Question

3.2 Comparing and contrasting components of an operating system

• File systems and features
• Features
• File management
• Services
• Processes
• Drivers
• Utilities
• Interfaces

Answer 1

These all are the basic components of the operating system and here is the explanation of the mentioned ones which will help us to compare and contrast these components:

File systems and features:

File system is a mechanism in the operating system that is used to recognize and optimise the files having data or information stored in them. With the help of this, the files are organised in the operating system in such a manner that user and hardware can get knowledge of the files specifically to use them efficiently. There are different types of file systems used worldwide varying from high speed systems to large storage systems, but here are the few examples:

• NTFS(A windows' major file system that offers high speed and security)
• HFS+(A MacOS file system who is good at saving the disk in case of failure)
• ext4(one of the Linux's file system)

Features:

1. Encryption and security.
2. Management of storage.
3. Organising files in efficient manner.
4. High speed and storage capacity.

File Management:

It basically is managing files involving naming, storing, organising, modifying, deleting, creating and any sort of manipulation that takes place inside the operating system with files having different extensions. It allows the user to update the data stored in the files as per his/her choice. Locating the files also becomes handy along with the processes of sharing and accsessing. The user can directly access any file from the folders/directories which are stored by the user early on with the help of file management feature.

Services:

In simple words; Services are provided by the operating system in order to make the system workable and convenient for the user to execute programs and operations. Services are also provided to the programs so that the user can get the favourable conditions and enviornment to execute them properly. There are many services offered by the operating system but here are the few most common services:

• Communication and Data sharing
• Complete Program Execution
• Error and bugs detection
• Security
• Input/Output Operations

Processes:

Any program that is being executed is called a process all the time until it has completed execution. A process includes many attributes like CPU, memory etc. In simple terms, whenever a user executes any program, it becomes process immediately holding many attributes. For smooth execution, the process is divided as a memory in four sections:

1. Text section
2. Data section
3. Heap
4. Stack

Drivers:

A driver is basically an application that allows the communication and interaction of the OS with the hardware devices. The hardware devices are connected to the computer bus through which the device driver communicates with them. The device drivers are dependent on the hardware and varies from specification to specification. Software components as well as physical hardware depends upon drivers a lot. Wrong selection of drivers can result in failure and no communication will then be established.

Utilities:

For troubleshooting and administration purposes, the operating systems compe up with utilities to help the user regularly as well as in hard times. It helps user to configure the system, monitor events taking place within the system, measure performance and all that good stuff. Here are some of the most commom examples of utilities given to user by Windows OS:

• Windows Registry Editor
• Windows Performance Monitor
• Windows Diagnostics
• Windows Task Manager (most common)

Interfaces:

The interface acts as a medium between the user and the operating system. Not only the operating system, the aqpplication software and system software in OS are also provided with the interface. UI basically allows the input from user(which is given by the user according to the interface) and oputput(which can change from one application to another). Two Types of Interfaces of Operating Systems are:

1. Graphical User Interface: It includes graphics and gramatical representation of the files in the from of icons which the user can point to them and access them by just clicking the mouse button. Example: Windows 10;MacOS etc.
2. Command Line Interface: In this, the user can access the information stored in the machine by typing in some specific commands related to that file or information. The user requires to have knowledge of all the commands and it is less user friendly than GUI. Example: MS-DOS,UNIX old OSs etc.