what is the exact meaning of kernel in operating systems?
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In computing, the kernel is the central component of most computer operating systems (OSs). Its responsibilities include managing the system's resources and the communication between hardware and software components. As a basic component of an operating system, a kernel provides the lowest level of abstraction layer for the resources (especially memory, processors and I/O devices) that applications must control to perform their function. It typically makes these facilities available to application processes through inter-process communication mechanisms and system calls.\n\nclick here:http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kernel_%28computer_science%29
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DOS (Disk Operating System) was the first widely-installed operating system in personal computers. \n\nAlso called: Disk Operating System
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boot: The process of starting or restarting a computer\n\nclipboard: A file or an area in memory where cut or copied text and graphics can be temporarily stored before being moved to another location\n\nbyte: A sequence of adjacent bits, usually eight, operated on as a unit by a computer.\n\napplication: A computer program with a user interface\n\ndata: Numerical or other information represented in a form suitable for processing by computer.
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Operating system\n\nAn operating system is a special computer program that manages the relationship between application software, the wide variety of hardware that makes up a computer system, and the user of the system.\n\nThe lowest level of any operating system is its kernel, the first layer of software loaded into computer memory when a system boots, or starts up. The kernel then provides access to various common core services to all other system and application programs. These services include, but are not limited to: disk access, memory management, task scheduling, and access to other hardware devices.\n\nAs well as the kernel, an operating system is often distributed with tools for programs to display and manage a graphical user interface, as well as utility programs for tasks such as managing files and configuring the operating system. They are also often distributed with application software that does not relate directly to the operating system's core function, but which the operating system distributor finds advantageous to supply with the operating system. The exact delineation between the operating system and application software is not precise, and is occasionally subject to controversy. For example, one of the key questions in the United States v. Microsoft antitrust trial was whether Microsoft's Internet Explorer web browser was part of its Windows operating system or if it was a separable piece of application software.\n\nLike the term "operating system" itself, the question of what exactly should form the "kernel" is subject to some controversy, with debates over whether things like file systems should be included in the kernel. Various camps advocate microkernels, monolithic kernels, and so on as compromises.\n\nOperating systems are used on many, but by no means all computer systems. The simplest computers, including the smallest embedded systems and many of the first computers did not have operating systems, and relied on the application programmer to manage the minimal hardware themselves, perhaps with the aid of libraries developed for the purpose. Commercially-supplied operating systems are present on virtually all modern devices described as computers, from personal computers to mainframes, as well as mobile computers such as PDAs and mobile phones.\nContents\n[hide]\n\n    * 1 History of operating systems\n    * 2 Today's operating systems\n          o 2.1 Unix-like systems\n          o 2.2 Microsoft Windows\n          o 2.3 Other operating systems\n    * 3 See also\n          o 3.1 General topics\n          o 3.2 Other topics\n    * 4 External links\n\n[edit]\n\nHistory of operating systems\n\n    Main article: History of operating systems\n\nThe first computers did not have operating systems. However, software tools for managing the system and simplifying the use of hardware appeared very quickly afterwards, and gradually expanded in scope. By the early 1960s, commercial computer vendors were supplying quite extensive tools for streamlining the development, scheduling, and execution of jobs on batch processing systems. Examples were produced by UNIVAC and Control Data Corporation, amongst others.\n\nThrough the 1960's, several major concepts drove the development of operating systems. They included the development of the IBM System/360, a family of mainframe computers available in widely differing capacities and price points, for which a single operating system OS/360 was developed. IBM's current mainframe operating systems are distant descendants of this original system, and indeed applications written for the OS/360 can still be run on modern machines. OS/360 also contained another important advance, being tied to the development of the hard disk permanent storage device. Another key development was the concept of time-sharing; the idea of sharing the resources of expensive computers amongst multiple computer users interacting in real time with the system, who
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When the CPU is in kernel mode, it is assumed to be executing trusted software, and thus it can execute any instructions and reference any memory addresses (i.e., locations in memory). The kernel (which is the core of the operating system and has complete control over everything that occurs in the system) is trusted software, but all other programs are considered untrusted software. Thus, all user mode software must request use of the kernel by means of a system call in order to perform privileged instructions, such as process creation or input/output operations.\n\n    User-Mode Linux is a safe, secure way of running Linux versions and Linux processes. Run buggy software, experiment with new Linux kernels or distributions, and poke around in the internals of Linux, all without risking your main Linux setup.\n\n    User-Mode Linux gives you a virtual machine that may have more hardware and software virtual resources than your actual, physical computer. Disk storage for the virtual machine is entirely contained inside a single file on your physical machine. You can assign your virtual machine only the hardware access you want it to have. With properly limited access, nothing you do on the virtual machine can change or damage your real computer, or its software.
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I don't believe this is possible.  Once a system call is made to the operating system to initiate this sequence, a series of scripts are being handled by the kernel and you can't override this series of events unless you hack the kernel somehow.
