Operating System and

Office Automation

Dipankar Dutta
B.Pharm, MBA, PhD(P), UGC-NET
Assist. Prof
Tula’s Institute, Dehradun
dipankarpharma1@gmail.com
Operating System

• An operating system or OS is a system software that controls the

functioning of the entire computer. It is a software to operate the system. It
acts as an interface between the user and the computer.

• It manages the hardware components like hard disk, keyboard, printer,

monitor, etc.

• It tells the computer how to operate various application programmes.

• It is the first software that is loaded into the memory of the computer when a
computer finishes the booting process.
 Block
Diagram of
Operating
System
Operating System

• Windows
• Linux
• Android
• Mac
• iOS
Feature of Operating System

1) Managing storage location-

• All the data in a computer system is stored on a hard disk (HD). This data is stored in
and retrieved from HD by the operating system (OS).

• When the OS saves data on a particular location of the hard disk, it keeps track of
that location.

• An OS knows where it has saved the data and thus when in the future, a user wants to
access that data then it is retrieved and given to him by the OS.

• The OS knows where it has saved & which data is saved and therefore data retrieval
from the hard disk is fast.
 2) Error detection and fixing-
• Some errors or problems can arise in the software or hardware of the computer
system.
• When such an error arises, the OS detects the source of the error. After that, the OS
tries to fix or correct that error.
3) Resource manager-
• Various resources are used by the users and application programs of the computer.
• Some examples of resources are- Printer, Pen drive, Hard disk, CPU processing time,
Memory space, etc.
• These resources are provided to users and application programmes by the OS.
4) Multi-tasking-
• It means to run or execute multiple tasks in parallel at the same time. An OS can
run various tasks simultaneously. The OS can run, manage & control these tasks in
parallel.
• For ex: in the WINDOWS operating system, a user can execute many tasks at the
same time. An example of some tasks that can be performed in parallel are-
 A user is editing a file in MS Word.
 He is also listening to songs.
 He is also downloading some software from the internet.
5) Security-
• An OS can allow many users to work on the same computer. Each user is given an ID
and a Password which he would use to log in to a computer.

• The files created by one user cannot be accessed by other users if the user who
created the file does not want it to be shared.

• A user can restrict other users from reading or writing his files by setting the
read/write permissions of those files. These functions are managed by an OS.
6) User interface-
• An interface allows the user to interact with the system. This interface should be
friendly so that the user will not find any difficulty in using the computer.

• OS like Windows provides a user-friendly interface to the user. An interface could

be a display that is shown on the monitor.

7) Program execution-

• A program consists of a set of instructions to operate the computer. This program is

made by a programmer. This program is first loaded into main memory (RAM) of
the computer.
• After that, if the program needs to access some files from hard disk, the OS will
provide the same to it. If the program wants to use some input or output device then
the OS will provide the same to it.
8) Interpreting the commands-
• The CPU or the processor of a computer system is the main circuit chip that handles
all the processing operations performed by the user.
• The commands given by the user cannot be understood by the processor. Therefore,
the OS has to convert these commands into machine language or binary language (0
& 1).
• After conversion, they are given to the processor for processing work.
• For ex: the user can give a command to play a song or to start an application.
9) Managing peripheral equipment-
• Peripherals are those devices which are attached to a computer. Some examples are
mouse, keyboard, speakers, monitor, external hard drive, pen drive, etc.
• These peripherals are used by various users to communicate with the computer
system.
• These peripherals are detected and managed by the OS.
• For ex: An OS like Windows 7 comes with a sound driver program that is installed
in the computer system to make the system sound or the speaker function. An OS
also comes with plug-and-play features to make secondary storage devices function,
such as pen drives.
CLASSIFICATION / TYPES OF
OPERATING SYSTEMS -

1 (a) Graphical user interface (GUI) operating system-

• These are the operating systems that have the capability of using graphical
elements to communicate with the user.

