IT122

PLATFORM TECHNOLOGIES

MODULE II
OPERATING SYSTEM
HISTORY OVERVIEW

Topic outcome:
By the end of the topic, the students are expected to have:
TO1: Uncover how an Operating System came up.
TO2: Pinpoint the important chapters in the development of the Operating
system.
TO3: Perform the very basic of computing before the microprocessors
come to existence.
TO4: Demonstrate how computer processes data close to hardware1
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Technologies
TO5: Identify the|basic
Bukidnon State University components
College of the
of Technology Operating
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 General Definition Mainboard
 An OS is a program which acts as
an interface between computer
system users and the computer
hardware.
 It provides a user-friendly
environment in which a user may
easily develop and execute
programs.
 Otherwise, hardware knowledge
would be mandatory for computer
programming.
 So, it can be said that an OS hides
the complexity of hardware from
uninterested users.
 In general, a computer system has
some resources which may be
utilized to solve a problem. They
are
o Memory
o Processor(s) Illustration of the Mainboard
o I/O
o File System
o etc.

Assessment:
Search 2 newest Mainboards
/Motherboards from 2 different
manufacturers to compare. Use a Venn
diagram for comparison. State only the
most important feature or specification of
the Motherboard, e.g.; Price, Cache,
compatibility, socket, etc.

Note: Refer to the rubric assessment at

the end of this topic module.

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 General Definition (cont.)

CPU
(Central Processing Unit)
A central processing unit, or CPU, is
a piece of hardware that enables your
computer to interact with all of the
applications and programs installed. A
CPU interprets the program's
instructions and creates the output that
you interface with when you're using a
computer.

RAM
(Random Access Memory)

Computer random access memory

(RAM) is one of the most important
components in determining your
system's performance. RAM gives
applications a place to store and access
data on a short-term basis. It stores the
information your computer is actively
using so that it can be accessed quickly.

Assessment:
Search 2 newest CPUs and RAMs from 2 different manufacturers to
compare. Use a Venn diagram for comparison. State only the most important
feature or specification of the units, e.g.; Price, Cache, Compatibility, Speed,
Capacity, etc.

Note: Refer to the rubric assessment at the end of this topic module.

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 General Definition (cont.)

How an OS Functions OS at work example

 The OS manages these resources  Since we have an already written

and allocates them to specific library, namely the OS, to add two
programs and users. numbers we simply write the
 With the management of the OS, a following line to our program:
programmer is rid of difficult c = a + b;
hardware considerations.
 An OS provides services for  In a system where there is no OS
o Processor Management installed, we should consider some
o Memory Management hardware work as:
o File Management (Assuming an MC 6800 computer
o Device Management hardware)
o Concurrency Control
LDAA $80 -> Loading the number at
 Another aspect for the usage of OS memory location 80
is that; it is used as a predefined LDAB $81 ->Loading the number at
library for hardware-software memory location 81
interaction. ADDB ->Adding these two numbers
 This is why, system programs apply STAA $55 ->Storing the sum to
to the installed OS since they memory location 55
cannot reach hardware directly.
 As seen, we considered memory
locations and used our hardware
knowledge of the system.

 In an OS installed machine, since we

have an intermediate layer, our
programs obtain some advantage of
mobility by not dealing with
hardware.

 For example, the above program

segment would not work for an 8086
machine, whereas the
“c = a + b ;”
syntax will be suitable for both.

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 General Definition (cont.)
With the advantage of easier programming provided by the OS, the
hardware, its machine language and the OS constitutes a new combination called
as a virtual (extended) machine.

 In a more simplistic approach, in fact, OS itself is a program.

 But it has a priority which application programs don’t have.
 OS uses the kernel mode of the microprocessor, whereas other programs use
the user mode.
 The difference between two is that; all hardware instructions are valid in kernel
mode, where some of them cannot be used in the user mode.

Assessment

 How does the distinction between kernel mode and user mode function as a
rudimentary form of protection (security) system?

Note: Refer to the rubric assessment at the end of this topic module.

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 History of Operating System
ENIAC (Electronic Numerical Integrator and Computer)

“ENIAC programmers Frances Bilas (later Frances Spence) and Betty Jean
Jennings (later Jean Bartik), both held degrees in mathematics. Bilas operated
the Moore School’s Differential Analyzer before joining the ENIAC project.”

 Built at the U.S. Army's Aberdeen Proving Ground in Maryland.

