If there is no OS, then Linux Live CD is better!
olegmaster
without an operating system, a computer is a pile of metal and plastic. it is obvious that without the OS, nowhere. another thing is that now there are attempts to place the operating system directly in the BIOS. for example, Asus \\\\\ "sewed \\\\\" Linux into the BIOS for one of the motherboard models. due to this, loading takes less than 10 seconds. and for surfing the Internet, even in the absence of a hard drive - the option is quite acceptable. the sources of such a BIOS are available, if you wish, you can adjust it \\\\\ "for yourself \\\\\". there is a minus of course - in the update (no one will dare to reflash the BIOS every day), but on the other hand, there is nothing to take from such a computer). plus you can always install a full-fledged operating system.
Mikhail Flenov
All this is clear. Which is better is also not important. I am worried that this topic was raised not on anecdote.ru, but on zdnet.com, where there should be seemingly smart people and should understand that the OS is not MediaPlayer or Internet Explorer.
Lizard
I see that olegmaster cannot write comments without Linux ads :). It must be said that \ "And in Linux there is ... \". Do not be offended, but at such moments you resemble the Linux guy from the videos that Misha posted a month ago. Be more simple.
olegmaster
Lizard, we are all different: someone is simpler, someone is even simpler) And Torvalds pays me for advertising Linux, uncle 😉
Alexo
without an operating system, a computer is a pile of metal and plastic. it is obvious that without the OS, nowhere. another thing is that now there are attempts to place the operating system directly in the BIOS. for example, Asus \\\ "sewed \\\" Linux into BIOS for one of the motherboard models. due to this, loading takes less than 10 seconds. and for surfing the Internet, even in the absence of a hard drive - the option is quite acceptable. the sources of such a BIOS are available, if you wish, you can adjust it \\\ "for yourself \\\". there is a minus of course - in the update (no one will dare to reflash the BIOS every day), but on the other hand, there is nothing to take from such a computer). plus you can always install a full-fledged operating system.
Incorrect information, for a linux there is a separate microcircuit and so that it was needed there, use a utility from Windows to push it there.
OS should be
Hmm, Michael, I agree with you that the idea is utopian and very useless. I am completely satisfied with Windows, and even if some beast appears in the face without an operating system, I won't even look at it. And Ofice 2007 from microsoft, it's just a masterpiece, it's made so dynamically and conveniently, it's fantastic. Not a single open source project (something like an office) compares even 1% in functionality with office 2007. I'm starting to understand that fighting MS is useless and unnecessary, because the guys know their stuff at the level of mega-experts. As a result, we have super-convenient systems from MS and personally I will never use any text editors from third-party developers, because compared to office 2007 (in particular Word 2007), their division is absolutely crap (and even worse). MS Foreve.
P.S. I was very impressed by the functionality of Office 2007 (I could not even imagine that something like this could be programmed, very cool). I started digging deeper into the 2007 office and discovered the powerful possibilities that simplify everyday life. All that is not MS IMHO crap.
Overdrive
It will be a little expensive to create such software. Some kind of nonsense. That guy's brains obviously melted from the heat =)
olegmaster
Alexo, what are you talking about? answered the entire message as if every word was incorrect information. proof links to the studio)
Mikhail Flenov
Alexo pointed out exactly what was wrong. And the fact that I answered everything does not mean that every word there is wrong. I don’t even know why he did it and at first even thought not to accept the answer, because it would not look beautiful.
Alexo
olegmaster
Motherboard ASUS P5Q3 Deluxe can surprise with one more unique property - integrated Express Gate flash drive.
And there is no point in giving links, you can just buy a board and see 🙂
olegmaster
Alexo, and I somewhere claimed that there is no integrated flash memory in it? oO
Alexo
olegmaster
Well, actually:
another thing is that now there are attempts to place the operating system directly in the BIOS. for example, Asus \ "sewn \" Linux into bios for one of the motherboard models.
Express Gate has nothing to do with the BIOS and initially it is not even sewn onto the intended microcircuit, for its installation you need an OS, at least DOS.
