C191 Study Guide:

CH 1.1: pages 1-34

Main Topics:

1. The Role of an Operating System (OS): Acts as a bridge between hardware capabilities and user needs, providing essential support for efficient and safe application development and use.
2. Abstraction and Virtualization: Utilized by OS to simplify and enhance the interaction between hardware and users. Abstraction combines simpler operations into more complex ones, hiding details. Virtualization creates illusions of more favorable characteristics than the actual hardware.
3. The OS as a Resource Manager: Optimizes the use of computational resources to ensure good overall performance, including CPU, memory, and I/O devices.
4. Multiprogramming and Time-sharing: Techniques to improve CPU utilization and throughput by running multiple programs simultaneously and sharing CPU time among multiple computations.
5. OS Structure: A hierarchical organization to manage complexity, with the kernel providing essential services and supported by libraries and applications.
6. Interrupts and Traps: Mechanisms for handling events and errors, transferring control to appropriate service routines in the OS.
7. Evolution and Scope of OSs: The classification of OSs over time, driven by hardware advancements and application environments, from batch processing systems to modern multi-user, interactive, and real-time systems.

Relevant Vocabulary and Definitions:

• CPU (Central Processing Unit): The primary component of a computer that performs most of the processing inside a computer.
• Main Memory: The primary storage or RAM (Random Access Memory) where programs and data are kept for quick access by the CPU.
• Secondary Storage: Non-volatile storage like HDDs (Hard Disk Drives) or SSDs (Solid State Drives) used for long-term data storage.
• I/O Devices (Input/Output Devices): Hardware used for inputting data to or outputting data from a computer.
• Kernel: The core part of an OS, responsible for managing system resources and communication between hardware and software applications.
• System Calls: Requests for service from the application to the OS.
• Interrupts: Signals to the processor indicating an event that needs immediate attention.
• Virtualization: The process of creating a virtual version of something, including virtual computer hardware platforms, storage devices, and computer network resources.

This summary highlights the foundational concepts and functionalities of operating systems as described in the first part of the document. For a detailed exploration of all topics, definitions, and further discussions present in the entire document, the complete text should be consulted.