 Built in the 1940s,
 Weighed 30 tons,
 Was eight feet high, three feet deep, and 100 feet long
 Contained over 18,000 vacuum tubes that were cooled by 80 air blowers.
Vacuum Tubes

A vacuum tube consists of cathode

(also called as filament), anode (also
called as plate), and electrode (also
called as grid). Cathode is an electron
emitter that emits the free electrons
whereas anode is an electron collector
that collects the free electrons.

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 The Backside of ENIAC

18,000+ vacuum tubes, 70,000

resistors, and 10,000 capacitors
-- not to mention all those
lights and switches.

ENIAC lost one vacuum tube

roughly every day or two. With
almost 18,000 tubes, locating
and replacing the failed one was
challenging. Over time,
however, the maintenance team
developed the skill to fix a
ENIAC’s Cable connections problem in just 15 minutes.

Programs were loaded into

memory manually using
switches, punched cards, or
paper tapes.

ENIAC had no central memory,

per se. Rather, it had a series of
twenty accumulators, which
functioned as computational and
storage devices. Each
accumulator could store one
signed 10-digit decimal number.

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 Punch cards

Generating
Punch cards

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 Babbage’s analytical engine

“designed in 1840’s by Charles Babbage, but could not be constructed by him.

An earlier and simpler version is constructed in 2002, in London”

Ada Lovalence (at time of

Charles Babbage) wrote
code for analytical engine to
compute Bernulli Numbers

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 A Leap in History of Operating System

>> Fast forward

 As time went on, card readers, printers, and magnetic tape units were
developed as additional hardware elements.
 Assemblers, loaders and simple utility libraries were developed as software
tools.
 Later, off-line spooling and channel program methods were developed
sequentially.

Commodore PET, 1977

The Commodore PET is a line of

home/personal computers produced
starting in 1977 by Commodore
International. The system combined a
MOS 6502 microprocessor,
Commodore BASIC in read only
memory, a keyboard, a computer
monitor and a cassette deck for data
and program storage in a single all-in-
one case. Wikipedia

 Finally, the idea of multiprogramming came.

 Multiprogramming means sharing of resources between more than one
processes.
 By multiprogramming the CPU time is not wasted, because, while one process
moves on some I/O work, the OS picks another process to execute till the
current one passes to I/O operation.
 With the development of interactive computation in 1970s, time-sharing systems
emerged.
 In these systems, multiple users have terminals(not computers) connected to a
main computer and execute her task in the main computer.
 Another computer system is the multiprocessor system having multiple
processors sharing memory and peripheral devices.
 With this configuration, they have greater computing power and higher reliability.
 Multiprocessor systems are classified into two as tightly-coupled and loosely-
coupled (distributed).
 In the tightly-coupled one, each processor is assigned a specific duty but
processors work in close association, possibly sharing the same memory.
 In the loosely coupled one, each processor has its own memory and copy of the
OS.

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 Operating System on Networking

 Use of the networks required OSs appropriate for them.

 In network systems, each process runs in its own machine but the OS have
access to other machines.
 By this way, file sharing, messaging, etc. became possible.
 In networks, users are aware of the fact that s/he is working in a network and
when information is exchanged. The user explicitly handles the transfer of
information.

 Distributed systems are similar to networks. However in such systems,

there is no need to exchange information explicitly, it is handled by the OS
itself whenever necessary.
 With continuing innovations, new architectures and compatible OSs are
developed. But their details are not in the scope of this text since the
objective here is to give only a general view about developments in OS
concept.

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 Assessment

Create a timeline of significant discoveries and devices related to operating

systems during the post-Babbage to pre-Commodore Pet era.

Note: Refer to the rubric assessment at the end of this topic module.

Rubric reference for assessment:

Category 5 4 3 1
Amount of All topics are All topics are All topics are One or more
information addressed and all addressed and addressed, and topics were not
questions most questions most questions addressed.
answered with at answered with at answered with 1
least 2 sentences least 2 sentences sentence about
about each. about each. each.
Quality of Information Information Information Information has
Information clearly relates to clearly relates to clearly relates to little or nothing to
the main topic. It the main topic. It the main topic. do with the main
includes several provides 1-2 No details and/or topic.
supporting details supporting details examples are
and/or examples. and/or examples. given.
Internet use Successfully uses Usually able to Occasionally able Needs assistance
suggested internet use suggested to use suggested or supervision to
links to find internet links to internet links to use suggested
information and find information find information internet links
navigates within and navigates and navigates and/or to navigate
these sites easily within these sites within these sites within these sites.
without easily without easily without
assistance. assistance. assistance.
Mechanics No grammatical, Almost no A few Many
spelling or grammatical, grammatical grammatical,
punctuation spelling or spelling, or spelling, or
errors. punctuation errors punctuation punctuation
errors. errors.

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