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Chapter Profile
                  The three most common operating systems for
                  personal computers are  Microsoft  Windows,
                  Mac OS  and  Linux. Other known  names are

                  UNIX and DOS.                                                   Types of operating systems

                  Functions of an Operating System
                  Operating system performs three types of functions:

                      Manages computer resources
                        Coordinates memory, processing storage, and printers
                        Monitors systems performance
                        Provides security
                        Starts-up the computer

                       Provides Character User Interface (CUI) or Graphical User Interface (GUI)
                      Runs applications through
                        Multitasking
                        Foreground and background applications

                  Language Processor

                  A Language Processor is a type of software that translates human-readable programming code into
                  machine-readable instructions that a computer can execute. Language processor and computer
                  software, founded in 1975, is devoted to provide solutions to problems in all areas of computer
                  science, i.e., operating systems, compiler technology, software engineering, artificial intelligence,
                  etc. Examples of language processor are:

                      Assembler:  An  assembler  is  a program used  to  translate assembly  language  into  machine
                     language so that the computer can understand it.
                      Compiler:  A  compiler is a software that converts the entire source program  into machine
                     language before executing it. It displays the errors for the whole program together.
                      Interpreter: An interpreter is a program that converts a source program into machine language
                     one statement at a time as it runs. Unlike a compiler, which translates the entire program before
                     execution, an interpreter translates and executes each statement line by line. It shows errors
                     one at a time, and typically, it stops execution until the current error is fixed before moving on
                     to the next line.

                  Utility Software

                  Utility software are provided as a part of operating system. They are specifically designed to manage the
                  computer hardware, operating system and application software. Some of the utility software are:
                      Backup Utility: It is used for keeping the backup files for emergency. Windows Backup and
                     Restore is the default Windows backup utility.
                      Data Compression Program:  It is used to compress a large
                     file into a file of smaller size so that it occupies less space
                     and is easy to store. WinZIP and WinRAR are examples of
                     these software.
                                                                                             WinZIP         WinRAR



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