UNIVERSITY OF IRINGA

FACULTY OF SCIENCE AND EDUCATION

DEPARTMENT OF INFORMATION
TECHNOLOGY
CIT 103-Windows Operating System
 Topic Two – Functions of operating system

 Introduction
 Understand the basic functions of OS

 Differentiate between system and application software

 Introduction

One of the main operation performed by operating system is the

allocation of resources and services, such as:
 Memory

 Devices

 Processors

 Information ….
 Introduction…

 The operating system includes programs that are helpful to manage these
resources, such as a traffic controller, a scheduler, memory management
module, I/O programs, and a file system.

 Traffic controller - the program that is in charge of coordinating and

controlling the actions of hardware and software in the C.P.U. It keeps
track of the processor and the process's state and allocates the processor
(CPU) to a process.
 Introduction…

 Scheduler – the module that selects the next jobs to be

admitted into the system and the next process to run.
 Memory management module - the function
responsible for managing the computer's memory by
keeping track of the status of each memory location,
either allocated or free.
 Introduction…

 I/O programs - they receive signals from physical devices, interpret

them, and then perform tasks accordingly through the operating system.

 File system - is a data structure that stores data and information on

storage devices (hard drives, floppy disc, etc.), making them easily
retrievable. Different OS's use different file systems, but all have similar
features.
 The basic functions of OS

To achieve the goals of an Operating system, the Operating System performs a

number of functionalities

I/O Device Management:

 There are various I/O devices that are present in a system.

 Various processes require access to these resources and the process should not

directly access these devices.

 It is the duty of the Operating System to allow the use of I/O devices by the

various process that are requiring these resources.

 The basic functions of OS…

Process/job/activity Management:

 At a particular instant of time, the CPU may have a number of processes

that are in the ready state. But at a time, only one process can be processed
by a processor.

 The CPU apply some kind of algorithm that can be used to provide

uniform and efficient access to resources by the processes.

 The CPU should not give priority to only one process and it should make

sure that every process which is in the ready state will be executed.
 The basic functions of OS…

Process Management:…
 Some of the CPU scheduling algorithms are First Come First Serve,
Round Robin, Shortest Job First, Priority Scheduling, etc.
 Keeps track of the status of processes.

 The program to track the status is known as traffic controller.

 It allocates the CPU and deallocates the processor when it is not

required
 The basic functions of OS…

Memory Management:

 When the execution of a process, the whole process is put into the

main memory and the process is executed and after the execution
of the process, the memory is freed and that memory can be used
for other processes.

 The operating System manages the memory by allocating and

deallocating the memory for the process.
The basic functions of OS…

Memory Management:…

 It keeps track of primary memory.

 Memory addresses that have already been allocated and the memory

addresses of the memory that has not yet been used.

 In multiprogramming, the OS decides for how long the process must stay

and the order in which processes are granted access to memory.

 It allocates the memory to a process when the process requests it and

deallocates the memory when the process has terminated.

 The basic functions of OS…

Security
 The operating system uses a password protection to protect user data,
prevents unauthorized access to programs and user data, but for external
functionality we need to install malware software to protect the system.

Error detecting aids

 Operating systems constantly monitor the system which helps us to
detect errors and also avoid the malfunctioning of computer systems.
 The basic functions of OS…

Control over system performance

 The operating system monitors overall system setup to help in
improving the performance and it also records the response time
between service requests and system response so that it has a
complete view of the system.
 This can help improve performance by providing important
information that is needed at the time of troubleshooting problems.
The basic functions of OS…

Job Accounting

 Operating systems always keep track of time and resources that are

used by various tasks and users, this information can be used to track
resource usage for a particular user or a group of users.

Coordination between other software and users

 Operating systems help in coordinate and assign interpreters, compilers,

assemblers, and other software to the various users of the computer

systems.
 Computer Software (System and application software)
 Computer Software (System and application software)

System Software

 The system software is a collection of programs designed to operate,

control, and extend the processing capabilities of the computer itself.

 System software is generally prepared by the computer

manufacturers and they comprise of programs written in low-level
languages, which interact with the hardware at a very basic level.
System Software..

 System software serves as the interface between the hardware and the

end users.

 Some examples of system software are Operating System, Compilers,

Interpreter, Assemblers, etc.

System Software…
Here is a list of some of the most features of a system software:
 Close to the system
 Fast in speed
 Difficult to design
 Difficult to understand
 Less interactive
 Smaller in size
 Difficult to manipulate
 Generally written in low-level language
 Application Software

 Application software products are designed to satisfy a particular

need of a particular environment.
 All software applications prepared in the computer lab can come
under the category of Application software.
 Application software may consist of a single program, such as
Microsoft's notepad for writing and editing a simple text.
 Application Software…

 It may also consist of a collection of programs, often called a

software package, which work together to accomplish a task, such as
a spreadsheet package.
 Examples:

 Payroll Software, Student Record Software, Inventory Management

Software, Income Tax Software, Railways Reservation Software,
Microsoft Office Suite Software, (Microsoft Word, Microsoft Excel,
Microsoft PowerPoint…) etc
 Application Software…
Features of application software includes:
 Close to the user
 Easy to design
 More interactive
 Slow in speed
 Generally written in high-level language
 Easy to understand
 Easy to manipulate and use
 Bigger in size and requires large storage space