This report is from Task Force VIII of the COSINE Committee of the Commission on Education of the National Academy of Engineering. The task force was established to formulate subject matter for an elective undergraduate subject on computer operating systems principles for students whose major interest is in the engineering of computer systems and software. The student taking the course should be provided with an intellectual basis adequate for understanding and designing operating systems five and ten years in the future. The universities using this report will vary considerably with respect to course duration, pace at which new concepts can be introduced, and student preparation. For these reasons the material was organized into eight "modules," each dealing with an important conceptual component of current knowledge. Each module contains these features of the model and its manifestations in specific systems, a topic outline, and a guide to the literature. The modules are: (1) Introduction, (2) Procedure Implementation, (3) Processes, (4) Memory Management, (5) Name Management, (6) Protection, (7) Resource Allocation, and (8) Pragmatic Aspects. (Author/TS)