S ecti on 1
1.1 Mi crosof t Wi n d ow s XP/ 2003
Wh at i s an op erati n g system an d b asi c of w in d ow s?
The ope rat i n g s yst em (OS ) i s t he f i rst t hi ng l oad ed ont o t he
com put er, wi t hout t he operat i n g s ys t em , a com put er i s usel ess. The
purpos e of an oper at i ng s yst em i s t o organi z e and cont rol hardware and
s oft ware so t hat t he devi ce i t l i ves i n b ehaves i n a fl ex i bl e but predi ct abl e
wa y. The op erat i n g s yst em i s a i nt e r face bet we en use r and com put er.
C om put er soft ware can be di vi ded i nt o t wo m ai n cat e gori es :
Ap p l i cati on sof tw are and syst e m sof tw are .
Appl i cat i on soft war e consi st s of t he progr am s for per form i ng t asks
part i cul ar t o t he m achi ne 's ut i l i z at i on. Ex am pl es of appl i cat i on soft wa re
i ncl ude spre adshee t s, dat abase s yst e m s, deskt op publ i shi ng s yst em s ,
program devel opm ent soft ware, and gam es. " Appl i c at i on soft ware i s
gen eral l y what we t hi nk of when som eone speaks of com p ut er pro gram s .
Thi s s oft ware i s d esi gned t o sol ve a part i cul ar probl em for us ers. Th e
di agr am b el ow i l l ust rat es t he rel at i onshi p bet ween appl i cat i on soft wa r e
and s ys t em soft wa re. On t he ot her hand, s yst em soft ware i s m ore
t rans parent and l ess not i ced b y t he t yp i cal com put er user. Thi s soft war e
provi des a gene ral progr am m i ng envi r onm ent i n whi ch progr am m ers can
creat e s peci fi c appl i cat i ons t o suit t heir needs . Thi s envi ronm ent provi des
new funct i ons t hat are not avai l abl e at t he hardw ar e l evel and per form s
t as ks rel at ed t o ex e cut i ng t he appl i cat i on program . S yst e m soft ware a ct s
as an i nt erfac e bet ween t he hard war e of t he com put er an d t he appl i cat i on
s oft ware t hat use rs need t o run on t he com put er. An oper a t i ng s yst em has
t hree m ai n r esponsi bi l i t i es:
1. P erform basi c t as ks, such as re co gni z i ng i nput from t he k e ybo ard,
s endi ng out put t o t he di spl a y scr een, ke epi ng t ra ck of fi l es and di rect ori es
on t he di sk, and cont rol l i ng peri phe ra l devi ces such as di sk dri ves and
pri nt ers .
2. Ensure t hat di ffe r ent program s and us ers runni n g at t he s am e t i m e
d o n o t i nt erfere wi t h each ot he r.
3. P rovi de a soft w a re pl at form on t op of whi ch ot he r pro gram s (i .e.,
appl i cat i on soft war e ) can run.
The m ost operat i ng s yst em i n Indi a i s Mi crosoft s W i ndows
operat i n g s yst em . Am ong t hese W i ndows 98 and W i ndows XP are t he m os t
us ed oper at i ng s yst e m i n P C (P ersonal C om put er). Mi crosoft W i ndows 2000
and M i crosoft W i ndows 2003 are t h e net work oper at i ng sys t em whi ch i s
us ed i n t he net work . Ot her ope rat i n g s yst em s are U N IX, LI NUX, OS / 2 ar e
al s o wi del y used a nd acc ept ed. W i ndows XP i s t he nam e of a l i ne of
operat i n g s yst em s devel oped b y Mi c r osoft for use on gen eral -purpos e
com put er s yst em s, i ncl ud i ng hom e and busi ness deskt ops, not ebook
com put ers, and m edi a cent ers. The l et t ers "XP " st and for experi enc e .[ 1]
C odenam ed W hi st l er duri ng i t s devel op m ent , W i ndows XP i s t he successor
t o bot h W i ndows 2000 and W i ndows Me, and i s t he fi rst consum er -ori ent ed
operat i n g s yst em pr oduced b y Mi c rosof t t o be bui l t on t he W i ndows NT
kernel and archi t e c t ure. W i t h t he rel e ase of W i ndows X P t he W i ndows
95/ 98 archi t ect ur e was fi nal l y di sc ont i nued. W i ndows XP was fi rs t
rel eas ed on O ct obe r 25, 2001, and as of 2006 cont i nue s t o be t he m os t
recent consum e r versi on of Mi crosoft W i ndows avai l abl e, wi t h over 400
m i l l i on copi es i n use. The m ost com m on edi t i ons of t he operat i n g s yst em
are W i ndows XP Hom e Edi t i on, which i s t arget ed at h om e users, and
W i ndows XP P rofessi onal , whi ch has a ddi t i onal feat ures s uch as support
for W i ndows S erve r dom ai ns and du al p rocessors, and i s t a r get ed at po wer
us ers and busi ness cl i ent s. W i ndows XP Medi a C ent er Edi t i on consi st s of
W i ndows XP P rofessi onal wi t h new feat ur es enhan ci n g t he abi l i t y t o
reco rd and wat ch TV shows, wat ch DVDs, l i st en t o musi c and m ore.
W i ndows XP Tabl et P C Edi t i on i s desi gned t o run t he i nk -a ware T abl et P C
pl at form . Two separ at e 64 -bi t versi ons of W i ndows XP were al so rel eased,
W i ndows XP 64 -bi t Edi t i on for IA -64 ( It ani um ) pro c essor s and W i ndows
XP P rofessi onal x 64 Edi t i on for AMD64/ EM64T processo rs. W i ndows XP
i s known for i t s i mproved st abi l i t y and effi ci enc y ove r pre vi ous versi ons
of W i ndows. It p resent s a si gni fi ca nt l y redesi gn ed grap h i cal u ser
i n terf ace (G UI ), a chan ge Mi cr osoft pr om ot ed as m ore us e r -fri endl y t h an
previ ous versi ons of W i ndows. New soft ware m an a ge m ent capabi l i t i es
were i nt rodu ced t o avoi d t he " D LL hel l " t hat pl a gued ol der consum er
vers i ons of W i ndows. It i s al so t he fi rst versi on of W i ndows t o use product
act i vat i on t o com bat soft ware pi ra c y, a rest ri ct i on t hat di d not sit well
wi t h s om e users a nd pri vac y advo ca t es. W i ndows XP has al so been
cri t i ci z ed b y som e users for securi t y v ul nerabi l i t i es, t i ght i nt egrat i on of
appl i cat i ons such as Int ern et Ex pl orer and W i ndows Medi a P l a yer, an d for
as pect s of i t s use r i nt erfac e. W i ndows Vi st a i s schedul ed t o be t he nex t
m aj or revi si on o f Mi crosoft W i ndows, wi t h a pl anned r el ease dat e of
Novem ber 2006 fo r busi ness edi t i ons, and J anuar y 2007 fo r ot her edi t i ons .
