Objectives:
By the end of the lesson, the students should be
able
to:
1. Define operating system.
2. Give examples of operating system.
3. Outline the functions of an operating system.
4. State the types of operating system.
5. Define an interface
6. Explain types of operating system interface.
7. Compare command line and GUI 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.
Examples of Operating System
DOS (Disk Operating System)
UNIX operating systems
LINUX operating systems (with distros like
Ubuntu, Kubuntu, Fedora,Debian,etc.)
WINDOWS operating systems
MACINTOSH (MAC OS)
IOS
ANDROID OS
BLACKBERRY OS
SYMBIAN OS
SOLARIS
Types of Operating System
(OS)
Following are the popular types of Operating System:
Single-user, single task OS
Single-user, multi task OS
Multitasking/Time Sharing OS
Batch Operating System
Multithreading
Multiprocessing OS
Real Time OS
Distributed OS
Network OS
Mobile OS
palm OS
Single-user, single task
-As the name implies, this
operating system is
designed to manage the
computer so that one user
can effectively do one thing
at a time. E.g. Ms DOS,
windows
Single-user, multi-tasking -
This is the type of operating system allows a
single user have several programs in
operation at the same time. most people use
this on their desktop and laptop computers
today. Examples are;
Microsoft's Windows and Apple's MacOS . It's
entirely possible for a Windows user to be
writing a note in a word processor while
downloading a file from the Internet while
printing the text of an e-mail message.
Multi user
Multi-tasking/Time-sharing
Operating systems
This operating system allows for multiple
users to use the same computer at the
same time and multiple software
processes to run at the same time.
Examples of operating systems that
would fall into this category are: Linux,
Unix, Windows
The processor time (CPU) which is shared
among multiple users is termed as time
sharing.
Multithreading
This is an operating system that allow
different parts of a program, called
threads, to run simultaneously.
Examples of operating systems that
would fall into this category are:
Linux
Unix
Windows XP
Network Operating system
This operating system that is capable of
allowing multiple computers/ users to
share resources on a network. It is
usually in a client/server network
structure. Examples of operating
systems in this category are:
Linux
Unix
Windows NT, Windows 2000
Multiprocessing
This is an operating system capable
of supporting and utilizing more
than one computer processor.
Examples of operating systems that
would fall into this category are:
Linux
Unix
Windows 2000
Functions of Operating System
Advantage of using Operating
System
Allows you to hide details of hardware by
creating an abstraction
Easy to use with a GUI
Offers an environment in which a user may
execute programs/applications
The operating system must make sure that the
computer system is convenient to use
Operating System acts as an intermediary among
applications and the hardware components
It provides the computer system resources with
easy to use format
Acts as an intermediator between all hardware's
and software's of the system
Disadvantages of using
Operating System
If any issue occurs in OS, you may lose all the
contents which have been stored in your
system
Operating system's software is quite
expensive for small size organization which
adds burden on them. Example Windows
It is never entirely secure as a threat can
occur at any time
USER INTERFACE
A user interface, also sometimes called a
human-computer interface, comprises both
hardware and software components. It
handles the interaction between the user and
the system.
There are different ways of interacting with
computer systems which have evolved over
the years. There are six main types of user
interface:
Types of operating system
interfaces
Command line (cli)
Graphical user interface (GUI)
Touchscreen interface (Post-WIMP
interface)
Menu driven (MDI)
Form based (FBI)
Natural language (NLI)
Command line (cli)
A command-line interface is a
mechanism for interacting with
a computer operating system or
software by typing commands
to perform specific tasks. The
computer displays a prompt, the
user keys in the command and
presses enter or return. In the early
days of personal computers, all PCs
used command-line interfaces.
Features of CLI
Accepts input via keyboard only.
Not suitable for beginners.
Some older operating systems, such as DOS
(Disk Operating System) and UNIX, use
command-line interfaces.
In a command-line interface, you type
commands at a prompt.
Under command-line interfaces, individual
applications do not need to look or function
the same way, so different programs can look
very different
Graphic User Interface (GUI)
The GUI, graphical user interface, is a
form of user interface that allows
users to interact with electronic
devices through graphical icons and
audio indicator such as primary
notation, instead of text-based UIs,
typed command labels or text
navigation. The user chooses an
option usually by pointing a mouse at
an icon representing that option.
Features of GUI
Windows
Icons
Menus
Pointer
Wndows
A window is an area on the screen that displays
information for a specific program. This often
includes the user interface GUI as well as the
program content. Windows are used by most
applications as well as the operating system itself.
Icons
menu is a graphical control element
Menus used in graphical user interfaces.
It lists options or commands for
the user to select in order to
execute the proper application
function
CLI VS GUI
Touchscreen interface
(Post-WIMP interface)
A touchscreen interface is a
combined display/input device;
the screen displays a graphical
interface, and a user's physical
touching of the screen is
interpreted as an input or
interaction with the interface, at
the point of contact.
MENU BASED INTERFACE
The menu-driven user
interface provides you with a range
of commands or options in the form
of a list or menu displayed in
full-screen, pop-up, pull-down, or
drop-down. An ATM is an example of
a menu-driven interface. Advantages: It
is not necessary to remember a long
list of manual commands.
FORM BASED INTERFACE
A form-based interface uses
text-boxes, drop- down menus,
text areas, check boxes, radio
boxes and buttons to create an
electronic form which a user
completes in order to enter data
into a system. Example: a settings
menu on a device is form-based, airline reservation
online form, SIM card registration portal, Voters card
online registration portal, revocube for JMC.
NATURAL LANGUAGE
INTERFACE
For example, Siri, Alexa, Google
Assistant or Cortana are natural
language interfaces that allows you to
interact with your device's operating
system using your own spoken
language. Natural language
interfaces can, however, be difficult to
use effectively due to the
unpredictable and ambiguous nature
of human speech