An operating system (OS) is a group of programs that handles computer hardware resources, and affords frequent services for application software. The operating system is the most significant kind of system software in a computer system. Devoid of an operating system, a user cannot run an application program resting on their computer, unless the application program is self booting.
Today’s operating systems are inclined to have graphical user interfaces (GUIs) that make use of pointing devices for input. A mouse is an instance of such a pointing appliance, as is a stylus. Frequently used operating systems for IBM-compatible personal computers consist of Microsoft Windows, Linux, and UNIX variations. Intended for Macintosh computers, Mac OS X, Linux, BSD, and several Windows variants are usually used.
Types of Operating Systems:-
- Real-time Operating System
- Multi-user Operating Systems
- Single-user Operating Systems
- Multi-tasking Operating Systems
- Single-tasking Operating Systems
- Distributed Operating System
- Embedded System
