Module 1 Flashcards
Multiprogramming
Run multiple applications at the same time, protecting them from one another and sharing the CPU between them.
Hierarchical file system
Store data on disk persistently organized in a tree structure.
Plug-and-play devices
Software that allows external devices (e.g. printers and scanners) to interact with applications
Virtual memory
Store multiple applications in memory at the same time.
Graphical User Interface
Allows users to develop, run, and interact with new applications. Good user interface allows operating systems to evolve
from office machines into machines usable by home users.
ENIAC
The Electronic Numerical Integrator and Computer (ENIAC) was the
first general-purpose electronic computer. ENIAC was developed at the
University of Pennsylvania.
Punch cards
Pieces of stiff papers with holes in them, where the presence
and absence of holes is used to encode digital information about data or
programs.
Resident Monitor
A piece of software that is a precursor to modern
operating systems. This software runs in memory and in the punch card era,
and was used to process one punch card at a time.
Operating System (OS)
A piece of software that is layered between
applications and hardware, allowing multiple applications to share the same
physical machine resources and gain access to external devices.
Time-Sharing
The ability to share one physical compute resource among
multiple applications.
Multics
A time-sharing operating system developed by MIT, General Electric, and Bell Labs for mainframes in the 60s.
Compatible Time Sharing System (CTSS)
An operating system developed by MIT that shares similar time-sharing features as Multics.
Linux
An open-source operating system commonly used on both home and server machines. Linux is closely modeled after its predecessor Unix.
Unix
A well-known operating system developed by Bell Labs that has many of the features used in modern operating systems, such as time-sharing, a Shell, and a hierarchical file system.
MS-DOS
An early operating system developed for end-user computers by Microsoft. MS-DOS introduced the command prompt interfaces seen in many subsequent versions of Windows.
