WHAT IS AN OPERATING SYSTEM?

An Operating system (OS) is a software which acts as an interface between the end user and
computer hardware. Every computer must have at least one OS to run other programs. An
application like Chrome, MS Word, Games, etc needs some environment in which it will run and
perform its task. 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.

TYPES OF OPERATING SYSTEM

 Batch Operating System
 Multitasking/Time Sharing OS
 Multiprocessing OS
 Real Time OS
 Distributed OS
 Network OS
 Mobile OS
BIOS (basic input/output system)

BIOS (basic input/output system) is the program a personal computer's microprocessor uses to
get the computer system started after you turn it on. It also manages data flow between the
computer's operating system and attached devices such as the hard disk, video adapter, keyboard,
mouse and printer.
BIOS is an integral part of your computer and comes with it when you bring it home. (In
contrast, the operating system can either be pre-installed by the manufacturer or vendor or
installed by the user.) BIOS is a program that is made accessible to the microprocessor on an
erasable programmable read-only memory (EPROM) chip. When you turn on your computer, the
microprocessor passes control to the BIOS program, which is always located at the same place
on EPROM.
When BIOS boots up (starts up) your computer, it first determines whether all of the
attachments are in place and operational and then it loads the operating system (or key parts of it)
into your computer's random access memory (RAM) from your hard disk or diskette drive.
With BIOS, your operating system and its applications are freed from having to understand exact
details (such as hardware addresses) about the attached input/output devices. When device
details change, only the BIOS program needs to be changed. Sometimes this change can be made
during your system setup. In any case, neither your operating system or any applications you use
need to be changed.
Although BIOS is theoretically always the intermediary between the microprocessor and I/O
device control information and data flow, in some cases, BIOS can arrange for data to flow
directly to memory from devices (such as video cards) that require faster data flow to be
effective.

BIOS post card for ISA bus BIOS post card for PCI bus
POST (Power- on-self-test)

A power-on self-test (POST) is a process performed by firmware or software routines

immediately after a computer or other digital electronic device is powered on.

This article mainly deals with POSTs on personal computers, but many other embedded systems
such as those in major appliances, avionics, communications, or medical equipment also have
self-test routines which are automatically invoked at power-on.

The results of the POST may be displayed on a panel that is part of the device, output to an
external device, or stored for future retrieval by a diagnostic tool. Since a self-test might detect
that the system's usual human-readable display is non-functional, an indicator lamp or a speaker
may be provided to show error codes as a sequence of flashes or beeps. In addition to running
tests, the POST process may also set the initial state of the device from firmware.

In the case of a computer, the POST routines are part of a device's pre-boot sequence; if they
complete successfully, the bootstrap loader code is invoked to load an operating system.