Operating system

An operating system manages a computer’s hardware and resources while providing services and interfaces for application programs. It coordinates execution, memory, storage, and input and output.

Kernel: The central part of an operating system that manages hardware access and essential system functions. It handles privileged operations such as scheduling, memory management, and device access.
Computer architecture: The organization of a computer’s processors, memory, devices, and connections. Operating-system design depends on the hardware structures and privileges architecture provides.
Real-time operating system: An operating system designed to meet timing constraints with predictable response to events. It prioritizes bounded response times over the general-purpose flexibility typical of desktop systems.
Linux: A family of operating systems built around the Linux kernel and associated software. Linux systems illustrate a widely used open-source operating-system ecosystem.
GM-NAA I/O: An early operating system developed in 1956 for the IBM 704 computer. It automated job sequencing, an early step toward managing computing resources.
Process scheduling: The selection and timing of processes or threads for execution on a processor. Scheduling lets multiple programs make progress on limited processor time.
Central processing unit: The processor that executes instructions and performs general-purpose computation. The operating system allocates processor time and responds to processor interrupts.
Embedded operating system: An operating system tailored to a dedicated device with constrained resources and specific functions. Its narrow hardware and task requirements often favor a smaller system than a general-purpose OS.
Microsoft Windows: A family of proprietary operating systems developed by Microsoft for personal computers and other devices. Windows illustrates a commercial desktop operating system with broad software compatibility.
CTSS: The Compatible Time-Sharing System, developed at MIT in the 1960s. CTSS showed how an operating system could let multiple users interact with one computer.

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