Understanding Operating Systems

Every new computer that's brought home from the store has an operating system installed onto it. But what most new computer users don't realize, is that without an operating system, that computer would be a simple shell of possibilities. A powered computer lacking an operating system wouldn't display anything more than a bunch of confusing text messages that describe the computer's boot process. At the very end of this process, the computer looks for an operating system and if not found, it will prompt the user to tell it where it is.


Earlier computers didn't have an operating system and if you have experience with the computers of the early eighties, you'll remember that most to them didn't even have a hard drive! These old computers booted an MS-DOS type operating system from drivers stored onto a floppy disk, and in order to use a program, users would remove the boot floppy and then insert a new floppy that contained the program. The floppy not only stored the program (word processor, spreadsheet, etc.), it also stored the drivers that the program needed to communicate with the computer's hardware. As you can imagine, the cumbersome process of switching from floppy to floppy prompted the birth of the operating system.

An operating system is a software program that controls how the computer's hardware (and installed software) works. It manages the activity of every component and then displays that activity as a user-friendly interface (GUI). It keeps track of where things exist on a computer's hard drive as well. But perhaps most importantly for the end-user, the operating system is responsible for translating commands issued with a keyboard and mouse into binary code (010110101 stuff) that can communicate with a set of speakers, a printer, a scanner, and more.

With an operating system installed onto a computer's hard drive, users no longer need to boot a computer with a floppy disk, nor do they need to run programs from a floppy disk. All the drivers of a program are stored onto the computer and used whenever a program is started.

Apple's Macintosh computer was among the first of a couple systems to establish a user-to-hardware relationship through a user-friendly interface. Today, we have quite a few operating systems. Some of the more popular ones are Windows Vista, Mac OS X, ZETA, IBM, Unix, and Linux. But even still, operating systems have extended onto to non-computer devices such as game consoles, portable music players, and PDAs. Regardless of the device, the operating system installed onto it serves the same purpose across the board: to enable user-to-hardware communication.

When you think about upgrading your computer to a new operating system, be careful to make sure that you have the necessary hardware components. We tried to upgrade one of our Windows 98 machines to Windows XP, but we were cautioned that the former may not be hardware compatible with XP technology. Apparently, the Windows XP operating system requires components that weren't developed at the time Windows 98 was distributed and if we were to install Windows XP on this machine anyway, the new operating system would look for hardware that the computer didn't have. And that would be an instant recipe for failure.

Also be careful about installing operating systems that are incompatible with existing hardware. The hardware of Macintosh computers is extremely different from the hardware of Windows computers and under no circumstances will a Windows operating system work on a Macintosh machine!
Understanding Operating Systems Understanding Operating Systems Reviewed by Kaisar Woll on 5:39 PM Rating: 5

57 comments:

  1. nice post bro, i like it ...

    ReplyDelete
  2. The operating system is one of the most important components of any computer system. Without an operating system, a computer is a lifeless box.

    ReplyDelete
  3. With the same straightforward and clear writing style that has made previous editions so successful, Understanding Operating Systems, Fifth Edition, provides the ideal blend of operating theory and practice

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  18. mantep nih infonya...
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    ReplyDelete
  19. tengkyu mas buat tulisannya...
    jadi nambah2 ilmu nih...

    ReplyDelete
  20. keren nih postingannya...
    sukses terus mas..
    kunjungan balik donk...

    ReplyDelete
  21. Blogwalking nih mas...
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    ReplyDelete
  22. ijin buat backlink yah kang...
    nuhun ahh..
    :D

    ReplyDelete
  23. wah, tulisannya bagus nih..
    makasih yah udah sharing ke kita2...

    ReplyDelete
  24. Nice post...
    saya setuju sama tulisan diatas..

    ReplyDelete
  25. akhirnya sampe juga disini nih...
    salam kenal mas.....

    ReplyDelete
  26. ijin main2 yah kang..
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    ReplyDelete
  27. jangan lupa kunjungan baliknya donk bro..
    sukses terus yaa..
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    ReplyDelete
  28. salam kenal dari bandung om..
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    sukses terus!!!

    ReplyDelete
  29. wah, mantap kali you punya tulisan..
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  30. Great Post!
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  31. blogwalking...
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  32. widihhh..mantep banget nih tulisannya.
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  33. ane setuju banget sama postingan ente gan!
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    ReplyDelete
  34. mantep nih infonya...
    makasih yah udah bagi2 ke kita...
    :)

    ReplyDelete
  35. tengkyu mas buat tulisannya...
    jadi nambah2 ilmu nih...

    ReplyDelete
  36. keren nih postingannya...
    sukses terus mas..
    kunjungan balik donk...

    ReplyDelete
  37. Blogwalking nih mas...
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    ReplyDelete
  38. ijin buat backlink yah kang...
    nuhun ahh..
    :D

    ReplyDelete
  39. wah, tulisannya bagus nih..
    makasih yah udah sharing ke kita2...

    ReplyDelete
  40. Nice post...
    saya setuju sama tulisan diatas..

    ReplyDelete
  41. akhirnya sampe juga disini nih...
    salam kenal mas.....

    ReplyDelete
  42. ijin main2 yah kang..
    sukses selalu...

    ReplyDelete
  43. blogwalking...
    permisi masss....
    sukses terus...

    ReplyDelete
  44. widihhh..mantep banget nih tulisannya.
    keep posting sob!

    ReplyDelete
  45. ane setuju banget sama postingan ente gan!
    mantep dahhh..

    ReplyDelete
  46. jangan lupa kunjungan baliknya donk bro..
    sukses terus yaa..
    makasih.

    ReplyDelete
  47. salam kenal dari bandung om..
    :)
    sukses terus!!!

    ReplyDelete
  48. wah, mantap kali you punya tulisan..
    sukses yaaa.

    ReplyDelete
  49. Great Post!
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  50. Wow.. Very informative.. Now I really understand what OS is. ;)

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  55. computer's hard drive, users no longer need to boot a computer with a floppy disk, nor do they need to run programs from a floppy disk. All the drivers of a program are stored onto the computer and used whenever a program is started.

    ReplyDelete

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