|-Operating Systems Explained-|
Author- Ennis
Contact- nho@hackermail.com
part a. Operating Systems Explained
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One of the greatest technological advances of the modern age was the development of the OS or Operating System. They allocate storage for programs and carryout various tasks. They act as an interface between user and computer.
They must interpet the users commands to the appropiate hardware/software. The OS provides a vital link between us and our hardware, in the first development of microcomputers the OS was contained entirely on ROM [Read Only Memory], however it is too hard to alter whereas modern OS systems can be easily configured by a fairly experianced user.
Today the most widely used OS is MS-DOS, if you dont know it, well you should as its the OS for the GUI [graphical user interface] many of you are now using Windows.
Perhaps the more respected Operating System is Unix, developed in 1971 and is the internets main OS.
As you can guess from the name the OS is the software that operates your PC. However it is not the most basic element of the PC. It is the most basic system many users tend to notice. The OS gives users the ability to give commands. Early OS systems such as MS-DOS, APPLE-DOS and PC-DOS contain the three letters DOS. Why you may ask well, DOS stands for Disc Operating System which is what the OS most basic task is, to control disc access and storage.
Lets take a look at what is between the general user and the hardware of his/her PC.
YOU the user
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Applications
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The Operating System
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BIOS
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The Hardware
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What can we do with the Operating System
a. Obtain a list of files on the discs
b. Find out how much free space is available
c. Copy files from one device to another
d. Join together different files
e. Delete obselete files
f. Create new files
g. Select different input/output devices
So thats the basic introduction the Operating System. Next I hope to post tutorials on the following OS.
-Windows
-Unix
Ennis.
