IT Fundamentals/2014/Operating Systems

An operating system (OS) is a collection of software that manages computer hardware resources and provides common services for computer programs. The operating system is a vital component of the system software in a computer system. Application programs usually require an operating system to function. This lesson covers desktop and mobile operating systems, open-source software, and hardware compatibility.

Preparation

Learners should already be familiar with Computer Software and Using an Operating System.

Objectives and Skills

Objectives and skills for the operating systems portion of IT Fundamentals certification include:

• Compare and contrast common Operating Systems and their functions and features
  • Types
    • Workstation
      • Windows
      • MacOS
      • Linux
      • Chrome OS
    • Mobile
      • Apple iOS
      • Android
      • Windows Phone
      • Blackberry
    • Open source vs. commercial
  • Software compatibility for different OS types and versions
  • Awareness of hardware compatibility for OS support
    • 32bit vs. 64bit operating systems
  • Basic functions of an operating system
    • Interface between user and machine
    • Coordination of hardware components
    • Provides environment for software to function
    • Monitors system health and functionality
    • Displays structure / directories for data management

Readings

1. Wikipedia: Operating system
2. Wikipedia: Mobile operating system
3. Wikipedia: Open-source software
4. Wikipedia: 64-bit computing

Multimedia

1. YouTube: IT Fundamentals - Software
2. YouTube: What is an Operating System
3. YouTube: Operating Systems 1
4. YouTube: Introduction to Operating Systems
5. YouTube: What is Open Source?
6. YouTube: What is Open Source Explained in LEGO
7. YouTube: 32-bit vs 64-bit Computers & Phones
8. YouTube: Diagnose Windows Problems Using the Event Viewer

Activities

1. Determine whether your computer is running a 32 or 64-bit operating system:
   • Windows: Review Microsoft: Is my PC running the 32-bit or 64-bit version of Windows?.
   • OS X: Review Apple: Mac OS X: 64-bit kernel frequently asked questions.
   • Linux: Review How to Check Linux Kernel is 32 bit or 64 bit.
2. Use your system's monitoring utilities to review active processes and resources in use:
   • Windows: Review Wikipedia: Windows Task Manager and Wikipedia: Resource Monitor and run both utilities.
   • OS X: Review Wikipedia: Activity Monitor and run the utility.
   • Linux: Review GNOME: System Monitor and run the utility.
3. Review Wikipedia: Device Manager and Microsoft: Update a driver for hardware that isn't working properly. Run Device Manager on a Windows system Use Device Manager to check for updated drivers for all display adapters, network adapters, and sound controllers.
4. Review Wikipedia: Environment variable. Examine environment variable settings on your system:
   • Windows: Microsoft: Configuring System and User Environment Variables.
   • OS X: Apple: launchd.conf.
   • Linux: Debian: Environment Variables.
5. Examine system health and recent events for your system:
   • Windows: Review Microsoft: How to Use Reliability Monitor and Wikipedia: Event Viewer and run the utilities.
   • OS X: Review Wikipedia: Console (OS X) and run the utility.
   • Linux: Review RedHat: Viewing Log Files and run the Log Viewer.
6. Test operating systems:
   • All: OnWorks: Free Online Workstations
   • Windows: MIT: Windows 10 Simulator
   • OS X: alessioatzeni.com: Mac OSX Lion CSS3
   • Linux: Download and install VNC Viewer and then test different Linux distributions using distrotest.net. Popular Linux desktop distributions include Ubuntu, Linux Mint, and Fedora.

Lesson Summary

• An operating system is software that manages computer hardware and software resources and provides common services for computer programs.
• The operating system provides an Interface between the user and the system.
• The operating system coordinates hardware components.
• The operating system provides an environment for software applications to function.
• The operating system monitors system health and functionality.
• The operating system provides a file structure for data management.
• Popular computer operating systems include Windows, OS X, Linux, and Chrome OS.
• A mobile operating system, also referred to as mobile OS, is an operating system that operates a smartphone, tablet, PDA, or other mobile device.
• Popular mobile operating systems include Android, iOS and to a lesser extent Windows Phone and Blackberry.
• OS X, Linux, Android, Chrome OS and iOS are based on Unix.
• Popular distributions of Linux include Red Hat, Debian, Ubuntu, Linux Mint and Google's Android.
• Open-source software is computer software with its source code made available with a license in which the copyright holder provides the rights to study, change and distribute the software to anyone and for any purpose.
• Proprietary software or closed source software is computer software licensed under exclusive legal right of the copyright holder with the intent that the licensee is given the right to use the software only under certain conditions, and restricted from other uses, such as modification, sharing, studying, redistribution, or reverse engineering.
• 64-bit processors and operating systems support integer values over 18 quintillion and memory addresses up to 16 EiB (exbibytes), while 32-bit operating systems are limited to integer values over 2 billion and memory addresses up to 4 GiB (gigabytes or gibibytes).

Key Terms

32-bit

A computer architecture that supports at most 32-bit integers, memory addresses, and other data units, limiting integer values to -2,147,483,648 through 2,147,483,647 and memory addresses to 4 GiB (gigabytes or gibibytes).

64-bit

A computer architecture that supports at most 64-bit integers, memory addresses, and other data units, limiting integer values to over 18 quintillion and memory addresses to 16 EiB (exbibytes).

Android

A mobile operating system (OS) based on the Linux kernel and currently developed by Google.