• A hardware ‘Mouse’ is attached to support it. Users use the mouse pointer and
click on icons, menus, start button, etc.
• Ex: Windows 7, Windows Vista, Windows XP, Linux
1 (b)Command line interface (CLI) operating system-
• These types of operating systems use a black screen and show a cursor and a
command prompt on the screen. The user uses that cursor to type commands
and execute them.
• Ex: DOS (Disk Operating System), Unix.
2 (a) Multi-threading operating system-
• These types of OS allow different parts of a particular software program to run parallel i.e.
at the same time. These parts of a program are called threads.
• Ex: Windows 2000, Linux, Unix.

(b) Multi-processing operating system-

• These types of OS allow the use of multiple processors which work at the same time
together. These OS handle very complicated and complex tasks. The OS has to allocate
resources to various processes in a reasonable manner. They are installed in super
computers.
• Ex: Windows NT, Linux, Unix, etc.
(C) Multi-tasking operating system vs. Single-tasking operating system-
• Multi-tasking OS can execute more than one task/program at the same time. Different
threads or parts of different programs are also run at the same time.
• The OS can manage many programs and their threads using only 1 processor.
• The OS allocates resources to these running programs to make them run successfully.
Examples are Windows 7, Windows XP, Unix, etc.
• When only a single program is allowed to run at a time, the system is grouped as a
single-tasking operating system, such as DOS.

• However, when the operating system allows the execution of multiple tasks at one time,
it is classified as a multi-tasking operating system.
c) Multi-user operating system vs. Single-user operating system-
• Multi-user OS allows multiple users to use their computers and execute software programs at the
same time. The OS is installed on the server computer. Various terminal computers are attached to
the server. The OS allows different users to log in to their terminal computers with their IDs and
passwords, at the same time. These IDs & passwords are made and saved on the hard drive of the
server computer by the administrator. Examples are Windows NT, Windows 2000, Linux, Unix, etc.

• Single-user operating systems, as opposed to multi-user operating systems, are usable by a single
user at a time. DOS is a single-user OS. Being able to use multiple accounts on a Windows operating
system does not make it a multi-user system. Rather, only the network administrator is the real user.
But for a UNIX-like operating system, two users can log in at a time and this capability of the OS
makes it a multi-user operating system
DOS (Disk Operating System)

• MS DOS or Microsoft DOS is an OS (Operating System) that is made with a set of

computer programs.
• This OS is used to control the functioning of a computer system. It is run with the help
of commands that are executed by the user.
• Each command has a specific function. The user has to memorize these commands to
operate the computer.
• DOS (Disk Operating System) is an early operating system that primarily provides a
command-line interface for managing files, running software, and controlling hardware.

• It was widely used in the 1980s and early 1990s before more advanced operating
systems like Windows became prevalent.
DOS
Lets
Practice
some DOS
 Key Characteristics of DOS
• Single-User System: DOS is designed for single-user operation, meaning only one
user can interact with the system at a time.
• Command-Line Interface (CLI): DOS uses a text-based interface where users type
commands to interact with the system, such as copying files, deleting files, or
launching programs.
• File System: DOS uses a file allocation table (FAT) for managing files on storage
devices like hard drives and floppy disks.
• Limited Multitasking: DOS does not natively support multitasking, meaning it runs
only one program at a time.
• Hardware Access: DOS allows direct hardware access, meaning software could
interact closely with the computer's hardware, making it ideal for many early computer
games and applications
 Disadvantage of DOS
1. DOS is a single-user OS. It can be run on one machine only at a time and only one user
can use it at a time. The files and directories created by one user can be used by other
users, but only if the creator of the file does not set any read or write restrictions. So, in
DOS multiple users cannot work at the same time. They will have to work in a sequence
or order i.e. one after the other.
2. DOS is a single-tasking OS. It can execute one command or one program at a time. two
programs cannot be run in parallel.
3. DOS provides the user with a black screen and a command prompt to type commands.
It does not have a user-friendly graphical interface like Windows.
4. The user has to memorize all the commands if he wants to use DOS. However, in
Windows, all the options are easily accessible through menus, icons, etc.
History and Development of DOS

