Milestone: How Does It Do All Those Wonderful Things?

Many of us have thought about the inner workings and operations of computers. Some of us have even marveled aloud at the feats of our computers. Then the reality of algorithms, encoding and many other mathematical terms hits like a sledgehammer. I’m a social worker so the prospect of learning the mathematical equations associated with the operation of computers is not very appealing. However, wouldn’t it make sense to have a basic understanding of how your computer and relevant technology work? With this basic understanding, one could possibly discern the root of an issue with the computer. Fluency serves this purpose; fluency doesn’t make you an InfoTech geek but it allows you to hold an intelligent conversation about technology with a geek.

If you’re like me, I thought the computer (hardware) was pretty much all you needed to really run a computer. I knew that some software was necessary for specialized tasks but for the most part the computer handled the interaction between the software and the hardware. I was very wrong. Essentially, computers are dependent on software for even the most basic tasks such as starting up. There is software that acts as the intermediary between the hardware of a computer and any other software other than a web browser. That software is the operating system (OS). Snyder considers the three most popular to be Windows, MacOSX, and Unix which has several variations.

The OS has become a crucial part of the computer in that the efficiency of the OS effects the ability of the computer to perform correctly or in some cases, timely. Snyder doesn’t consider any OS to be superior. While all of the OS’s mentioned have their respective technological prowess, they all have bugs that prevent maximization of efficiency for the computer.

It should be noted that despite the problems, OS’s are the key to the development of software and hardware. OS’s facilitate software’s interaction with hardware and it also allows the software to perform it’s designated task.

The knowledge in this blog by no means makes me a geek. However, my level of fluency could potentially effect the way a computer user looks at the selection and installation of newer versions of OS’s. I continually check the blogs to look for bugs and weaknesses in the OS that I’m currently using. I also check Microsoft, monthly, for OS updates.

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