A multinational organization has offered to donate computers to your school. The Board of governors has requested you to advise on the operating system to be used by providing answer the following questions.

​A multinational organization has offered to donate computers to your school.  The Board of governors has requested you to advise on the operating system to be used by providing answer the following questions.

Logo of Ubuntu operating system

​a) What is an operating system? (1mk)

System software that controls the computer system (hardware and other 
application software)

​b) State and briefly explain an two types of operating systems. (6mks)

• ​(a) Number of tasks
  • Single cask OS - allows only one task to be executed at a time.
  • Multitasking OS - allows more than one task to be executed.
• (b) Number of users
  • Single user operating system - designed for use by only one person at a time.
  • Multi-user operating system - allows more than one user to interactively use the computer at the same time.
• (c) User interface
  • Graphical user interface - makes use of rectangular application areas called windows and graphical objects known as icons through which commands are executed using pointing devices.
  • Menu driven - the user selects a command from the available options. Commands are invoked using a pointing device or using the keyboard.
  • Command line - the user types a command al the command prompt. The computer reads the typed command and executes it once the user presses the enter key or any other specified key on the keyboard.

​c) Briefly explain any four functions of an operating system. (8mks)

1. ​Job scheduling
   the operating system schedules jobs according to priorities. High priority jobs are allocated the CPU time slice first.
2. Input/output management
   the OS coordinates the operations of the various input and output devices.
3. Memory management
   the OS subdivides the main memory into partitions called page frames. Likewise.  Processes are subdivided into pages which arc swapped between the main memory and the virtual memory on secondary storage.
4. Error handling
   the OS performs error checking, sends error messages and suggests correction measures.
5. Security
   the OS provides security to data and information.
6. Resource allocation
   the OS uses unique device identification number called interrupt Request (IRQ) number to identify the resource being requested by a process.
7. Communication control and management
   the OS is responsible for the communication among various devices within and outside the computer system.

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