Operating system’s Features
Almost all Operating systems have many of the same capabilities or features because users have the same basic needs (such as running programs, managing files, and connecting to the Internet etc.) no matter which OS they use. Every OS also gives users the capability to navigate with shortcut keys, create screen captures, and configure accessibility options. Every OS has so many features but in this blog, I will cover the below main features of any operating system.
- Programs Execution
- File Management
- Connecting to Internet
- Navigation with hot keys
- Screen capturing
- Accessibility options configuration
Programs Execution
All operating systems can execute programs which means they can run programs or applications. They run programs that do something useful. We can run a program in operating system through both GUI and CLI. In a GUI environment, we can run a program by double-clicking an icon or button for the program while in CLI, we can run a program by executing commands in the command terminal. The following figure shows the execution of a program “AeroWeather” in Windows 7.
File Management
Computing devices that save data files have also file management capability. In Windows, this feature is called File Explorer, In macOS, this feature is called Finder; in Linux it’s called Files. With Chrome OS, you can access Google Drive directly or use the Files app for file management. We have many options available like copy, move, paste, delete a file. We have also a search box through which we can search different files, folders, programs. The following figure shows about File management tools that are “Finder” in macOS and “File Explorer” in windows OS.
Connecting to Internet
Operating systems for computers support Internet connections. Operating systems for desktop and laptop computers generally support multiple ways of connecting, such as via Ethernet cable, wireless Wi-Fi adapter, or using a dial-up modem connection. These Operating systems have their default Internet browsers for connecting to the Internet like Chrome OS has Google Chrome, windows has Internet explorer.
Navigation with hot keys
Hot keys are also called keyboard shortcuts or shortcut keys. These keys enable us to issue commands to the operating system by pressing key combinations on the keyboard.
We can find out the shortcut keys for an OS by looking in the Help system in the OS, or look for a list online. The following table shows some of the most common shortcut keys for Windows, macOS, Ubuntu Linux interface, and Chrome OS.
Screen capturing
A screen capture (or screenshot) is a digital image of the computer screen. Screenshots plays an important role when we are helping others in solving a problem or vice versa.
Most operating systems include a built-in screen capture feature, which can be selected via clicking through mouse or pressing a certain key or combination of keys. We can also buy third-party applications that capture screenshots with more options. The following figure shows the keyboard shortcuts for screen shortcuts in windows, macOS, Linux Ubuntu and the Chrome OS.
One of the default sreenshot tool in the windows OS is the Snipping Tool which is also shown in the below figure.
Accessibility options configuration
Accessibility options are features built into most operating systems to make easiness for those who have physical disabilities and they can’t use computers in easy way. There can be different accessibility options available for different disabilities of any person like Movement Features in OS help people who have limited mobility (Using Keyboard or mouse),Visual Features help people who have limited vision. Audio Features help people who have limited hearing and Voice features help people to recognize voice commands and data input. In Windows, accessibility options are located in Control Panel in the Ease of Access Center. The following figure shows an Ease of Access Center in windows 10.
This was all about the basic and fundamental features of every operating systems.
Thanks for Reading…!!!