Origins of DOS
• 1970s: Early operating systems like CP/M (Control Program for Microcomputers), developed by
Gary Kildall, were widely used on Intel 8080/85-based microcomputers. It became the inspiration
for DOS.
• 1980: IBM was developing its first personal computer, the IBM PC, and needed an operating
system. Initially, IBM approached Digital Research (makers of CP/M), but negotiations failed.
IBM then turned to Microsoft.
Creation of MS-DOS
• 1981: Microsoft, led by Bill Gates, bought the rights to an existing operating system called 86-
DOS (also known as QDOS – Quick and Dirty Operating System) from Seattle Computer
Products. They modified it to meet IBM’s requirements, and it became MS-DOS (Microsoft Disk
Operating System).
• IBM PC and PC-DOS: IBM released its PC in August 1981 with MS-DOS as the default operating
system, branded as PC-DOS for IBM computers. MS-DOS was licensed to other computer
Early Versions (MS-DOS 1.0 and 2.0)
• MS-DOS 1.0 (1981): The initial version was very basic, supporting only floppy
disks and a few commands.
• MS-DOS 2.0 (1983): Introduced support for hard drives, subdirectories, and
batch files. This version significantly enhanced functionality and was widely
adopted by businesses.
Subsequent Versions:
• MS-DOS 3.0 (1984): Enhanced networking support and expanded disk support
(up to 32MB).
• MS-DOS 4.0 (1988): Included a graphical shell, but it was not widely accepted
due to stability issues.
• MS-DOS 5.0 (1991): Introduced a full-screen text editor and improved memory
management, making it a popular version for power users.
• MS-DOS 6.x (1993): Included advanced features like disk compression, memory
optimization, and file recovery tools (e.g., DoubleSpace, ScanDisk).
Transition to Windows
• Windows 95: In 1995, Microsoft released Windows 95, which integrated DOS
with a more advanced graphical interface. While Windows 95 still had a DOS
layer for backward compatibility, it marked the beginning of the end for MS-
DOS as a standalone operating system.

• Windows ME (2000): Windows Millennium Edition was the last version of

Windows to include DOS as a core component
MS Windows
• MS Windows or Microsoft Windows is an operating system. It can be called a system
software also.
• However, DOS is loaded into the computer’s memory when the computer is switched
on. After that windows is executed and loaded in memory.
• After loading, windows takes control of all hardware devices and application programs
run by the user.
• On November 20, 1985, the first version of Windows- windows 1.0 was launched.
Microsoft announced that Windows would provide an environment that would give
various features of DOS a graphical interface.

• Windows 1.0 allowed users to work with several programs at the same time, without
having to quit one application to start another.
Features of Windows

• Graphical User Interface (GUI)

• Multitasking
• File Management
• Security Features
• Compatibility
• Networking and Connectivity
• Backup and Restore
 POINT WINDOWS DOS
Interface User can use mouse pointer to click on application programs. A command prompt is shown on the screen on
User does not need to memorize all operating system which the user can write and execute
commands. It is also known as ‘graphical interface’. commands. It is also known as ‘command
interface’.
Icons Windows has 3 types of icons- No icons are shown on the screen.
Application icons- minimized version of the currently running
application program. It can be maximized from the taskbar.
Document icons- minimized version of currently running
document windows.
Program icons- These are mostly found on desktops. Clicking
on them will open the associated application or a document
file.

