Operating Systems studies the software layer that manages a computer's hardware on behalf of the programs running on it: scheduling the processor among competing tasks, managing memory, and controlling access to storage and peripheral devices. Early computers ran one program at a time with an operator loading each job by hand; the field's central advances, batch processing, time sharing and later multitasking, were each a way of keeping increasingly expensive hardware busier and more programs running at once.
Facts
Disputed
Origin Year1956
Historians differ on which early batch monitor counts as the first operating system; the GM NAA I O system built for General Motors and North American Aviation in 1956 is commonly cited as an early example, but simpler loader and monitor programs existed before it and the field has no single agreed starting point. Core ConcernHow software manages a computer's processor, memory and devices on behalf of the programs that run on it. 1 Operating Systems
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Source Computer History Museum
Source Computer History Museum
Source Computer History Museum
Source Wikipedia: Multics
Sources
1. Computer: A History of the Information Machine
Martin Campbell-Kelly and William Aspray, Basic Books, 1996
Wikipedia: Operating system
Wikimedia FoundationLead sectionQuote, Lead section
An operating system (OS) is system software that manages computer hardware and software resources, and provides common services for computer programs.
Computer History Museum
Computer History Museum- Includes: Dennis Ritchie
- Includes: Ken Thompson
- Includes: C
- Includes: Unix
View the Source Wikipedia: Multics
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