Another thing is EFI for MSI, this is really a Mini OS in BIOS (but this is just a new generation of BIOS)
Sashka
I think that it would be very convenient to run programs without an operating system, because some people need a narrow range of focus in their work, this simplifies and improves the quality of work in a professional sense, maybe for an ordinary user this is unnecessary, but for example, for sound engineers, etc., it would be even very by the way, a person must understand and see what processes of action interfere with his work, this is the beauty of transparency in a narrow focus spectrum…. You don’t mix green borscht with red borscht and don’t fall asleep on top with an abundant amount of Olivier, here it’s just the same, but we have enough intermediaries in corruption too)))
Computers Problem situation: Can a computer work without an OS?
Topic 1.1 General information about operating systems
Section 1. BASES OF THE THEORY OF OPERATING SYSTEMS
Software classification. Operating system concept. Purpose and functions of the operating system. Composition, interaction of the basic components of the operating system. Types of operating systems.
Under OS usually understood as a complex of control and processing programs, which, on the one hand, acts as an interface between the computer hardware and the user with his tasks, and on the other hand, is intended for the most efficient use of the resources of the computing system and the organization of reliable computing.
Any of the components of the applied software of the computing system necessarily runs under the control of the OS.
Figure 1 shows the generalized structure of the software of a computing system. It can be seen that none of the software components, with the exception of the OS itself, has direct access to the computer hardware. Even users interact with their programs through the OS interface. Any commands, before entering the application program, first pass through the OS.
Fig. 1. Generalized structure of the software of a computing system
Main OS functions:
1. Receiving from the user (or from the operator of the system) tasks or commands formulated in the appropriate language - in the form of directives (commands) of the operator or in the form of instructions (a kind of commands) using the appropriate manipulator (for example, using the mouse) - and their processing;
2. Reception and execution of program requests to start, pause, stop other programs;
4. Initiation of the program (transfer of control to it, as a result of which the processor executes the program);
5. Identification of all programs and data;
6. Ensuring the operation of file management systems (FMS) and / or 'database management systems (DBMS), which can dramatically increase the efficiency of all software;
7. Providing a multiprogramming mode, that is, the execution of two or more programs on one processor, creating the appearance of their simultaneous execution;
8. Providing functions for the organization and management of all I / O operations;
9. Distribution of memory, and in most modern systems and organization of virtual memory;
10. Scheduling and scheduling tasks in accordance with the specified strategy and service disciplines;
11. Organization of mechanisms for the exchange of messages and data between running programs;
12. Protection of one program from the influence of another; ensuring the safety of data;
13. Provision of services in case of partial system failure;
14. Ensuring the operation of programming systems with the help of which users prepare their programs.
Operating system classification
The first and main classification is based on the degree of centralization (connectivity) of the operating system (Fig. 3).
Rice. 3. Classification by type of centralization
This classification takes into account the characteristics of the hardware platforms for which operating systems are created.
1. Centralized(local) operating systems - manage the resources of a single local computer:
· Uniprocessor systems;
· Multiprocessor systems.
2. Network OS. Such systems provide the network user with some kind of virtual machine, which is easier to work with than with real network equipment.
PC without operating system
In this case, the user always performs special operations to access network resources. Networked systems include additional networked facilities, consisting of three basic components:
· server part operating system - means of providing local resources and services for general use;
· client part operating system - means of requesting access to remote resources and services;
· vehicles operating system - a means of ensuring the transfer of messages between computers on the network.
3. Distributed OS. Οʜᴎ provide the network user with a single centralized virtual machine, which gives the maximum degree of transparency of network resources. Distributed systems unite all computers on a network to work in close cooperation. When working in such systems, the user who launches the application does not know which computer it is actually running on.
OS classification according to the peculiarities of resource management algorithms has the following aspects.
Support for multiplayer mode.
· Single-user operating systems do not provide a means of protecting one user's information from unauthorized access by another user. Such systems do not provide resource sharing capabilities.
· Multiuser operating systems have such information protection tools.
Multithreading support. Multithreaded operating systems make it possible to share processor time not only between processes, but also between separate branches of processes - threads .
Support for multiprocessing. Multiprocessor operating systems implement more sophisticated resource management algorithms that provide the ability to work with multiple processors.
