Operating Systems, 2nd Edition

An Operating System acts as a communication bridge (interface) between the user and computer hardware. The purpose of an operating system is to provide a platform on which a user can execute programs in a convenient and efficient manner. This controls the memory and processes of the machine, as well as all its software and hardware. It also helps you to communicate with your machine without understanding how to speak your computer's language. Not only does the operating system act as the administrator of many computer processes, but it also enables users to take advantage of the power of the various sound, graphics and memory assets within the hardware infrastructure of the computer. The main task an operating system carries out is the allocation of resources and services, such as the allocation of memory, devices, processors, and information. The operating system also includes programs to manage these resources, such as a traffic controller, a scheduler, memory management module, I/O programs, and a file system. For the vast majority of users today, a machine would be worthless if it did not include some kind of operating system. In the early days of personal computing, single-tasking operating systems could run only one application at a time, which was often inconvenient. To switch between applications, you had to quit one application before you could start the second. But today, multitasking operating systems are now the norm. Multitasking operating systems enable a user to work with two or more applications at the same time.

This updated edition contains ten chapters. The edition describes the fundamental concepts behind operating systems, and examines the ways that design goals can be achieved. This edition will introduce the core concepts of operating systems, such as processes and threads, scheduling, synchronization, memory management, file systems, input and output device management and security.