Hello, it's been a while. I've been busy working on HTML, CSS, and JavaScript stuff. I will be continuing this blog, and hopefully finishing within the next few weeks. Today, I will be covering the entire operating system section.
An operating system is software that controls the functions of a computer. There are three huge OS types. There is Windows, Linux, and Mac OS. There is virtually no comparison with Windows and the latter two. It's quite the opposite, since there are huge contrasts. The most popular OS in the world is Windows, and the reason is compatibility and user friendliness. Many software developers create their programs to have Windows compatibility, but don't do the same with the other two. This is a huge contrast between them. Another difference is availability. Windows and Linux can be used on any machine, unlike Mac which you can only obtain through purchase of their machines. There's also price, since Windows and Mac (to upgrade) both cost money unlike Linux which is open source. The only exception was Windows 10 which was available (for one year) for free to Windows 7/8 users. This one year period is over, so if you missed it, you can't get the free upgrade. In terms of similarities, Linux and Mac OS share the most. Both of them originate from Unix, which was developed and released in the 1970s.
Furthermore, these operating systems are examples of system software. This is not to be confused with application software, which accounts for all applications that perform tasks within the OS. Examples range from Microsoft Word to iTunes, and Photoshop. Anything you can think of that's an application falls under this category.
Another major difference is between a command-based system and a graphical-user interface (GUI). It's a pretty straightforward one, the command-based system only displays an command line as your input, while a GUI gives you an interface that can be interacted using a graphic. It's very user friendly, and is basically what the majority of operating systems contain. An example of a GUI is a simple button, like the one you use to log off.
Now let's talk about some of the important file types that are widely used. For Microsoft Word,".doc" is used as the file format for saved documents. Another text file format is ".txt" which is commonly used in things like notepad. Then there are the popular image filetypes: .png, .jpg, and .gif -- which are moving images.
Another feature of computers, are windows. When you open up your browser, for example, you are opening a window which can be minimized using the "_" button, openly manipulated, or exited using the "x", obviously. The active window is what you have open at a given time, although other windows could be opened behind it -- you can see them if you minimize your active window. Cascading windows are layered on top of each other, while tiled windows are next to each other. Background items are programs which are running in the background, but not being directly used by the user at a given moment.
If you want to personalize your desktop, there are many ways of accomplishing that. Themes are commonly used to change the appearance of your general layout; items like your taskbar, and its color. Taskbars are the thing at the bottom of your screen (if you're using Windows and haven't customized it) which house shortcuts which the user values as important, the date/time, sound adjustment, and the start button which can help you easily find programs. Screen savers are (usually sleek) animations which run while your computer is asleep. In addition, you can change your desktop background to whatever image you want. This kind of customization is usually available on all operating systems. There are shortcuts on your desktop which you use to easily open up programs, instead of going to their file location. These shortcuts essentially link to the program's executable, and are easily identifiable by its image called an "icon".
To create, copy, paste, delete, or move file/folder around a computer, you use the mouse. Typically this means right clicking a file, and then selecting the given option. To move it though, you'll have to drag it with your mouse. If you want to find a deleted file, it's in the recycle bin, unless you deleted it permanently. Finally, if you want help with anything, Windows has a user help app. If you're in the command prompt and you want to see all the available commands, just type "help". That should sum up this section of the curriculum. Thanks for reading, until next time!
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