Related topics: microsoft , google , windows 7 , iphone , software
Operating system
hideAn operating system (commonly abbreviated to either OS or O/S) is an interface between hardware and user; an OS is responsible for the management and coordination of activities and the sharing of the resources of the computer. The operating system acts as a host for computing applications that are run on the machine. As a host, one of the purposes of an operating system is to handle the details of the operation of the hardware. This relieves application programs from having to manage these details and makes it easier to write applications. Almost all computers (including handheld computers, desktop computers, supercomputers, video game consoles) as well as some robots, domestic appliances (dishwashers, washing machines), and portable media players use an operating system of some type. Some of the oldest models may however use an embedded operating system, that may be contained on a compact disk or other data storage device.
Operating systems offer a number of services to application programs and users. Applications access these services through application programming interfaces (APIs) or system calls. By invoking these interfaces, the application can request a service from the operating system, pass parameters, and receive the results of the operation. Users may also interact with the operating system with some kind of software user interface (UI) like typing commands by using command line interface (CLI) or using a graphical user interface (GUI, commonly pronounced “gooey”). For hand-held and desktop computers, the user interface is generally considered part of the operating system. On large multi-user systems like Unix and Unix-like systems, the user interface is generally implemented as an application program that runs outside the operating system. (Whether the user interface should be included as part of the operating system is a point of contention.)
Common contemporary operating system families include BSD, Darwin (Mac OS X), GNU/Linux, SunOS (Solaris/OpenSolaris), and Windows NT (XP/Vista/7). While servers generally run Unix or some Unix-like operating system, embedded system markets are split amongst several operating systems.
For more information about Operating system, read the full article at
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This text uses material from Wikipedia and is available under the GNU Free Documentation License.
News tagged with operating system
Microsoft to let Europeans pick browser in EU deal
Dec 16, 2009 |
4 / 5 (5) |
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(AP) -- More than 100 million Europeans will get to pick a Web browser after Microsoft agreed to offer Internet users a choice to avoid fresh fines - a move that could represent a real thawing of long-standing ...
Google out to shake up the smart-phone industry
Dec 17, 2009 |
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Google, already a disruptive presence in the mobile phone industry, seems to be itching to reshape it once more. As early as January, the company plans to sell directly to consumers a new smart-phone that will not be "locked" ...
Tech blog, Singapore startup feud over tablet PC
Electronics / Consumer & Gadgets
Dec 11, 2009 |
3.8 / 5 (4) |
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(AP) -- About 18 months ago, a technology blogger got fed up with the industry and forged an alliance with a startup to make his dream computer. It almost worked.
Google search getting eyes and ears
Dec 08, 2009 |
5 / 5 (2) |
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Google search is getting eyes and ears, moving beyond typed key words to let people scour the Internet with mobile telephone cameras or spoken words in multiple languages.
Microsoft unleashes lawsuits, raids in piracy crackdown
Dec 04, 2009 |
3 / 5 (5) |
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Microsoft Corp. said Thursday it has unleashed a series of lawsuits and is cooperating in criminal prosecutions worldwide in an effort to stem piracy of its software.
Google's Chrome OS to be ready for 2010 holidays (Update)
Nov 19, 2009 |
4.6 / 5 (5) |
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(AP) -- Consumers will have to wait until next year's holiday shopping season to find out if Google Inc.'s new operating system can deliver on its promise to make low-cost computers run faster.
Should I buy a PC or Mac?
Nov 25, 2009 |
2.4 / 5 (21) |
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Q. Our 6-year-old PC computer is dying a slow death and we are considering moving to a new iMac but have a few concerns. First, of all, we have several Word documents on our disk drive now that we want to keep and add to ...
Inventor Demonstrates Humanoid Robot's Latest AI Abilities (w/ Video)
Technology / Computer Sciences
Aug 25, 2009 |
4.7 / 5 (31) |
26
(PhysOrg.com) -- In August 2007, Le Trung invented Aiko, a Yumecom, or "Dream Computer Robot." Although it took only a month and a half to build Aiko's exterior, the artificial intelligence software has been ...
Apple to unleash Snow Leopard on August 28
Aug 24, 2009 |
3.7 / 5 (13) |
4
Apple announced on Monday that its next-generation Snow Leopard operating system tailored for the California company's Macintosh computers will be unleashed on the market on Friday.
Microsoft's cloud computing system is growing up
Nov 17, 2009 |
2.5 / 5 (10) |
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(AP) -- Microsoft Corp. leads its industry in part because a vast army of outside computer programmers design software that only runs on its Windows operating system. Now, the company is fighting to keep those programmers ...
Court rules against Microsoft in China font case
Nov 17, 2009 |
5 / 5 (1) |
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A Chinese court has ruled Microsoft Corp. infringed a Chinese company's intellectual property rights by including certain fonts in its operating systems, the companies confirmed Tuesday.
Google's operating system escalates Microsoft duel (Update)
Jul 08, 2009 |
4.4 / 5 (9) |
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(AP) -- Google Inc. is hoping to gain greater control over how personal computers work with its plans to develop a free operating system that will attack Microsoft Corp.'s golden goose - its long-dominant ...
China deploys secure computer operating system
May 12, 2009 |
3.9 / 5 (24) |
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China has installed a secure operating system known as "Kylin" on government and military computers designed to be impenetrable to US military and intelligence agencies, The Washington Times reported on Tuesday.
New homeland security tool to detect Conficker worm
Mar 30, 2009 |
4 / 5 (6) |
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The US Department of Homeland Security released a tool on Monday to detect whether a computer is infected by the Conficker worm.
Review: Dazzling Palm software beats the iPhone
Electronics / Consumer & Gadgets
Jun 04, 2009 |
3.3 / 5 (16) |
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(AP) -- Move over, iPhone. You've had two years on top of the smart phone world. Now there's a touch-screen phone with better software: the Palm Pre.
