Differences between user's view and system's view

Operating System can be explored from two viewpoints: the user and the system.

User view

The user view of the computer varies by the interface being used. Most computer user's sit in front of a pC, consisting of a monitor, keyboard,mouse and system unit. Such a system is designed for one user to monopolize its resources, to maximize the work that the user is performing. In this case, the operating system is designed mostly for ease of use,with some attention paid to performance, and none paid to resource utilization.

Some users sit at a terminal connected to a mainframe or minicomputer. Other users are accessing the same computer through other terminals. These users share resources and may exchange information. The operaring system is designed to maximize resource utilization.

Other users sit at workstations,connected to networks of other workstations and servers. These users have dedicated resources at thier disposal, but they also share resources such as networking and servers.

Recently, many varieties of handheld computers have comeinto fashion. These devices are mostly standalone, used singly by individual users. Some are connected to networks, either directly by wire or through wireless modems. Due to power and interface limitations they perform relatively few remore operations. These operating sysytems are designed mostly for individual usabilit, but performanceper amount of battery life is important as well.

Some computers have little or no user view. For example, embedded computers in home devices and automobiles may have numeric keypad, and may turn indicator lights on or off toshow status, but mostly they and their operating system are designed to run without uer intervention.

System view

Wecan view an ooperating system as a resource allocator. A computer system has many resources-hardware an software - that maybe required to solve a problem. The operating system avts as the manager of these resources.

An operating system can also be viewed as a control program that manages the execution of user programs to prevent that manages the execution of user programs to prevent errors and improper use of the computer. It is especially concerned with the operation and control of I/O devices.

We have no universally accepted definition of what is part of the operating system. A simple viewpoint is that it includes everything a vendor ships when you order "the operating system".

A more common definition is that the operating system by what it does than what it is, but even this can tricky. The primary goal of some operating system is convenience for the user. The primary goal of other operating system is efficient operation ofthe computer system. Operating system and computer architeture have influenced each other a great deal. To facilitate the use of the hardware, researches developed operating systems. Users of the operating systems then proposed changes in hardware design to simplify them. In this short historical review, notice how identification of operating-system problems led to the introduction of new hardware features.