Preface
An operating system is an interface through which we are able to access and operate the computer
hardware. Thanks to the operating system, the user need not worry about hardware or interact with different
devices. The operating system, therefore, works in the background without letting us know who is doing
the job. It is the software through which all the hardware devices are managed and utilized. However,
an operating system is much more than just that and encompasses a vast domain. One reason is that an
operating system and computer architecture affect each other and co-evolve. Sometimes, the computer
architecture has forced the operating systems to evolve, and sometimes the operating system demanded
the architecture to change. This has given rise to the operating system concepts in the light of computer
architecture. Another reason is that the technology has shifted from single-processor to multi-processor
technology. This has given birth to so many operating systems, such as multi-processor, distributed,
networked operating systems, and so on. Another development that we have seen in the last 15 years is
the mobile technology. Today, we are living in the world of mobile devices. The mobile technology has
bred various developments in mobile operating systems. Besides this, there is the world of embedded
and real-time systems, which produced yet another category of operating systems—embedded and real-
time operating systems. The list is endless! All these advances have made operating systems a subject
of rich concepts and frequent changes in user applications and technology.
About the Book
This book has been written after reviewing the syllabi of various Indian universities and, therefore, provides a
wide coverage of the subject—operating systems. The target readers of this book are undergraduate students
of computer engineering and IT. The book will also be useful to postgraduate students of MCA and M.Tech.
as it includes many chapters on specialized operating systems as well as several other advanced topics.
Each chapter begins with the learning objectives and ends with a summary containing a quick
review of important concepts discussed in the chapter. Each chapter provides plenty of solved examples
in-between the text for a practical understanding of the method or technique. Multiple choice questions,
review questions, and brain teasers provided at the end of each chapter will assist the teaching faculty
to prepare their students for the examinations.
The book covers every aspect of the subject. It describes the development of modern operating
systems, explaining the evolution starting from the mainframe systems. Since operating system is con-
sidered to be a concept-rich subject, this book has focused on each and every concept in depth and
explained the same in a lucid manner. The book also covers the practical aspect of the subject, empha-
sizing shell programming. It has a complete chapter on shell programming, which will help the students
in the operating system laboratory. Case studies of four operating systems, namely, UNIX, Solaris,
Linux, and Windows are presented at the end of Parts I-VI. The different features of various versions
of each operating system are explained. In UNIX, version SVR4; in SOLARIS, version 10; in Linux,
version 2.6; and in Windows, Windows XP are emphasized in the case studies.
Key Features
This book is packed with the following features:
• Explains how the modern operating system has been developed and discusses different types of
OSs and OS architectures
