Purpose of an Operating System (OS)

An operating system (commonly abbreviated to OS) is the software component of a computer system that is responsible for the management and coordination of activities and the sharing of the resources of the computer. The operating system acts as a host for application programs that are run on the machine. As a host, one of the purposes of an operating system is to handle the details of the operation of the hardware. This relieves application programs from having to manage these details and makes it easier to write applications. Almost all computers, including phones, tablets, desktop computers, supercomputers, and even video game consoles, use an operating system of some type.

Operating systems offer a number of services to application programs and users. Applications access these services through application programming interfaces (APIs) or system calls. By invoking these interfaces, the application can request a service from the operating system, pass parameters, and receive the results of the operation. Users may also interact with the operating system by typing commands or using a graphical user interface (GUI, commonly pronounced “gooey”). For hand-held and desktop computers, the GUI is generally considered part of the operating system. For large multi-user systems, the GUI is generally implemented as an application program that runs outside the operating system.

Some modern operating systems include Microsoft Windows, Mac OS X, Linux and Solaris; however Microsoft Windows and Mac OS X seem to be the main market competitors.


The following table contains a comparison between the operating systems Windows and Linux.

Topic	Linux	Windows
Price	The majority of Linux variants are available for free or at a much lower price than Microsoft Windows.	Microsoft Windows can run between $50.00(£33.00ish) - $150.00(£99.00) US dollars per each license copy.
Ease	Although the majority Linux variants have improved dramatically in ease of use, Windows is still much easier to use for new computer users.	Microsoft has made several advancements and changes that have made it a much easier to use operating system, and although arguably it may not be the easiest operating system, it is still Easier than Linux.
Reliability	The majority of Linux variants and versions are notoriously reliable and can often run for months and years without needing to be rebooted.	Although Microsoft Windows has made great improvements in reliability over the last few versions of Windows, it still cannot match the reliability of Linux.
Software	Linux has a large variety of available software programs, utilities, and games. However, Windows has a much larger selection of available software.	Because of the large amount of Microsoft Windows users, there is a much larger selection of available software programs, utilities, and games for Windows.
Software Cost	Many of the available software programs, utilities, and games available on Linux are freeware or open source. Even such complex programs such as Gimp, OpenOffice, StarOffice, and wine are available for free or at a low cost.	Although Windows does have software programs, utilities, and games for free, the majority of the programs will cost anywhere between $20.00(£13.00ish) - $200.00(£132.00)+ US dollars per copy.
Hardware	Linux companies and hardware manufacturers have made great advancements in hardware support for Linux and today Linux will support most hardware devices. However, many companies still do not offer drivers or support for their hardware in Linux.	Because of the amount of Microsoft Windows users and the broader driver support, Windows has a much larger support for hardware devices and a good majority of hardware manufacturers will support their products in Microsoft Windows.
Security	Linux is and has always been a very secure operating system. Although it still can be attacked when compared to Windows, it’s much more secure.	Although Microsoft has made great improvements over the years with security on their operating system, their operating system continues to be the most vulnerable to viruses and other attacks.
Open Source	Many of the Linux variants and many Linux programs are open source and enable users to customize or modify the code however they wish to.	Microsoft Windows is not open source and the majority of Windows programs are not open source.
Support	Although it may be more difficult to find users familiar with all Linux variants, there are vast amounts of available online documentation and help, available books, and support available for Linux.	Microsoft Windows includes its own help section, has vast amount of available online documentation and help, as well as books on each of the versions of Windows.