Operating System
The software that manages the computer system as a whole is called the operating system. The overall control of the system can be classified into three functions: the input/out functions consisting of keyboard input and screen output&sbquo and disk memory management. These are job management&sbquo task management and data management. This is called the operating system because it controls the basic management functions shared and utilized by most applications. Accordingly&sbquo it can also be called system software. The purpose of the software is to improve the efficiency of basic management. Operating systems have six objects and have progressed in accordance with the data processing ability of the computer it self. These comprise improvements in processing ability&sbquo the shortening of response time&sbquo program productivity&sbquo expandability of functions&sbquo improvement in reliability and ease of use. By developing these objectives and utilizing OS functions&sbquo much labor can be eliminated form program development and uniform application operability can be realized. The OS can accommodate differences in hardware specifications so that application software developed for a given OS can be used on any computer that runs that OS. The most prevalent OS for the personal computer is Microsoft's Windows series&sbquo which occupies a 90% or greater share of the market. Designers use the Mac OS by Apple Computer for DTP and as an authoring tool. Recently&sbquo Windows is using an OS operating format that closely resembles the Mac OS Graphic User Interface (GUI) with its menu bar and icon operation. The Engineer Work Station (EWS) used by corporate servers and academic organizations employs UNIX type operating systems such as Free BSD&sbquo the freely distributed Linux&sbquo as well as other UNIX type operating system made by various companies. The Mac OS X is an operating system that aims to work with UNIX systems. Originally&sbquo it came about thought NeXT STEP and then Open Step&sbquo derived form March. With the Palm OS&sbquo the operating system for the Palm Top computers&sbquo we see the advent of an operating systems specializing in mobile performance&sbquo such as a handwritten input function. The history of the operating system is the development and evolution of the form in which the computer system is used. Learning about the OS form its beginnings to the present is linked to the understanding of its fundamental importance. The evolution of the operating system most plainly tells the story of computing technology advancement.