List of 20 most Frequently Asked Questions about Operating System

Mostly; the Information Technology departments or computer related departments of an organization use to ask questions while taking interviews for hiring employees. Most often; they ask questions about operating system as this is the vital component of a computer system. Here is the list of 20 most Frequently Asked Questions about Operating System.

Questions:

1. How does an operating system work?

2. Give a short description of kernel.

3. How do you define the boot process?

4. What is the importance of an operating system in a computer?

5. How does an operating system manage memory?

6. What is the basic purpose of virtual memory?

7. Describe the term thrashing.

8. How does an operating system control devices attached to computer?

9. Why is operating system loaded in the computer memory before software applications?

10. What is embedded operating system?

11. Which feature of Linux is different from other operating systems?

12. Describe multipurpose operating system.

13. How is an operating system different from utility programs?

14. What is open source software?

15. How are network operating systems different from stand alone operating systems?

16. What is the purpose of stand-alone utility programs?

17. What is OS X Server?

18. What are the functions of different utility programs?

19. What is the difference between multitasking and time sharing systems?

20. Why should open source software be used?

Answers:

1. How does an operating system work?

Ans: The operating system runs and checks whether all the parts of computer are working properly when the computer is turned on. After loading, operating system manages all the operations on the computer.

2. Give a short description of kernel.

Ans: Kernel is one of the essential most components of operating system. It is loaded in RAM when we turn on the computer. It is the responsibility of kernel to start all applications, manage devices and memory and perform other essential operations.

3. What happens in the booting process?

Ans: The kernel and necessary instructions of operating system are replicated from hard disk to RAM when booting process takes place. Moreover; a series of tests is conducted on the main memory of computer, input and output devices, disk drives and hard disk.

4. What is the importance of an operating system in a computer?

Ans: An operating system is one of the most critical pieces of software that controls all the activities of computer system. Furthermore; the operating system boots the computer, launches application software as well as ensures that all the actions are processed in an order. Also; the operating system allocates memory to different programs, controls all devices and hardware components that are attached to a computer and facilitates by connecting to the web.

5. How does an operating system manage memory?

Ans: During the time of execution, Random Access Memory is used to store data temporarily. Operating system allocates the memory area to various programs. When the program finishes, the memory area is deallocated.

6. What is the basic purpose of virtual memory?

Ans: Some operating systems allocate a part of storage medium such as hard disk as additional RAM. A part of a running program can be in RAM and the remaining part may be on hard disk. This is the main purpose why we use virtual memory.

7. Describe the term thrashing.

Ans: The condition in which excessive time of operating system is wasted in paging instead of execution of program is known as thrashing.

8. How does an operating system control devices attached to computer?

Ans: That's the device drivers that make operating system control all attached computer devices like mouse, keyboard etc. A device driver is a program that tells an operating system how to communicate with a device. Every attached device has its own device driver. The operating system loads the drivers of all the devices when computer boots.

9. Why is operating system loaded in the computer memory before software applications?

Ans: It’s not at all possible to load application software before loading operating system in the memory as software applications cannot even interact with computer system without operating system.

10. What is embedded operating system?

Ans: These are the specific types of operating systems that are designed to control a particular task i.e. to run devices like ATM, digital video recorder, microwave, automatic washing machine etc. Embedded operating systems are often used in devices for providing maps and directions as well.

11. Which feature of Linux is different from other operating systems?

Ans: The basic feature of Linux that is different from other operating systems is that its source code remains public.

12. Describe multipurpose operating system.

Ans: Such a type of operating system that works both as desktop and server operating system is called multipurpose operating system. Examples are Unix and Linux.

13. How is an operating system different from utility programs?

Ans: Operating system is a group of programs that controls all computers operations as well as devices attached to a computer system. On the other hand utility program is a type of system software that can perform a specific task only i.e. to manage computer and its devices.

14. What is open source software?

Ans: Such a type of software in which the code is freely available for public to improve is known as open source software.

15. How are network operating systems different from stand alone operating systems?

Ans: Network operating system is the one supporting networks. A network operating system organizes how multiple users can access and share resources over network. Contrary to that, a standalone operating system works on a PC i.e. a desktop computer or a laptop computer.

16. What is the purpose of stand-alone utility programs?

Ans: The facilities provided by a stand-alone utility program are usually not available in an operating system. For example, if we talk about an antivirus program, it protects computer from viruses. Similarly a utility program like file compression software which is used to compress the size of a file. The operating system cannot perform such tasks.

17. What is OS X Server?

Ans: OS X Server is a server version of Mac OS X. It is developed by Apple. It makes it convenient for the organizations to collaborate, share files, host websites as well as mail servers on Mac computers and iOS devices.

18. What are the functions of different utility programs?

Ans: There have been many useful utility programs that facilitate us performing various complicated tasks. Some of them are as follows: 1.  File viewer is used to view and manage files, 2. Disk scanner is used to detect disk problem,  3. Antivirus is used to detect and removes computer viruses 4. Backup utility program is used to make backup of several files.  5. File compressor is developed to compress the size of large files.

19. What is the difference between multitasking and time sharing systems?

Ans: Usually in multitasking systems, the processor executes small tasks like finding a record, making a calculation etc. However, in time sharing systems, the processor executes each task for a fixed amount of time and moves to the next task as soon as the time finishes.

20. Why should open source software be used?

Ans: It’s quite advantageous to use open source software as it has no restrictions from the copyright holder. Moreover, the user can also make desirable changings in the software's instructions and redistribute the software.