Operating System (OS) Notes with Questions &
Answers
Q. What is an Operating System?
Answer: An Operating System is system software that manages hardware, software resources,
and provides services to application programs.
Q. What are the main functions of an OS?
Answer: Process management, memory management, file management, device management,
security, and user interface.
Q. Difference between Kernel and Shell.
Answer: Kernel is the core of the OS that interacts with hardware. Shell is the interface through
which users interact with the OS.
Q. What is a System Call?
Answer: A system call is a request made by a program to the OS kernel for services such as file
access or process creation.
Q. Program vs Process
Answer: A program is a passive set of instructions. A process is a program in execution.
Q. Process vs Thread
Answer: Processes have separate memory spaces. Threads share the same memory within a
process.
Q. Process States
Answer: New, Ready, Running, Waiting/Blocked, and Terminated.
Q. FCFS Scheduling
Answer: Executes processes in arrival order; simple but may cause long waiting time.
Q. SJF Scheduling
Answer: Chooses the process with the shortest burst time; minimizes average waiting time.
Q. Round Robin
Answer: Each process gets a fixed time quantum in cyclic order; suitable for time-sharing.
Q. What is Deadlock?
Answer: A situation where processes wait indefinitely for resources held by each other.
Q. Four Deadlock Conditions
Answer: Mutual exclusion, Hold and wait, No preemption, Circular wait.
Q. What is Paging?
Answer: A memory management technique that divides memory into fixed-size pages and frames.
Q. Paging vs Segmentation
Answer: Paging uses fixed-size blocks; segmentation uses variable-sized logical segments.
Q. What is Virtual Memory?
Answer: Technique that uses disk space to extend RAM, allowing larger programs to run.
Q. What is a Page Fault?
Answer: Occurs when a required page is not present in main memory.
Q. FIFO vs LRU
Answer: FIFO removes the oldest page; LRU removes the least recently used page.
Q. Semaphore vs Mutex
Answer: Semaphore controls access to multiple resources; mutex provides mutual exclusion for
one resource.
Q. Critical Section
Answer: Part of a program where shared data is accessed and must not be executed by multiple
threads simultaneously.
Q. What is Thrashing?
Answer: Excessive paging causing poor system performance.
Q. Authentication vs Authorization
Answer: Authentication verifies identity; authorization determines permissions.
Q. Monolithic vs Microkernel
Answer: Monolithic kernels contain most OS services in the kernel; microkernels keep only
essential services in the kernel.
Important Long Questions for Practice
1. Explain CPU Scheduling algorithms with examples.
2. Explain Paging and Segmentation with diagrams.
3. Discuss Virtual Memory and Demand Paging.
4. Explain Deadlock prevention, avoidance, detection and recovery.
5. Explain Process Synchronization using Semaphore and Mutex.
6. Explain File System architecture.