc., need some environment to run and perform its tasks.

The OS helps you to communicate with the computer without knowing how to speak the computer’s language. It is not possible for the user to use any computer or mobile device without having an operating system.

History Of OS

• Operating systems were first developed in the late 1950s to manage tape storage
• The General Motors Research Lab implemented the first OS in the early 1950s for their IBM 701
• In the mid-1960s, operating systems started to use disks
• In the late 1960s, the first version of the Unix OS was developed
• The first OS built by Microsoft was DOS. It was built in 1981 by purchasing the 86-DOS software from a Seattle company
• The present-day popular OS Windows first came to existence in 1985 when a GUI was created and paired with MS-DOS.

Following are the Operating System examples with the latest Market Share

OS Name	Share
Windows	40.34
Android	37.95
iOS	15.44
Mac OS	4.34
Linux	0.95
Chrome OS	0.14
Types of Operating System (OS) Following are the popular types of OS (Operating System): Batch Operating System Multitasking/Time Sharing OS Multiprocessing OS Real Time OS Distributed OS Network OS Mobile OS Batch Operating System Some computer processes are very lengthy and time-consuming. To speed the same process, a job with a similar type of needs are batched together and run as a group. The user of a batch operating system never directly interacts with the computer. In this type of OS, every user prepares his or her job on an offline device like a punch card and submit it to the computer operator. Multi-Tasking/Time-sharing Operating systems Time-sharing operating system enables people located at a different terminal(shell) to use a single computer system at the same time. The processor time (CPU) which is shared among multiple users is termed as time sharing. Real time OS A real time operating system time interval to process and respond to inputs is very small. Examples: Military Software Systems, Space Software Systems are the Real time OS example. Distributed Operating System Distributed systems use many processors located in different machines to provide very fast computation to its users. Network Operating System Network Operating System runs on a server. It provides the capability to serve to manage data, user, groups, security, application, and other networking functions. Mobile OS Mobile operating systems are those OS which is especially that are designed to power smartphones, tablets, and wearables devices.