Blackberry OS

A proprietary mobile operating system developed by BlackBerry Ltd for its BlackBerry line of smartphone handheld devices.

Chrome OS

An operating system based on the Linux kernel and designed by Google to work with web applications and installed applications, initially designed as a pure web thin client operating system.

cross-platform

An attribute conferred to computer software or computing methods and concepts that are implemented and inter-operate on multiple computer platforms.

device driver

A computer program that operates or controls a particular type of device that is attached to a computer.

distro (Linux distribution)

An operating system made as a collection of software based around the Linux kernel and often around a package management system, typically based on either Red Hat's package manager (rpm and yum) or Debian's package manager (dpkg and apt).

embedded system

A computer system with a dedicated function within a larger mechanical or electrical system, often with real-time computing constraints.

emulator

Hardware or software or both that duplicates (or emulates) the functions of one computer system (the guest) in another computer system (the host), different from the first one, so that the emulated behavior closely resembles the behavior of the real system (the guest).

GUI (graphical user interface)

A type of interface that allows users to interact with electronic devices through graphical icons and visual indicators such as secondary notation, as opposed to text-based interfaces, typed command labels or text navigation.

iOS

A mobile operating system developed by Apple Inc. and distributed exclusively for Apple hardware, including iPods, iPhones, and iPads.

kernel

An operating system component that manages input/output requests from software, and translates them into data processing instructions for the central processing unit and other electronic components of a computer.

legacy system

An old method, technology, computer system, or application program, of, relating to, or being a previous or outdated computer system.

Linux

A Unix-like computer operating system assembled under the model of free and open-source software development and distribution.

multitasking

A method where multiple tasks, also known as processes, are performed during the same period of time by executing them concurrently rather than sequentially.

open source

A development model that promotes universal access via a free license to a product's design, blueprint, or source code, and universal redistribution of that design, blueprint or source code, including subsequent improvements to it by anyone.

operating system

System software that manages computer hardware and software resources and provides common services for computer programs (Android, iOS, Windows Phone, and Blackberry).

OS X

A series of Unix-based graphical interface operating systems developed and marketed by Apple Inc. designed to run on Mac computers.

package manager

A collection of software tools that automates the process of installing, upgrading, configuring, and removing software packages for a computer's operating system in a consistent manner.

paging

A memory management scheme by which a computer stores and retrieves data from the secondary storage for use in main memory.

protected mode

An operational mode of CPUs that allows system software to use features such as virtual memory, paging and safe multi-tasking designed to increase an operating system's control over application software.

Unix

A family of multitasking, multi-user computer operating systems.

virtual memory

A memory management technique that is implemented using both hardware and software that maps memory addresses used by a program, called virtual addresses, into physical addresses in computer memory.

Windows

A metafamily of graphical operating systems developed, marketed, and sold by Microsoft.

x64

The 64-bit version of the x86 instruction set, supporting 64-bit addressing and processing, and fully backwards compatible with 16-bit and 32-bit x86 code.

x86

A family of backward compatible instruction set architectures based on the Intel 8086 through 80486 CPUs supporting 16-bit and 32-bit addressing and processing.

Review Questions

1. An operating system is _____ that manages _____ and provides _____.

   An operating system is software that manages computer hardware and software resources and provides common services for computer programs.
2. The operating system provides _____.

   The operating system provides an Interface between the user and the system.
3. The operating system coordinates _____.

   The operating system coordinates hardware components.
4. The operating system provides _____.

   The operating system provides an environment for software applications to function.
5. The operating system monitors _____.

   The operating system monitors system health and functionality.
6. The operating system provides _____.

   The operating system provides a file structure for data management.
7. Popular computer operating systems include _____.

   Popular computer operating systems include Windows, OS X, Linux, and Chrome OS.
8. A mobile operating system, also referred to as mobile OS, is _____.

   A mobile operating system, also referred to as mobile OS, is an operating system that operates a smartphone, tablet, PDA, or other mobile device.
9. Popular mobile operating systems include _____.

   Popular mobile operating systems include Android, iOS and to a lesser extent Windows Phone and Blackberry.
10. OS X, Linux, Android, Chrome OS and iOS are based on _____.

    OS X, Linux, Android, Chrome OS and iOS are based on Unix.
11. Popular distributions of Linux include _____.

    Popular distributions of Linux include Red Hat, Debian, Ubuntu, Linux Mint and Google's Android.
12. Open-source software is _____.

    Open-source software is computer software with its source code made available with a license in which the copyright holder provides the rights to study, change and distribute the software to anyone and for any purpose.
13. Proprietary software or closed source software is _____.

    Proprietary software or closed source software is computer software licensed under exclusive legal right of the copyright holder with the intent that the licensee is given the right to use the software only under certain conditions, and restricted from other uses, such as modification, sharing, studying, redistribution, or reverse engineering.
14. 64-bit processors and operating systems support _____, while 32-bit operating systems are limited to _____.

    64-bit processors and operating systems support integer values over 18 quintillion and memory addresses up to 16 EiB (exbibytes), while 32-bit operating systems are limited to integer values over 2 billion and memory addresses up to 4 GiB (gigabytes or gibibytes).

Assessments

• Flashcards: Quizlet: IT Fundamentals - Operating Systems
• Quiz: Quizlet: IT Fundamentals - Operating Systems

See Also

• Computer Software
• Using an Operating System

References

Type classification: this is a lesson resource.

Completion status: this resource is considered to be complete.

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