What is time-sharing in an operating system?
a) A technique where multiple users can access the system simultaneously by sharing CPU time
b) A method for scheduling background processes
c) A type of file system management
d) A process used for swapping memory
Answer:
a) A technique where multiple users can access the system simultaneously by sharing CPU time
Explanation:
Time-sharing is a technique used by operating systems to allow multiple users to share the computing resources of a system simultaneously. The CPU time is divided into small time slices, and each user or task is allocated a time slice to ensure everyone can access the system efficiently.
This method creates the illusion that each user has dedicated access to the system, even though the CPU switches between users rapidly. This is commonly used in multi-user systems, enabling several users to work interactively on the same system.
Time-sharing systems are crucial in environments where multiple users need concurrent access to the system’s resources, such as in servers or mainframes.