1.5.1 Operating Systems Flashcards
(27 cards)
What are operating systems?
- Manages the resources of a computer eg memory, users and peripherals
- Contains other software to support performance of computer
- It provides an interface between the user and the computer’s hardware.
User -> Operating system -> Computer Hardware
What are some examples of operating systems?
- Android - samsung, motorola, google pixel (phones), ipads
- Mac OS - imac and macbook
- Windows - computers (microsoft, lenovo, HP)
- iOS - iphone, ipad
- Linux - chromebook, amazon kindle, fridges, smart Tvs, smartwatches, cars, nasa
- Chrome OS - chromebooks, chromebox, chromebases
What is User Interface?
- Allows a human to interact with the computer system. (HCI - Human-Computer interaction)
- Each UI is particular to the device eg allow for a mouse input for a computer or allow for a gesture detection for smartphones.
What are some examples of UI?
Graphical User Interface
Command Line Interface
Touch - Sensitive Interface
Menu - Driven Interface
Voice - Driven Interface
What is Graphical User Interface?
WIMP - Windows Icon Menu Pointer
What are some advantages of GUI?
- Beginner friendly and easy to use
- Aesthetically appealing
- Very interactive
- Can help productivity
What are some disadvantages?
- Uses more processing power
What is Command Line Interface?
- Entirely text based
- Users interact using commands eg DIR or CD
What are some advantages of CLI?
- Extremely powerful
- Little processing power required
What are some disadvantages of CLI?
- You could easily accidentally delete data
- Need to be trained and an expert to learn all commands
- More commands than GUI
What is Touch - Sensitive Interface?
- Used by smartphones and tablets
- Human interacts by pressing on a touchscreen so very intuitive and suitable for most people without training
- Can have issues if screen is damaged or fingers are dirty or wet.
- Also takes longer to write text compared to a keyboard
What is Menu-Driven Interface?
- Most commonly found in ATMs and very old Ipods.
- Data is display in a series of linked menus eg if the top left button is clicked then it will lead to a certain menu
- Generally easy to use and user friendly
- Can be annoying looking for specific data since there is no search feature.
What is Voice-Driven Interface?
- Controlled by speaking commands allowed
- Examples include Alexa, Siri, Google Home
- Used also in banks and GPs for dealing with large amounts of customers so it can speed up process
- It is intuitive,and user friendly since it is hands free.
- Commands need to be clear and limited as interface struggles with long sentences or it can mishear a human.
What is multiasking?
- When you have more than one program open and running at the same time
- Processor allocates a small amount of time to each process and cycles between them - known as time slicing
- Happens so quickly that it looks like the programs are executing simultaneously
What is an example of multitasking?
Running Word, Spotify and several tabs on Google Chrome
What is memory management?
- Needed to manage multitasking and the computer’s memory in general
- The OS handles loading programs from the hard drive into RAM
What is an example of memory management?
- As Program C was loaded it was bigger than both Program A and Program B.
- The program has been split to fit into the free space - this is called memory fragmentation
- Over time the memory becomes fragmented as programs are loaded and closed because they use different amounts of memory
- The OS must keep track of the different program fragments
- When memory is full, the OS uses virtual memory
What are peripherals?
- A peripheral is an external device connected to a computer system to input or output data.
- Data transferred between the peripherals and the processor needs to be managed by the OS
What are device drivers?
Device drivers are programs that act as an interface between the operating system and a specific hardware device.
Why are device drivers needed?
Hardware devices are often designed with unique instructions, and the OS needs a way to understand and interact with them.
How do device drivers work?
When the OS needs to interact with a device (e.g., print a document), it uses the device driver to send the appropriate commands to the hardware.
What are examples of device drivers?
Device drivers are used for a wide range of devices, including printers, scanners, keyboards, mice, graphics cards, and network interfaces.
What is OS Specific?
Device drivers are typically OS-specific, meaning a driver for Windows won’t work on macOS, and vice versa.
What is the importance of OS Specific?
Device drivers are crucial for enabling the OS to manage and interact with hardware, allowing users to use their computers effectively.
