Operating System Concepts

Keep pace with the fast-developing world of operating systems

Open-source operating systems, virtual machines, and clustered computing are among the leading fields of operating systems and networking that are rapidly changing. With substantial revisions and organizational changes, Silberschatz, Galvin, and Gagne’s Operating System Concepts, Eighth Edition remains as current and relevant as ever, helping you master the fundamental concepts of operating systems while preparing yourself for today’s emerging developments.

As in the past, the text brings you up to speed on core knowledge and skills, including:

What operating systems are, what they do, and how they are designed and constructed
Process, memory, and storage management
Protection and security
Distributed systems
Special-purpose systems

Beyond the basics, the Eight Edition sports substantive revisions and organizational changes that clue you in to such cutting-edge developments as open-source operating systems, multi-core processors, clustered computers, virtual machines, transactional memory, NUMA, Solaris 10 memory management, Sun’s ZFS file system, and more. New to this edition is the use of a simulator to dynamically demonstrate several operating system topics.

Best of all, a greatly enhanced WileyPlus, a multitude of new problems and programming exercises, and other enhancements to this edition all work together to prepare you enter the world of operating systems with confidence.

Customer Reviews:

A sound introductory text

By wiredweird "wiredweird" - April 27, 2010

This provides a solid introduction to the basics of operating system (OS) internals. After an introductory section, this covers the major subsystems in an orderly progression: processes, memory, storage, protection, distributed systems, and special purpose systems. Although I might quibble with some of the ordering, (e.g., virtual memory vis a vis process management), this gives a firm foundation for anyone teaching introductory OS internals. As an aside, instructors should also be aware of the additional support they'll find at the book's web site.

I have no real objections to this book, but find that some of its emphasis won't suit all readers. For example, 99% of all processors don't run Windows or Linux. Instead, they run your DVD player, car air bags, microwave, digital watch, and just about everything else with a power cord or battery. Engineering students headed for embedded system development will need supplementary material. Also, like every other undergrad text I... read more

Great Book

By Chris Mcclanahan - September 23, 2008

Although I had to buy this book for a class, I do enjoy reading it. The book stays current by focusing on modern multi-core processors, and relating most concepts to Linux, Windows, and Solaris (plus sometimes others) operating systems. It is fairly easy to read, and there are programming exercises at the end of each chapter to highlight concepts. This book will definitely get your feet wet when learning operating system concepts.

Good introduction to OS general concepts

By Juice Box Hero "got text in my eyes" - September 9, 2011

I was careful to buy the US edition instead of the International edition. Despite the claims that the content is exactly the same, that is simply not true. The exercises after every chapter are different. One of my classmates unknowingly got the Int'l edition and was not so lucky. Entire sections of chapters were printed non-sequentially. In other words, the book had pgs 1-15, then 32-45, then 16-31. I've come to realize that the Int'l editions are the equivalent of Chinese knockoffs electronics for books. To use an old cliche: You get what you pay for.

The book itself does a good job of explaining each concept, although my professor's lectures clarified all of the confusing concepts. The writing is as interesting as can be for a topic I consider very dry. This edition is a bit outdated, using Windows XP as examples for many of the concepts. There is a more recent edition using Windows 7 called Operating Systems Concepts Essentials. Overall, if you are looking for... read more