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
Wikipedia.
This text uses material from Wikipedia and is available under the GNU Free Documentation License.
News tagged with operating system
Should I buy a PC or Mac?
Nov 25, 2009 |
2.9 / 5 (13) |
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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 ...
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ORNL 'deep retrofits' can cut home energy bills in half
Nov 25, 2009 |
3.7 / 5 (3) |
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(PhysOrg.com) -- Oak Ridge National Laboratory has announced plans to conduct a series of deep energy retrofit research projects with the potential to improve the energy efficiency in selected homes by as ...
Mobile multimedia revenues tipped to dethrone text
Nov 23, 2009 |
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Multimedia services will surpass text messaging this year as the main source of mobile operators' non-voice revenue in the Asia-Pacific region, industry analyst IDC said Monday.
Gartner forecasts 2.8 percent growth in PC sales in 2009
Nov 23, 2009 |
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Worldwide sales of personal computers, which had been forecast to decline this year, will instead post modest gains, Gartner research group said Monday.
Dentistry, a high-tech version: Robots not far off, doctor says
Nov 24, 2009 |
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Robots may practice dentistry one day, but there will always be humans telling you to open wide, said a teacher on the cutting edge of tooth care.
Suggestions for tech-happy holidays
Electronics / Consumer & Gadgets
Nov 25, 2009 |
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The holiday season is as much a time for tech as for toys. Electronic gadgets are at the top of many wish lists and account for an ever-growing share of holiday shopping budgets. Fortunately for shoppers, tech gifts don't ...
Just in time for Black Friday: students turn iPhone into barcode scanner
Nov 23, 2009 |
4.8 / 5 (5) |
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(PhysOrg.com) -- Comparing prices over the Internet has become a common practice for consumers. Now, just in time for Black Friday, a group of Missouri University of Science and Technology students is putting ...
Food banks go high-tech to feed the hungry
Nov 27, 2009 |
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(AP) -- Food banks across the country are undergoing a high-tech revolution, adopting sophisticated databases, bar coding, GPS tracking, automated warehouses and other technologies used in the food industry ...
Top 10 tech toys for 2009
Electronics / Consumer & Gadgets
Nov 25, 2009 |
3 / 5 (4) |
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This year, I've grouped my list of Top 10 tech toys into price ranges. Keep in mind that the prices listed are the suggested retail, and you may be able to find better deals.
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