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If your answer is Windows, you're plain wrong. It's ITRON, a Japanese real-time OS kernel that can be customized for any small-scale embedded systems. According to LinuxInsider.com, it is used by more than 3 billion microprocessors found in mobile phones, digital cameras, CD players and many other electronic devices including even satellites.\n\nITRON emerged as an ambitious Japanese initiative known as The Real-time Operating system Nucleus (TRON). Launched in 1984, TRON was designed to replace disparate computer systems with a unified, open architecture for a "total computer environment."\nIts ultimate goal was to create "highly functionally distributed systems" in which all system components are connected to a real-time network. Professor Ken Sakamura, spiritual father of TRON, conceived the project as a social infrastructure akin to the electrical power grid or water supply system.\nITRON, the first in a series of open-source specifications for the TRON architecture, answered a pressing need for Japan's electronics firms, which traditionally have written their own software for embedded systems, a time-consuming and cumbersome process that often results in a plethora of different and incompatible systems.\nITRON has been followed by several other specifications -- among them Business TRON (BTRON), a multilingual, ubiquitous computing environment with a programmable GUI, and Communications and Central TRON (CTRON), a real-time, multitasking operating system akin to Unix.\nIn the United States, ITRON has a competitor, RTLinux, the real-time version of Linux developed by FSMLabs, Inc.\n\n[But] Steven Searle, who worked on developing TRON's multilingual environment, argues that ITRON has several advantages over real-time versions of Linux. "TRON is an RTOS; Linux isn't," Searle told LinuxInsider, adding that ITRON has a smaller footprint and superior real-time performance.\n"RTLinux switches tasks in milliseconds, while ITRON switches tasks in microseconds," he said. "RTLinux' footprint is measured in megabytes; ITRON is measured in kilobytes."\nSo, what's the future for this market? It's definitively open-source.\n\nThe T-Engine Forum, an offshoot of the TRON project with more than 250 member companies, has been working to create a standardized development environment for embedded applications based on ITRON.\n[And] MontaVista Software is actually helping to create a non-native kernel extension of TRON called T-Linux -- an environment for running middleware. T-Engine and Linux will form a base for developing application software that will include the eTRON chip, an encryption device that offers secure data transfer across wireless networks and the Internet.\nThis alliance between TRON and Linux could put more pressure on vendors of proprietary embedded software. Proprietary software is costly -- vendors usually charge royalties for each microprocessor running the software -- and licensing terms are often restrictive. Moreover, nearly all of the giants in the consumer electronics industry are rallying around open-source solutions.\nSource: Jan Krikke, LinuxInsider.com, October 15, 2003 \n\n\nWhat is the world's most widely used operating system? It's not Windows, Unix or Linux, but ITRON, a Japanese real-time kernel for small-scale embedded systems. ITRON runs on mobile phones, digital cameras, CD players and countless other electronic devices.\n\nITRON emerged as an ambitious Japanese initiative known as The Real-time Operating system Nucleus (TRON). Launched in 1984, TRON was designed to replace disparate computer systems with a unified, open architecture for a "total computer environment."\n\nIts ultimate goal was to create "highly functionally distributed systems" in which all system components are connected to a real-time network. Professor Ken Sakamura, spiritual father of TRON, conceived the project as a social i
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There are many operating systems.  By modern, I'll assume you mean still widely used.  Even looking at it from this point-of-view: Wikipedia lists far more than 50.\n\nI recommend looking at the links below for an overview of not only what they are called, but what makes each of them different or unique.\n\nEnjoy :-)
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http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Comparison_of_operating_systems
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What os u means? specify correctely. I m not getting.
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i know how to cook but what does os mean
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Linux is the kernel of a free operating system. Linux packaged together with other software is called a "Linux distribution", and complete systems are usually referred to as just Linux for convenience.\n\nThe features most people care about are the ones that come from the software you run on top - the X Window System, plus a desktop environment (usually KDE or Gnome), plus additional packages.\n\nI've given a set of (KDE-oriented, because I'm biased) links to explore some of the features and packages available for users of the typical Linux system.
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The smallest unit of time managed and assigned by the operating system to programs and other processing activities. toggle
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cat /etc/redhat-release\n\nor\n\nuname -r will give you the kernel version
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com·put·er   Pronunciation Key  (km-pytr)\nn.\n\n   1. A device that computes, especially a programmable electronic machine that performs high-speed mathematical or logical operations or that assembles, stores, correlates, or otherwise processes information.\n   \n   2. One who computes\n\nSimple enough.
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The kernel\n\nThe kernel is the hub of the operating system: it allocates time and memory to programs and handles the filestore and communications in response to system calls. \n\nThe shell\n\nThe shell acts as an interface between the user and the kernel. When a user logs in, the login program checks the username and password, and then starts another program called the shell. The shell is a command line interpreter (CLI). It interprets the commands the user types in and arranges for them to be carried out. The commands are themselves programs: when they terminate, the shell gives the user another prompt.
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The most common types of operating systems in personal computing are Windows, Macintosh, and Linux.