Download Chapter 5 Operating Systems

Chapter 5
Operating Systems
5
The Operating System
When working with multimedia, the
operating system is perhaps the most
important, the most complex, and the
least visible software that your
computer uses.
5
The Four Layers of a Computer
Your computer is a
system of four
interdependent
layers:
Hardware
BIOS
Operating System
Application Software
5
What do the four layers do?
Hardware activates the BIOS
BIOS (basic input/output system) starts the
operating system
Operating System loads drivers, networking
services, and application software into the
computer’s RAM
Application Software allows you to create
your multimedia project
5
What are programming languages?
Programming
languages provide
instructions to
operating systems.
5
Types of Programming Languages
Machine language: the only language a
computer’s CPU can read
Assembly language: a programming
language that the CPU can quickly encode to
machine language
Low-level programming language:
Programming languages that computers can
interpret quickly but are not like human
language
5
More Programming Languages
High-level programming languages:
Are programming languages that
resemble human language
Need compilers to convert high-level
languages to machine language
Examples: C++, Java, Visual Basic
5
Graphical User Interface (GUI)
Microsoft Windows
Created in 1985
The most used PC operating system
Runs a huge number of applications
Apple Mac OS
Derived from the first PCs to use GUI
Preferred by many designers and multimedia
producers
Applications are often not compatible with
Windows
5
PDA Operating Systems
The two most popular PDA operating
systems are:
Palm OS
Windows CE
5
Network Operating Systems
Network operating systems are
designed to allow many users to share
files and resources.
5
Types of Network OS
Network operating systems include:
UNIX: designed to work with many kinds of
computers
Linux: a version of UNIX distributed for free
Mac OS X: for networks by Apple
Windows NT: Microsoft’s network OS
Apache: Web server software distributed for
free