Goals of Operating System

Primary Goals

The primary goals of an operating system (OS) are to provide an easy to use and convenient environment for executing user programs.

• User Convenience: It should be easy to use, providing a user-friendly interface and making it simple to interact with the system.
• Program Execution: It facilitates the execution of user programs, providing the necessary environment and services for them to run.
• Resource Management: The OS manages and allocates the computer's resources, including the CPU, memory, disk storage and input/output devices, to ensure fair utilization.
• Security: The OS protects the system and user data from unauthorized access, ensuring confidentiality, integrity and availability of information.

Secondary Goals

• Efficient Resource Utilization: It should aim to maximize the performance and utilization of computer resources like CPU, Memory and I/O devices, ensuring that the system runs smoothly and efficiently.
• Reliability: It should be robust and reliable, able to handle errors and exceptions gracefully, ensuring that the system continues to operate smoothly. It should be modular in design and easy to debug.

Components of an Operating System

There are two basic components of an Operating System.

• Shell is the outermost layer of the Operating System and handles user interaction. It interprets input for the OS and handles the output from the OS.
• Kernel is the core component of the operating system. The kernel is the primary interface between the Operating system and Hardware.

List of Common Operating Systems

There are multiple types of operating systems each having its own unique features:

• Windows OS : Developed by Microsoft. Used in personal computing, business environment, gaming.
• macOS : Developed by Apple. Used for creative industries (design, video editing, music production), Personal computing and Professional environments.
• Linux : Developed by Linus Torvalds and maintained by the open-source community (Linux Foundation, Red Hat, Canonical, etc.). Used in servers and data centers, development and programming, Personal computing for tech enthusiasts.
• Unix : Developed originally AT&T Bell Labs, various commercial and open-source versions available. Used in servers and workstations, Development environments, Research and academic settings

Applications of Operating System

• Platform for Application Programs: It provides a platform, on top of which, other programs, called application programs can run.
• Managing Input-Output Unit: It also allows the computer to manage its own resources such as memory, monitor, keyboard, printer, etc. Management of these resources is required for effective and fair utilization.  
• Multitasking: It manages memory and allows multiple programs to run in their own space and even communicate with each other through shared memory.    
• Manages Memory and Files: It manages the computer’s main memory and secondary storage. Additionally, it allows and deallocates memory to all tasks and applications.        
• Provides Security: It helps to maintain the system and applications safe through the authorization process. Thus, the OS provides security to the system.

Why to Choose the Operating System?

There are so many factors to be considered while choosing the best Operating System for our use. These factors are mentioned below.

• Price Factor: Price is one factor to consider when choosing an operating system, as some OSs are free, like Linux, but there is some more OS that is paid like Windows and macOS.
• Accessibility Factor: Some Operating Systems are easy to use like macOS and iOS, but some OS are a little bit complex to understand like Linux. So, you must choose the Operating System in which you are more accessible. 
• Compatibility factor: Some Operating Systems support few applications whereas some Operating Systems supports more application. You must choose the OS, which supports the applications which are required by you.
• Security Factor: The security Factor is also a factor in choosing the correct OS, as macOS provides some additional security while Windows has little fewer security features.