This book presents a cursory introduction to the principles upon which most operating systems are based. The book is divided into two approximately equal parts. The first half is a historical development of operating systems and the second half contains case studies of existing operating systems, including UNIX, MS-DOS, and OS/VS2 MVS. The two parts contain a total of fourteen chapters:
:9N(1) A Model of the Computer System
(2) Systems Software and Early Operating Systems
(3) Multiprogramming Systems
(4) Virtual Storage Systems
(5) Multicomputer and Multiprocessor Systems
(6) A Brief Look into the Future
(7) CP/M: A Microcomputer Operating System
(8) MS-DOS and PC-DOS
(9) The p-System
(10) UNIX
(11) TPF/II: A High-Performance System
(12) Virtual Machine/SP: An Operating System
(13) OS/VS2 MVS
(14) General Conclusions
The section on the fundamentals of operating systems is well written but lacks the depth of coverage offered by many of this book’s predecessors. The case studies are generally quite well done and provide an informative illustration of many of the concepts treated in the first half of the text. Because the book lacks depth, it is probably best suited for a low-level undergraduate course on operating systems.
