PURPOSE OF OPERATING SYSTEMS.

WHERE MIGHT YOU FIND AN OPERATING SYSTEM?You can find Operating Systems on most common desktop computers - example. windows, OS X, Linux.On all satnavs, most network servers, mobile phones – example. Blackberry, Android, IPhones. Games consoles and most cars.

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WHAT ARE THE MAIN FUCTIONS OF AN OPERATING SYSTEMS?The main functions of an operating systems are processor management, memory management, device management, storage management and user interface.

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PURPOSE OF OPERATING SYSTEMS.

WHAT ROLE DOES THE OS PLAY IN MANAGING THE PROCESSOR?The processor can only do one thing at a time. Although it makes you believe that it is doing several things at once.The OS has to switch between different applications thousands of times a second making sure that each process and application receives enough of the processor's time to work properly.

WHAT IS VIRTUAL MEMORY?The OS manages virtual memory , this is how it can run more applications than it has RAM for.With this the computer can run more applications than it has memory for. E.g...If a computer was running a word document and wanted to load a spread sheet at the same time and there was not enough RAM then the OS uses the hard disc as virtual RAM.

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PURPOSE OF OPERATING SYSTEMS.

WHAT IS A FILE ALLOCATION TABLE?This is a table that the operating systems uses to locate files on a disk. A file may be divided into many sections that are scattered around the disk.

HOW DOES A BUFFER WORK?The OS makes use of queues and buffers, special storage facilities. The OS will instruct a buffer to continue taking input from device, but stops sending data to CPU while the process is suspended.

PURPOSE OF OPERATING SYSTEMS.

WHAT IS A DEVICE DRIVER?The operating system needs to communicate with the various hardware components which make up the computer. This is programs called drivers.Drivers are translation programs which convert the messages from the OS into messages that the hardware device can understand.

WHAT IS APPLICATION INTERFACE AND USER INTERFACE?Application interface is very similar to how the drivers provide software to make use of hardware without having to know every detail of the hardware's operation, application interfaces let application programmers use functions of the computer and operating system without having to keep track of all the details in the CPU's operation.User interface brings interaction between a user and the computer. The user interface is a program or set of programs that sits as a layer above the OS.