Unit 2 P2 updated

An operating system is a layer of control which allows the user to interface between the hardware and the software. The operating system is in charge of managing the computer and it allows the user to run software. 

There are many different operating systems available, but the most popular ones are Windows, Mac OS X and Linux. 

Most modern operating systems have a GUI and multitasking features. A GUI is graphic user interface and it is what you see on your monitor, it allows you to easily access installed programs. Multitasking is when you run two or more programs at a given time, early systems did not support this, so when you were running painting software and you wanted to change to text editor you would have to close the painting software in order to run the other piece of software.
Modern computers allow you to run almost limitless software at the same time as a result of large amounts of RAM and powerful multi core CPUS.

The three main types of operating systems are Linux, Windows and Mac OS X.

Most operating systems now come with their own security, for example Windows 8 features Windows Defender, this is a program that runs in the background and notifies you when you need to take an action, it also allows you to scan your computer for malware if your computer is running slow or isn’t working, it also protects you online and prevents you clicking on virus links or emails containing a virus. They also have internet security, this will prevent you from downloading files that contain viruses.  

 

Windows features ‘My Documents, My Pictures, My Music, My Videos and Downloads’ this allows you to manage your files as soon as you get the computer and want to transfer documents across from an old computer etc. All files that you download should automatically go into your ‘Download’ folder, but you are able to choose where your files save to. You are also able to create folders in these main folders to make your files neater and easier now to navigate. In windows it is also possible to have more than one user on the computer at the time and you can leave a user running in the background.

 

Machine and peripheral management manages all the devices installed on the computer, the sort of things that machine and peripheral management manages are things such as external storage devices, phones, cameras etc. This allows transfers of things such as music, pictures and videos; it also allows you to back up devices such as mobile phones.