File names User can set the file name of up to 225 characters. He can also File name would be of maximum 8 characters
add ‘space’ in between the file name. only.
Multi-tasking More than 1 task or program can be run at the same time. DOS does not support multi-tasking. Only 1 task
A user is working on 3 tasks/programs at the same time in or program can run at a time. If the user wants to
windows in this example: He is downloading a software from start 2nd program then he will have to first quit
the internet, he is listening to a song in media player, and he is the 1st one which is already running.
editing an XLS file in MS Excel.
Hardware Windows is a very flexible OS. It supports many hardware DOS does not support many hardware devices. It
compatibility devices from different manufacturers or vendors. Various supports limited number of devices.
hardware devices can be easily installed and used in windows.
BOOTING CONCEPT

• In computing, booting (also known as booting up) is the initial set of operations
that a computer system performs when electrical power is switched on.
• The process begins when a computer, that has been turned off, is re-energized and
ends when the computer is ready to perform its normal operations.
• There are numerous examples of boot sequences that begin with the execution of
boot programs stored in boot ROMs.
• During the booting process, the binary code of an operating system is loaded from
non-volatile secondary storage (such as a hard disk drive) into volatile random-
access memory (RAM) and then executed. A processor can only execute program
code stored in RAM and ROM.
• The computer term boot is short for bootstrap or bootstrap load and derives from
the phrase to pull oneself up by one's bootstraps.
• The usage calls attention to the paradox that a computer cannot run without first
loading software but some software must run before any software can be loaded.
Early computers used a variety of ad-hoc methods to get a fragment of software
into memory to solve this problem.
• The invention of integrated circuit Read-only memory (ROM) of various types
solved the paradox by allowing computers to be shipped with a start up program
that could not be erased, but growth in the size of ROM has allowed ever more
elaborate start up procedures to be implemented.
On modern general purpose computers, this can take some seconds and typically
involves-
Performing power-on self-test (POST) which checks the health of motherboard,
processor, RAM and other circuit chips,
Locating and initializing peripheral devices which are attached with the computer
system such as Printer, Monitor, Mouse, USB drives, DVDs, etc,
& then finding, loading and starting a boot loader program stored in ROM chips.
The boot loader is a computer program that loads the operating system in the main
memory (RAM) of computer after completion of self-tests.
MS Office
• Microsoft Office is a commercial office software which contains various applications,
servers and services for the Microsoft Windows and Mac OS X operating systems.
Microsoft introduced it on August 1, 1989.
• MS Office is called Office Automation Software because most of the work in a
company’s office is managed and done by using various applications in MS Office.
Less work is left for employees and thus the office is automated.
• The first version of Office contained Microsoft Word, Microsoft Excel, and Microsoft
PowerPoint. Over the years, Office applications have grown substantially closer with
shared features such as a common spell checker, OLE data integration and Microsoft
Visual Basic for Applications scripting language. The current versions are Office 2010
for Windows, released on June 15, 2010, and Office 2011 for Mac OS X, released on
October 26, 2010.
Version of MS Office

Various versions of Microsoft Office were launched in the past-

1. MS Office ver. 1 – 1990
2. MS Office 95 – 1995
3. MS Office 97 – 1997
4. MS Office 2000 – 2000
5. MS Office XP – 2002
6. MS Office 2003 – 2003
7. MS Office 2007 – 2007
8. MS Office 2010 – 2010
9. MS Office 2012 – is currently under development
 Components of MS Office
1) MS Word is a word processing application that is considered to be the main part of MS Office. A user is given all
the facilities needed by him to type any kind of data and convert it into meaningful information. It saves its files in
DOC and DOCX extensions/formats.
2) MS Excel is a spreadsheet program or application that allows the user to design his financial data on the computer
screen as per his requirements. Various formulas are provided to the user so that he can do calculations on his
financial data in a short time with meaningful output. It saves files in XLS format.
3) MS Outlook is a personal information manager and e-mail or message communication software. It includes a
calendar, task manager and address book. Users can save their contacts, can create a date-wise task schedule for
themselves & can send messages to other people.
4) MS PowerPoint is a popular presentation program for Windows. It is used to create slideshows which is composed
of text, graphics, movies and other objects, which can be displayed on-screen and navigated through by the
presenter or printed out on slides. It saves files in PPT format.
5) MS Access is a database manager program that can be used to store large amounts of data in a systematic, proper
and logical manner.
Mail Merge