The specificity of the hardware is usually reflected in the specificity of the operating system. In the functional classification of computers, each of the types has certain properties that have a direct impact on the properties of operating systems.
The following groups of operating systems are currently of the greatest interest:
· Operating systems for powerful servers;
· Operating systems for workstations and personal computers;
· Operating systems for pocket computers.
As you know, in order to fully install an operating system on a computer, you need to be aware of the order. Why is this causing some problems? Yes, because you will either have to look for another hard drive, or delete your operating system and install another (It is highly discouraged to install 2 systems on 1 physical disk). And this still no one guarantees that the installed OS will work better than the previous one.
So what should a person do who just wants to test another operating system and not demolish their own? There is a special software shell that virtualizes the installation and operation of the OS in an environment limited to the running system.
How will the games work if I buy a computer without an OS?
Simply put, you can install any other operating system right in your Windows that you have in your window. Most importantly, when using the OS in a window, your computer does not suffer in any way and does not get clogged with a bunch of unnecessary files - you can delete the virtual OS at any time and you will not have any conflicts with the working OS.
This software shell is called VirtualBox. You can download this program below. It is distributed free of charge and has an intuitive interface.
If you wish, you can visit the programs for instructions and access to the latest versions of the program.
The process of booting the computer is briefly described in the article "Turning on the PC" in the BIOS section. Let's take a closer look at this process.
System initialization using BIOS
- Pressing the power button. When the Power button is turned on, supply voltages are supplied to the elements of the motherboard; the clock generator is started on the Power Good signal; a reset signal is sent to the processor, which sets it to its original state. The system BIOS programs start to work.
- BIOS check. The checksum of the system programs in the ROM is in one of the cells. After startup, the checksum is recalculated and compared with the reference value.
A computer without an operating system
- Processor identification. The motherboard provides the ability to install various processor models. The BIOS submits a request to identify the processor and, based on the response received, determines the type of processor, frequency, voltage, etc.
- Setting up basic elements. The basic components of the motherboard are initialized and tested: direct memory access block, timer, hardware interrupt block.
- RAM testing. The type of memory modules, their volume, organization is determined; the first 64 KB of RAM is being tested.
- Organization of working structures of RAM. The area under the BIOS is highlighted, interrupts are configured.
- Checking CMOS memory and battery. If the CMOS battery is faulty, all BIOS settings in the memory are lost. Loading of the last configuration becomes impossible, which is indicated on the monitor screen. It is possible to load the standard factory BIOS values.
- Initialization of motherboard devices. It searches and configures boot devices (hard disk, CD drive, FDD), boot process controls (keyboard, mouse), input-output devices (COM, LPT). Appropriate interrupt lines are assigned to devices.
- PnP. Devices connected through the system connectors are identified. Devices are allocated resources and interrupts.
- Turn on the video system. The Video BIOS is launched, which sets the video controller to VGA or EGA mode, which all video controllers support. After that, the video controller is ready to work.
- Issuance of a message to the monitor screen. The first message appears on the monitor screen: the manufacturer of the BIOS, the type and frequency of the processor, the type and amount of RAM.
- RAM testing. A random check of unused RAM is performed.
- Initializing the floppy controller.
- Hard disk controller initialization.
- Initializing the keyboard. The keyboard controller is turned on, the contact matrix is tested, the time parameters of the key polling and the NumLock mode are set. The keyboard is ready for use. The screen displays a message about the possibility of using the BIOS Setup program (usually the Del key is used for this).
- Search for devices with their own BIOS. If such devices are found, then control is transferred to the BIOS programs of these devices and their initialization occurs.
- Transferring control to the OS loader. An Int 19h software interrupt is used to look for an OS loader (Boot Record) on disk drives. It must be located on one of the devices (HDD, CD, FDD, SCSI). The location of the bootloader is the same everywhere. After the OS loader is found, control is transferred to it.
The operating system (OS) kernel is loaded into RAM, after which the main part of the OS is located in the system memory.
