| The Operating System |
|
It looks as though there are a lot of things happening
in the computer besides the program you want to run. Don't we need someone
to manage it? Yes, we do. At school, you have the principal, vice principal,
guidance counselor and secretaries (collectively called "administration")
to "run" the school (of course, you think they are not doing such a great
job – adults never do, right? – but imagine the school without them!) What
the administration staff does, among many other things, is scheduling
the school activities (such as classrooms and teachers schedules), making
sure that everyone is where they are supposed to be (you too!), taking
care of supplies, and so on. In the computer, the administration staff is called the Operating System, while all other participants (programs) are called Applications. It's a heavy responsibility, and without it you wouldn't be able to use the computer. Windows® is an operating system, just as are others you may have heard of: DOS®, Solaris®, Linux, etc. The various operating systems are different in how each one does its job, but the jobs they do are almost identical. We will not go into all the services an operating system has to provide, but a few are important enough to discuss now. |
Home Overview Outline About the Author Members Download Contact Us