An operating system is a collection of system software that manages computer hardware resources, controls the operation of other programs, and provides an interactive interface for users. The operating system is a key component of a computer system, responsible for managing and configuring memory, prioritizing the supply and demand of system resources, controlling input and output devices, operating the network, and managing the file system, among other basic tasks.
There are three main types of operating systems by application: desktop operating systems, server operating systems, and embedded operating systems.
I. Desktop operating systems
Desktop operating systems are mainly used on personal computers. Personal computer market from the hardware architecture is mainly divided into two camps, PC and Mac, from the software can be divided into two main categories, respectively, Unix-like operating systems and Windows operating systems:
1, Unix and Unix-like operating systems: Mac OS X, Linux distributions (such as Debian, Ubuntu, Linux Mint, openSoft, Linux Mint, Linux Mint, Linux Mint, Linux Mint, Linux Mint, Linux Mint, Linux Mint, Linux Mint, Linux Mint, Linux Mint and Linux Mint). Linux Mint, openSUSE, Fedora, etc.);
2. Microsoft Windows operating systems: Windows XP, Windows Vista, Windows 7, Windows 8, Windows NT and so on.
II. Server operating systems
Server operating systems generally refer to operating systems installed on large computers, such as Web servers, application servers and database servers. Server operating systems are mainly concentrated in three major categories:
1. Unix series: SUN Solaris, IBM-AIX, HP-UX, FreeBSD, etc.
2. Linux series: Red Hat Linux, CentOS, Debian, Ubuntu, etc.
3, Windows series: Windows Server 2003, Windows Server 2008, Windows Server 2008 R2 and so on.
3. Embedded operating system
Embedded operating system is an operating system applied to embedded systems. Embedded systems are widely used in all aspects of life, covering a range from portable devices to large fixed installations, such as digital cameras, cell phones, tablet PCs, home appliances, medical devices, traffic lights, avionics and factory control equipment, etc. More and more embedded systems are installed with real-time operating systems.
Commonly used operating systems in the embedded field are embedded Linux, Windows Embedded, VxWorks, etc., as well as operating systems widely used in consumer electronics such as smartphones or tablets, such as Android, iOS, Symbian, Windows Phone and BlackBerry OS etc.
Main Functions:
The main functions of an operating system are resource management, program control and human-computer interaction. The resources of a computer system can be divided into two categories: device resources and information resources. Equipment resources refers to the hardware devices that make up the computer, such as the central processing unit, main memory, disk memory, printers, tape memory, monitors, keyboard input devices and mice. Information resources refers to a variety of data stored in the computer, such as files, program library, knowledge base, system software and application software.