BIOS performs "rough" tuning of the computer system. Its main task is to "breathe" life into computer hardware, regardless of its specific modification. New models of processors, motherboards, chipsets and other devices are released almost quarterly. It is impossible to immediately lay down the identification of all this diversity in BIOS. Yes, it is not necessary. The main task of the BIOS is to make the initial initialization of the equipment and start the operation of the operating system, which itself performs the "fine" tuning of the computer components.
At the dawn of the development of personal computers, configuring the system required appropriate qualifications from users. Surely, experienced users still remember files such as config.exe and autoexec.bat, which had to be adjusted correctly in order for the "cart" to go normally.
What to do was the flip side of the IBM open architecture coin. It was necessary to pay for the convenience of obtaining a computer of the required configuration with knowledge of its correct setup. Such inconveniences frightened off unprepared users, therefore, PC manufacturers could not put up with this state of affairs for a long time. Manufacturers of computer equipment and software developers have tried to remove the need to configure their computer as much as possible from the consumer. For the first time, a new system setup procedure was applied in the OS Windows- the operating system itself "polled" the connected devices and configured them correctly:
- a list of devices requiring software configuration was determined;
- were looking for the appropriate programs for the correct operation of such devices;
- the procedure of software initialization of devices and their adjustment to operating modes was carried out.
The task, in general, is quite difficult. To facilitate its implementation, chipset manufacturers and software developers have agreed and established specific rules for the boot mechanism. Now the components of the computer system requiring initialization and configuration were completed with the appropriate software (initialization programs, drivers, INF files):
- Initializing programs enter control codes for specific addresses (one-time procedure);
- Drivers- these are programs that control the operation of the controller of the corresponding device;
- INF file- a batch file that helps the OS to organize the procedure for setting up a specific computer unit.
Initial loading of Windows is carried out under the control of a batch file, which contains a list of programs and drivers executed during the OS boot process. This is the so-called "blank" of the batch file, which should be converted into a working version during the initial installation of Windows on a computer, according to the hardware installed on this computer.
Windows has a certain set of universal drivers (which are constantly updated with the release of a new version of the OS) that allow you to configure all system components.
For the sake of fairness, it should be said that universal Windows drivers are far from always able to optimally configure a particular device, which reduces the performance and stability of the entire computer system. Therefore, all devices come with their own installation software (usually on a CD). When installing a new device for the first time, Windows may ask you to insert a disc with the appropriate drivers to properly set up the new device. It is also recommended to keep an eye on the release of a new version of drivers (in which errors have been fixed, work optimizations have been made, etc.) for the chipset of your motherboard and update them regularly.
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If you answer the question who is smarter: a person or a computer, the first thing that comes to mind is that computers are certainly capable of receiving and processing information much faster than us (namely, those very millions of operations per second).
What does a computer do better than humans
Advanced chess programs can calculate all possible game combinations in just a split second and build the most successful strategy. When it comes to people, we make mistakes much more often when performing such tasks.
Computers have other benefits as well. more reliable, it contains a huge amount of information.
In fact, to be honest, human memory contains incomparably much more information than any computer, but it is so arranged that not all information hidden in it can be used at the right time.
But computers do not suffer from such a disadvantage, and at any moment they are ready to use all the information stored in their memory.
If you do not take into account possible bugs () and system failures, computer calculations are characterized by a high degree of accuracy.
In what way is a person better than a computer?
On the other hand, humans are superior to machines in some ways. We perform tasks based not only on intelligence, but also on such abstract concepts as mind and life experience.
Computers receive information from electronic libraries. However, they are not able to process it in such a way that the result is a life-like experience.
Each of us is well aware that it is our own experience that is sometimes very difficult for us. Although they say that it would be good to learn from other people's mistakes, but in fact you have to, basically, learn from your own.
People have other abstract traits as well - creativity, inspiration, imagination. Human can
- compose a poem,
- write and play music,
- Sing a song,
- to draw a picture.
Computers can cope with some of these tasks, but they do not have the innate ability to be creative.
A.S. Pushkin figuratively wrote about this in 1829 (the classics are always relevant, including in the era of the computer and the Internet):
How many wonderful discoveries we have
Prepare the spirit of enlightenment
And Experience, son of difficult mistakes,
And Genius, friend of paradoxes,
And Chance, God the inventor.
