An operating system manages the resources of a computer.
Describe the purpose of process management in an operating system.
Mark scheme
Award up to two marks for a linked description such as:
- A scheduler decides which process/program is run next (1) so that the CPU is shared between processes (1)
- Allocates CPU/processor time to each process (1) so that more than one program can run at once/multitasking (1)
- Manages the running of processes (1) so that each process gets a fair share of the processor time (1)
- Keeps track of the state of each process (1) to make efficient use of the processor (1)
Do not accept responses about managing files, peripherals or users.
Do not accept 'closes/stops programs' or 'stops programs freezing' with no reference to scheduling or the processor.
Example answers and how they were marked
A scheduler decides which process is run next so that the CPU is shared fairly between processes.
Why: Scheduling point (1) linked to sharing the CPU (1).
It decides which process the CPU runs next and it closes processes that are not needed.
Why: First point earns (1); the second is not creditworthy because closing processes is not part of the linked description.
Process management manages the processor so that it does not overheat and freeze.
Why: Repeats the question with no development and refers to the physical processor, which the mark scheme does not accept.