Types of Operating System

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There are many different types of operating systems intended for different things.

Distributed operating systems

A distributed operating system is a type of operating system that spreads it load over multiple servers. For example a single job could be split up into sub jobs and the load of these sub jobs can be spread onto several computers. This can speed up the process of some jobs.

Multi tasking system

A multi tasking system allows for several programs to be running at the same time.

Multi tasking systems also have support for multi users.

Embedded operating systems

Embedded operating systems are usually found things like washing machines, microwaves and control systems. These embedded systems don’t have many features.

Real time operating system

A real time operating system is designed to be as responsive as possible. For example a real time system should respond to inputs very quickly and should be able to deal with multiple inputs at once.

BIOS

A BIOS (Basic input output system) is a program stored on the EPROM. The BIOS initialise the hardware and loads the operating system.