What is intelligence?
Shlomo Maital, professor and senior research fellow at the Israel Institute of Technology, argues that intelligence has two main components.
- One of them is the ability to learn,
- the second is the ability to solve problems.
In these areas, computers can definitely be smarter than humans.
Modern machines learn much faster than humans. For example, an IBM Watson computer can study and memorize all of the available research in the field of oncology. No one person is able to keep so much information in his head. With in-depth analysis, Watson can propose a treatment regimen for a rare form of cancer - and it will work.
In the article "Will robots be smarter than humans anytime soon?" Maital gives another example that points to a high level of artificial intelligence. On February 10, 1996, Microsoft's Deep Blue computer defeated world champion Garry Kasparov in the first of six rounds, and a year later took over the champion completely. So the computer is still smarter than a person? “Yes and no,” writes Professor Maital.
No, the computer is not smarter, because speed is still not intelligence. The victory of the machine was due to its ability to calculate millions of possible moves in a second.
At the same time - yes, the computer is smarter, because it was able to correctly analyze these moves and choose the ones that ultimately led the computer to victory over Kasparov.
But the cars of people win so far only where it is necessary to process as much information as possible in a short period of time. And this is not entirely analogous to the term “think”, it’s rather “quickly and quickly sort out ALL possible options”, do a lot of “stupid”, sometimes meaningless operations, but very, very quickly in the hope that somewhere in the billionth or trillionth (and then on septillion - 10 to the 24th power!), a suitable solution will be found.
So far, only a person can truly “think”, without this “fussy” enumeration. And it's not a fact that someday computers will learn to "think" in full understanding of the meaning of this word.
Can a machine have a mind?
Currently, we can train computers to perform tasks that are difficult or almost impossible for humans: for example, visual recognition, which involves processing a huge amount of data and an endless series of repetitive operations.
However, experts agree that in the general understanding of mind, creativity and consciousness, people are above the computer.
We can create a creative program, load a database of works of art into it, and get a new unique work at the end. But this is not creativity in the sense in which we are used to understanding it, but only its imitation. More precisely, it will be a job that follows the instructions laid down. It cannot be precisely called reason.
As soon as we unravel the neurocode that controls the cells in our brain, we can create an artificial analogue of this structure, and then artificial intelligence will move to a new level.
This will allow us to get away from the already pretty "fed up" computers, on which humanity is "hopelessly stuck" so far. And then ... seemingly endless prospects are seen.
But "things are still there", we do not know the neurocode, and when we will decipher it, it is not clear. The same computers with their billions of operations per second, alas, cannot yet help us in decoding this code.
Some scientists, notably Elon Musk, have warned of the potential dangers of artificial intelligence, which will lead to something like a machine uprising. Indeed, in practice, machine intelligence may be beyond our understanding, and then we will not be able to find out whether our values coincide with the computer or diverge.
Although, what kind of problems can a car have with people? Unwillingness to help us? What else can they do besides being helpful helpers? It is difficult to imagine this yet.
Perhaps, of course, laziness will become the main problem of these supercomputers, because, as you know, laziness is, among other things, the engine of progress.
However, you can philosophize on this topic as much as you like, and this will be only the most general reasoning, nothing more, at our current level of understanding of this problem.
Outcomes
Thinking about who is smarter - a man or a machine - do not forget that computers are created to improve our lives, like the same IBM Watson, which helps to fight a deadly disease.
Or, say, military robotic machines, they save the lives of those who still have to risk themselves while performing important missions. Better "into the heat" than risking people. There are no limits to the development of artificial intelligence in this field; by the way, it is developing very well there, by leaps and bounds.
The range of tasks that computers perform better than humans are gradually expanding. Our job is to help them learn, because life is not competition, but cooperation.
And computers will respond to us in the same way, becoming more and more indispensable helpers of people and, I hope, without machines beginning to dictate their terms to us, "homo sapiens", "reasonable people"!
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Let's say you intend to design a computer that works in the same way as a highly developed mammalian brain. To what extent do modern technologies allow it?
After all, there are supercomputers that have been able to decipher the human genome, beat the world chess champion, and find the largest prime number, including 13 million digits. But according to psychiatrist Giulio Tononi, who is working on the "cognitive computer" project, making a computer as "powerful" and flexible as the relatively small mammalian brain is much more difficult than it might seem.
Tononi is just one of the participants in this major research project, which brought together leading experts from many universities and companies in the United States and received a grant of $ 4.9 million at the first stage of the work. He, along with programmers from IBM, will deal with the creation of software, while specialists in the field of nanotechnology and supercomputer design will take over the "hardware" of the future "cognitive computer."
The task before them is really difficult: a computer must be able, like the brain, to work with a multitude of parallel and constantly changing data streams, and to learn, analyzing them, isolating general schemes and moments, making logical decisions. There is a second condition: the entire system should not be larger than the brain of a small mammal, and it should consume no more than a 100-watt light bulb. It would seem incredible? But our brain is just like that! (In spite of everything, the brain is the most energy-intensive organ of our body, it takes 1/5 of all generated "powers."
"Since the brain is capable of this, then we must show that we can repeat it," says Tononi. "What our brain is good at is the flexibility of its work, it instantly learns from experience and adapts to different situations."
It is worth saying that although the project as a whole is undoubtedly inspired by the amazing abilities of the brain, none of its participants even thinks about completely recreating the most complex and multidimensional structure of connections between billions of its neurons. They intend to single out the critical ones among them, those without which their computer cannot do.
And this path, in turn, leads them to a new challenge: to understand which structures in the brain are responsible for its incredible ability to learn from experience. Mechanisms associated with choice and reward can also be considered important: they provide orientation in the flow of external data, participate in memorization.
For example, when the body is faced with a new stressful event, the appropriate neurotransmitters are released into the bloodstream of the brain - and this chemical message is received by each of the nerve cells in the brain. So, a cat that landed on a hot stove not only hurriedly jumps off it, but also remembers the actions that led to this so as not to repeat them in the future. According to Tononi, the ideal "artificial brain" should be just as flexible, able to change with new experiences.
Scientists are confident that the modern possibilities of nanotechnology are quite possible to accommodate a sufficient number of electrical elements in a small volume - with a density at least the same as that of neurons in the brain. Even so, the challenge is colossal.
Even the smallest mammal's brain is capable of amazingly efficient work, especially given its size and low "power consumption". “I’ll be happy if we can replicate the ability of the mouse brain,” says Tononi, “and then we’ll move on to the brains of rats, cats and monkeys.” The scientist is not yet talking about the human brain.
What if at one point the discrete card is out of order and you need a PC to work? After all, the device is broken, and the motherboard does not allow you to turn on the computer without a video card. In this case, there are several ways to help you get around this ban.
Integrated graphics
Today, almost every PC is equipped with not only a discrete video card, but also an integrated one. To check if your PC has support for integrated graphics, look at the back of the system unit, where all the wires are connected. The motherboard must have a special blue or white connector.
The cache requirements for uncompressed formats are significantly less since only the waveform representation is stored here. For slow hard drives, you need to wait a lot longer until a waveform is displayed or compressed audio is played. Cache settings can be done in presets under the media.
Despite the lack of slots, you can manage multiple monitors on one laptop. But even for high resolutions this rate is not enough. Therefore, the processor must work correctly during data processing, which significantly slows down the computer.
Laptop users do not have to disassemble and pull it out; if the external card fails, switching to the integrated one occurs automatically.
BIOS settings
If you do not have an integrated card and in order to start the computer without a video card, you need to change several settings in the BIOS.
How does a graphics card work?
A computer without a video card is unthinkable. This is because this additional component creates images and the processing power of the processor becomes visible to the user.
What video card is on your computer
When you buy a new computer, it is not always necessary to install the most powerful and expensive graphics card. First of all, if you only use word processing and others, or look at it occasionally, the entry-level model is sufficient.Get the best performance with your graphics card
However, if you want to get the best performance out of your graphics card, you need a so-called dedicated graphics card. It has its own local memory and has a special task of processing purely graphic data. Above all, when you are using, but also when editing images or videos, powerful graphics cards have significant advantages.
Let's analyze the process in more detail:
But if you do not have a video card, the image will not be displayed on the monitor.
PCI video card
In order for a computer to work without a video card, as an option, you can purchase the simplest and cheapest video card. It will be quite enough for simple tasks (surfing the Internet, listening to music and working with text editors).
Topic 1.1 General information about operating systems
Section 1. BASES OF THE THEORY OF OPERATING SYSTEMS
Software classification. Operating system concept. Purpose and functions of the operating system. Composition, interaction of the main components of the operating system. Types of operating systems.
Under OS usually understand a complex of control and processing programs, which, on the one hand, acts as an interface between the computer hardware and the user with his tasks, and on the other hand, is intended for the most efficient use of the resources of the computing system and the organization of reliable computing.
Any of the components of the applied software of the computing system necessarily runs under the control of the OS.
Figure 1 shows the generalized structure of the software of a computing system. It can be seen that none of the software components, with the exception of the OS itself, has direct access to the computer hardware. Even users interact with their programs through the OS interface. Any commands, before entering the application program, first pass through the OS.
Fig. 1. Generalized structure of the software of a computing system
Main OS functions:
1. Receiving from the user (or from the operator of the system) tasks or commands formulated in the appropriate language - in the form of directives (commands) of the operator or in the form of instructions (a kind of commands) using the appropriate manipulator (for example, using the mouse), - and their treatment;
2. Reception and execution of program requests to start, pause, stop other programs;
4. Initiation of the program (transfer of control to it, as a result of which the processor executes the program);
5. Identification of all programs and data;
6. Ensuring the operation of file management systems (FMS) and / or "database management systems (DBMS), which can dramatically increase the efficiency of all software;
7. Providing a multiprogramming mode, that is, the execution of two or more programs on one processor, creating the appearance of their simultaneous execution;
8. Providing functions for the organization and management of all I / O operations;
9. Allocation of memory, and in most modern systems and the organization of virtual memory;
10. Scheduling and scheduling tasks in accordance with the specified strategy and service disciplines;
11. Organization of mechanisms for the exchange of messages and data between running programs;
12. Protection of one program from the influence of another; ensuring the safety of data;
13. Provision of services in case of partial system failure;
14. Ensuring the operation of programming systems with the help of which users prepare their programs.
Operating system classification
The first and main classification is based on the degree of centralization (connectivity) of the operating system (Fig. 3).
Rice. 3. Classification by type of centralization
This classification takes into account the characteristics of the hardware platforms for which operating systems are created.
1. Centralized(local) operating systems - manage the resources of a single local computer:
· Uniprocessor systems;
· Multiprocessor systems.
2. Network OS. Such systems provide the network user with some kind of virtual machine, which is easier to work with than with real network equipment. However, the user always performs special operations to access network resources. Networked systems include complementary networked facilities, consisting of three main components:
· server part operating system - means of providing local resources and services for general use;
· client part operating system - means of requesting access to remote resources and services;
· vehicles operating system - a means of ensuring the transfer of messages between computers on the network.
3. Distributed OS. They provide the network user with a single, centralized virtual machine that maximizes visibility into network resources. Distributed systems unite all computers on the network to work in close cooperation. When working in such systems, the user who launches the application does not know which computer it is actually running on.
OS classification according to the peculiarities of resource management algorithms has the following aspects.
Support for multiplayer mode.
· Single-user operating systems do not provide a means of protecting one user's information from unauthorized access by another user. Such systems do not provide resource sharing capabilities.
· Multiuser operating systems have such information protection tools.
Multithreading support. Multithreaded operating systems make it possible to share processor time not only between processes, but also between separate branches of processes - threads .
Support for multiprocessing. Multiprocessor operating systems implement more sophisticated resource management algorithms that provide the ability to work with multiple processors.
The specificity of the hardware is usually reflected in the specificity of the operating system. In the functional classification of computers, each of the types has certain properties that have a direct impact on the properties of operating systems.
The following groups of operating systems are currently of the greatest interest:
· Operating systems for powerful servers;
· Operating systems for workstations and personal computers;
· Operating systems for pocket computers.