• Mail merging is a utility present in MS Word. This feature is mainly used to send
many letters with the same content to various recipients.
• A user need not create various copies of the same letter for different recipients. In
place of that, he would write the content once and then merge it with as many
receivers as he wants.
Let’s learn it
Practically
Programming Language
What do you mean by
Programming? Coding?
 Programme

• A program is a sequence of instructions or directions that are used to tell the computer
what to do and how to do it. The computer is very obedient because it will only do what
the program tells it to do.
• However, the computer is also very stupid because it does only what the program says and
cannot make decisions on its own.
• Programming- To find out the correct sequence of instructions and to put that correct
sequence of instructions before the computer executes is called as programming. In other
words, programming means to write a program.
• Programming language- A software that provides all the facilities to the programmer to
write a program is known as a programming language. This programming language
provides a platform to the programmer so that he can create a program or source code.
Generations of Programming Language

1st generation (low-level machine language)

2nd generation (low-level assembly language)

3rd generation (high-level languages)

4th generation (very high-level languages)

 Computer
Language

LOW-LEVEL HIGH-LEVEL
LANGUAGES LANGUAGES

HIGH-LEVEL VERY HIGH-

MACHINE ASSEMBLY
LANGUAGE (3 LEVEL
LANGUAGE LANGUAGE
GL) LANGUAGE(4GL)
 Low-level language
• These languages are known as low-level languages because they are machine-
dependent.
• A low-level computer language is a programming language closely related to the
computer's hardware and provides little or no abstraction from the machine's actual
instruction set. It allows programmers to write instructions that the computer's
processor can directly execute. Low-level languages are specific to a computer's
architecture, making them efficient but harder for humans to read and write
compared to high-level languages.
• Low-level languages offer speed and control, they require detailed knowledge of the
hardware and are more difficult to program compared to higher-level languages like
Python or Java
Machine Language

• This is the actual language the computer understands—just 1s and 0s (binary code).
It's super hard for humans to write because it's very basic, like telling a robot "move
arm 0.5 inches" instead of "pick up the cup”.
• It is the language that the hardware of a computer understands without any
translation.
• Processor-Specific: Machine language is specific to the architecture of the processor.
Different CPUs have different sets of instructions, so machine code written for one
type of CPU won’t work on another.
• Direct Execution: Unlike high-level languages, which require translation by a
compiler or interpreter, machine code is executed directly by the CPU, making it
extremely fast.
 Assembly Language

• Assembly Language is a low-level programming language that uses symbolic codes

(mnemonics) to represent machine language instructions.
• It allows programmers to interact directly with the computer’s hardware.
• Requires an assembler to convert assembly code into machine code for the CPU to
execute.
• The code or program designed in assembly language is first converted into machine code.
After this, the machine code is given to the microprocessor for processing. This
conversion is done by another software program known as assembler. This process of
conversion is known as assembly.
Assembly Machine
Assembler
Language Language
Example

For ex: ADD X,Y, Z is an assembly language instruction that tells the computer to add
3 values. However, this instruction is first converted into machine code by the
assembler and then it is given to the processor for processing operations.
High-Level Language

• High-level languages (HLLs) are programming languages that are easy to read and
write for human being.
• They are closer to human language than to computer code, which makes them more
user-friendly.
• Example – Python, Java, Javascript, etc.
 Features of High-Level Language

• Easy to Understand: The code looks like English or other human languages, making
it easier for people to read and write.
• Less Worry About Hardware: You don’t need to think much about how the
computer works; the language takes care of that for you.
• Works on Different Computers: Code written in high-level languages can usually
run on different types of computers without major changes.
• Built-in Tools: They come with many helpful functions and libraries that make
programming tasks easier.
High-level language (3rd generation languages / 3GL)

