Operating+Systems

Operating Systems act as a layer that operates between the hardware and the software running on the computer. operating systems do the simple tasks such as recognising an input from a mouse or keyboard, sending out information to display it on a monitor and keeping track of all of the files and directories located on the hard drive. For larger systems it makes sure that different programs and users running at the same time do not interfere with each other. The operating system is also responsible for security, ensuring that unauthorized users do not access the system.

Operating systems provide asoftware platformon top of which other programs, called //application // //programs, // can run. The application programs must be written to run on top of a particular operating system. Your choice of operating system, therefore, determines to a great extent the applications you can run. ForPCs, the most popular operating systems are DOS,OS/2, and Windows, but others are available, such asLinux.

There are many types of different operating systems available, Which come in different versions and forms. The 2 biggest leading OS available is **Windows** (XP/Vista/7) & **Mac OS X** (Leopard/Snow leopard/Lion). But you can get hold of other Operating Systems like; **Acorn Computers, Amiga Inc. , Apollo Computer , Atari , BAE systems , BE inc. , Bell labs , Bull SAS , Burroghs Co-operation , DDC-1 inc. , Fujitsu , Google , Hewlett - Packard , Intel Corperation , IBM** And many many more.

Here's an example of the Desktop for a Windows 7 OS: