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Features Of A Operating System

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An operating system, also known as OS, is a software on the hard drive that allows the hardware of a computer to communicate and operate with the computer software. The OS is the most important software running on a computer because it handles the memory, processes and all of its software and hardware. The OS helps coordinate all the programs that can access your CPU, memory and storage so that each program gets what it needs. Without the operating system a computer and its software would be completely useless. Figure 1 depicts the OS programs that lie between the applications software and the computer hardware. It also shows how the application software links with the OS link with the hardware. Within the OS there is a supervisor …show more content…

o Several programs can be in operation at once. o Found in Microsoft’s Windows and Apple’s MacOS. • Multi-user: o Multiple users to take advantage of the computer’s resources at the same time. o Determines if each program is using sufficient and separate resources so if there is a problem with one user it wouldn’t affect all of the users. Operating systems come preloaded on any computer you purchase and it is possible to upgrade or change the OS. There are three Operating Systems that will be explained further on, Microsoft Windows, Chrome OS, and Android. Android is different than Microsoft Windows and Chrome OS because it is an operating system for mobile phones and tablets. Microsoft Windows or Windows OS is a computer operating system developed by the Microsoft Corporation to run PCs and was introduced in 1985 and is one of the most dominate operating systems for personal computers today. Windows OS provides a graphical user interface or GUI, virtual memory management, multitasking and support for many devices. MS DOS was one of the earliest operating system for consumers. Windows was seen as a graphical user-interface or GUI that allowed users an easier and more visually pleasing way to use MS-DOS. Windows is different than other OS because they were able to have various windows operating more than one program or process simultaneously on the computer screen. Figure 2

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