Types and Function of Operating System

What is an Operating System (O.S.)?
It is the heart and soul of a computer. It is the basis on which all software applications rest. It takes care of little details, such as reading a data from a disk, interpreting the keystrokes and so on.
An amazing aspect of operating systems is how varied they are in accomplishing these tasks. Mainframe operating systems are designed primarily to optimize utilization of hardware. Personal computer (PC) operating systems support complex games, business applications, and everything in between. Operating systems for handheld computers are designed to provide an environment in which a user can easily interface with the computer to execute programs. Thus, some operating systems are designed to be convenient, others to be efficient, and others some combination of the two.
A computer system can be divided into four components: the hardware, the operating system, the application programs and the users. An operating system is similar to a government, it simply provides an environment within which other programs can do useful work.

Components of a Computer System
An operating system provides the environment within which programs are executed.
An operating system is the brains behind the computer to extend the functionality of the machine and to manage all the resources allocated to it. It 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.
The most commonly used operating systems are, Windows 95, Windows 98, Windows Me, Windows NT, Windows 2000, Windows XP, Windows Vista, Windows 7, Apple Macintosh, Unix, etc.
The essential job of O.S. can be divided into three categories:
1. Control of Hardware: Controls how the computer resources are used and allocation them such as CPU time, main memory, secondary storage, and input and output devices for use.
2. Manage Software: Controls how programs are run, and manages software resources of the system and how they are used.
3. Interact with users: Helps the average users put their PCs to work.
The components of an operating system all exist in order to make the different parts of a computer work together. All user software needs to go through the operating system in order to use any of the hardware, whether it be as simple as a mouse or keyboard or as complex as an Internet component.