• These are more user-friendly and are easy to learn and use.
• These are very flexible and give programmers a good platform and a lot of facilities for easy
programming and debugging. To debug means to remove errors from a program. The program created
in a high-level language is first converted into machine language and then this machine code is given
to the processor for processing operations. The conversion is done by a software program known as
a compiler or interpreter.
• Whereas individual instructions of a second-generation language are in one-to-one correspondence to
individual machine instructions (i.e. they are close to the machine's domain), a third-generation
language aims to be closer to the human domain. Instructions operate at a higher, abstract level, closer
to the human way of thinking, and each instruction can be translated into a (possibly large) number of
machine-level instructions. This is because each high-level language instruction is known as a
macroinstruction.

• Ex- COBOL, FORTRAN, C, C++, BASIC, JAVA, etc.

High Level Compiler / Machine
Language Interpreter Language
Very high-level language (4th generation languages / 4GL)

• These are also known as 4th generation languages. These are much more advanced than
previous generations.
• These are the future of programming.
• They are even more user-friendly than the 3 rd generation languages. These are machine-
independent.
• The programmer needs to write less code and more features are provided to him. In 3 rd
generation languages, we need to write a lot of code but in 4 th generation, the programmer
needs to tell the programming language the features and options he wants in his software
application.
• The 4th generation language will do the rest of the coding itself and will give the
programmer the application he wants to create.
• Fourth-generation languages have often been compared to domain-specific programming
languages (DSLs). Some researchers state that 4GLs are a subset of DSLs.
• In software development and domain engineering, a domain-specific language (DSL) is
a programming language or specification language dedicated to a particular problem
domain, a particular problem representation technique or a particular solution technique.
• An example is SQL. The Structured Query Language is a special-purpose
programming language designed for managing data in relational database management
systems (RDBMS).
• Some more examples are Application generators, Report generators, etc.
Levels of
Programming
Languages
 For
example,
Assembler

• Assembler is a program that converts or translates assembly language programs

into machine language programs.
• Assembly language is a low-level programming language that is closer to
computer hardware and uses symbolic code or mnemonics to represent machine
instructions.
• The computer cannot directly understand the assembly language and therefore this
translation is required. The assembly language program is known as the ‘source
program’ and the machine language program is known as the ‘object program’.
• In short, an assembler program translates the source program into an object
program.
COMPILER

• A compiler is a specialized program that translates high-

level programming code (written in languages like C, C+
+, Java, Python, etc.) into machine code or an intermediate
form that a computer's processor can understand and
execute.
• High-level programming languages are designed to be
easier for humans to read and write, while machine code is
what the computer can execute directly.
Feature Compiler Assembler
Function A compiler translates high-level An assembler translates assembly
programming languages (e.g., C, C++, language (which is a low-level human-
Java) into machine code (binary) or readable representation of machine
intermediate code that a computer can instructions) directly into machine code
execute (binary)

Input High-level programming language (e.g., Assembly language (e.g., x86 assembly,
C, Java, Python). ARM assembly).
Difference
Error Checking Compilers also check for errors in the Assemblers perform simple checks but
source code, ensuring that it adheres to don't deal with high-level logic or
the language rules before generating structure like compilers do
executable code.

Optimization Can optimize code for performance Minimal or no optimization

Similarity between Compiler and Assembler

• Both tools convert source code into machine code (binary

instructions) that can be executed by the computer’s CPU.
• Both perform error detection, though the level of complexity varies.
Assemblers check for basic syntax errors in assembly code, while
compilers check for syntax and logic errors in high-level code.
• Both ultimately produce an executable file or machine code,
allowing the CPU to execute the instructions defined by the
programmer.
• Both are part of a multi-step process to create software.
Assignment 2 & 3 Given
Date – 18/10/24

• What do you mean by Computer Programming? Define

computer language ? Write down the advantage and
disadvantage of High-Level Computer Language and
Low level Computer Language.
• Define Operating System? What do you mean by Office
Automation System? Write a brief note on MS –Office.
Thank You any
questions?