Operating System Assignment

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Question 1 Consider the various definitions of operating system. Consider whether the operating system should include applications such as Web browsers and mail programs. Argue both that it should and that it should not, and support your answer. Answer The web browsers and mail programs are part of the program "between the user of a computer and the computer hardware". And according to the foremost definition of the operating system i.e. the operating system is a program that acts as an intermediary between user of a computer and the computer hardware. It can be said that they are part of the operating system. But considering another definitions of operating system it can be denied that the operating system should include the web browsers and mail programs. 1. The computer system can be divided roughly into four components: the hardware, the operating system, the application programs and the users whereas the web browsers and mail programs belong to application programs, not operating system. 2. Other definition says that operating system is the one program running at all the times one the computer. Since the web browsers and mail programs are not running at all the times, they cannot be a part of operating system. Question 2 We have stressed the need for an operating system to make efficient use of the computing hardware. When is it appropriate for the operating system to forsake this principle and to “waste” resources? Why is such a system not really wasteful? Answer In Single-user systems the main goal is to maximize the work that the user is performing. Hence in this case it is appropriate to design an operating system mostly for ease of use, with some attention paid to performance and none paid to resource utilization. Single-user systems are not really wasteful as these systems have to be used by a single user for whom

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