How Do Operating Systems Work?

Summary

The video elaborates on how operating systems (OS) form the backbone of modern computers, integrating hardware and software for various tasks. Historically, computers relied on punch cards for processing tasks. As computers evolved, operating systems were developed to efficiently manage resources and simplify operations across different machines. OSs control the computer's hardware, manage resources, and provide user interfaces, orchestrating the user experience from the moment a computer is turned on. They enable seamless operation by holding and segmenting common commands into a library that other programs use.

Highlights

• Operating systems act as a bridge between hardware and software components. 🌉
• Initially, computers executed tasks via punch cards—a cumbersome method. 🃏
• Today's operating systems handle resource management, user interfaces, and much more. 💼
• OSs simplified programming by creating a standard set of commands. 📚
• With the launch of a computer, the OS kicks in to marshal the machine's resources. 🚀

Key Takeaways

• Operating systems streamline interaction between hardware and software 🖥️.
• Historically, computers used punch cards for processing tasks 💾.
• The invention of operating systems changed how programs interacted with machines ⚙️.
• OSs control, manage, and allocate resources within computers 🔧.
• Operating systems provide a user-friendly interface for interacting with computers 💻.

Overview

In the fascinating world of computers, operating systems hold a pivotal role. They serve as the crucial bridge connecting the intricate world of hardware—a universe of circuits, signals, and machinery—with the diverse realm of software applications. Imagine the chaos without them! Operating systems handle everything from enabling complex video graphics to managing files and playing your favorite tunes.

Back in the early days, computers were all about punch cards. Yes, those ancient rectangular pieces carrying dotty instructions for the computer to understand. It was super tedious and inflexible. Enter the ingenious creation—operating systems! Suddenly, different computers could share, compute, and communicate without being limited to specific hardware fiddles. It completely revolutionized how we interact with these incredible machines.

Today, when you hit that power button, the OS leaps into action behind the scenes, orchestrating the computer's startup rituals and ensuring everything runs smoothly. It organises chaotic commands into libraries so that other programs can perform flawlessly. From managing virtual memory to making sure your printer doesn't go rogue, operating systems are the unsung heroes keeping our digital world connected and efficient.

Chapters

• 00:00 - 01:00: Introduction to Computers and Operating Systems The chapter introduces computers and operating systems, highlighting their various uses such as playing games and watching videos. As the digital age progresses, understanding the fundamentals of these technologies becomes increasingly essential. The role of computers in everyday tasks, their historical development, and the basic operations of operating systems are briefly touched upon, setting the stage for deeper exploration in subsequent chapters.
• 01:00 - 02:00: The Evolution of Computing Power and Batch Processing The chapter explores the historical progression of computing power and the concept of batch processing. It outlines how modern computers, which are composed of a variety of hardware and software components, are unified through operating systems. To understand the significance of operating systems, the chapter takes a retrospective look at the invention of digital technology.
• 02:00 - 03:00: Challenges with Early Computer Systems The chapter discusses the capabilities of early computer systems, which could perform approximately 5,000 complex calculations per second. Although this was impressive during that era, modern supercomputers now handle up to 34 trillion calculations per second. Furthermore, programming was done using punch cards, which were cardboard pieces with holes. These punch cards were individually fed into the CPU to execute programs.
• 03:00 - 04:00: Introduction of Operating Systems The chapter provides an overview of the early days of operating systems, which were primarily involved in handling batch processing. During this era, there was typically a dedicated individual responsible for managing the flow of punch cards, correcting any jams, and scheduling subsequent program executions. As technological advancement led to faster computers, these machines could process tasks more swiftly than the physical punch cards could be managed. This increase in speed highlighted another challenge in the form of efficiently managing diverse computer resources.
• 04:00 - 05:00: Functions of Operating Systems The chapter discusses the complexity and diversity of early computer systems, where components like RAM and external devices such as printers differed vastly across machines. This required programmers to write machine-specific programs, adding to the complexity of managing different hardware. The chapter introduces the concept of an operating system as a unified solution to streamline interactions between software and diverse hardware, simplifying the programming process.

How Do Operating Systems Work? Transcription

• 00:00 - 00:30 [Music] computers are used for so many different tasks playing games watching videos
• 00:30 - 01:00 running calculations communicating and collaborating computers today are a mixture of different types of hardware and software but there is one program that brings them all together and that's the operating system to consider what the operating system is let's go back in time to the invention of digital
• 01:00 - 01:30 computers they could handle around 5,000 complex calculations per second impressive for the time but today's supercomputers perform nearly 34 trillion calculations per second programs were written on punch cards pieces of cardboard with holes these were fed one at a time into the central processing unit or CPU and enabled the
• 01:30 - 02:00 earliest form of computer batch processing in some cases one person was in charge of making sure the cards were fed in correctly their job was to correct jams and schedule when the next program could be run as computers became faster they were able to process punch card tasks quicker than the cards could be fed in there was another problem different computer's resources that is
• 02:00 - 02:30 the components within them such as RAM and the devices attached to them such as printers were all different from one another a programmer had to write very different types of programs specific to the machine it would be running on was it this card or that card oh no it's all getting a bit complicated isn't it the solution was to write a brilliant piece of software called an operating
• 02:30 - 03:00 system or OS the OS would take over the tasks common to many programs today operating systems control the hardware of the computer they manage and allocate resources and provide an interface for the user go on then turn on that computer and we'll see what happens an OS is one of the first programs that
• 03:00 - 03:30 runs when a computer is turned on most programs start the same way the computer issues lines of code as commands to prepare all the important elements like the screen and the network the operating system holds the collection of all the common commands and segments them rather like putting them into a library from which the other regular programs can borrow codes