Co-operative multitasking
In computing,
cooperative multitasking is a form of multitasking in which multiple tasks execute by voluntarily cedeing control to other tasks at programmer-defined points within each task. Operating systems such as
Microsoft Windows prior to
Windows NT, and
MacOS prior to
OS X relied on this approach to execute multiple programs simultaneously.
While its usage in modern computing is on the wane,
RISC OS is an example of an operating system which still retains this method.
See also