EmTech WW1 (Topic 1)

• Computers are used in daily life in various ways, from cell phones to ATMs to home thermostats and car cruise controls.
• Computers assist in most parts of daily life and play a central role in worldwide communications, entertainment, education, commerce, and other business activities.
• A computer is an electronic device that receives data (input), processes data, stores data, and produces a result (output).
• A computer includes hardware (physical equipment such as wires and circuits) and software (instructions or programs for controlling the computer).
• Computers have been around since the late 1940s, starting as massive, special-purpose machines with names like UNIVAC and ENIAC, designed for use by the military and government.
• These early computers took hours to complete a calculation, occupied small buildings or entire city blocks, and cost millions of dollars.
• A personal operating system needs to know when you’re finished working with a computer so it can protect itself and other software, and keep your information private while you are away.
• Although you select an option to end a session, the operating system takes care of the tasks, which range from shutting down, to restarting, signing out (also called logging off), switching users, and locking the computer.
• The operating system sets a sequence for processing input and output tasks and uses buffers, which are parts of memory or storage where data waits until it can be transferred to a device.
• To control a hardware resource, the operating system communicates with a device driver, a small program that tells the operating system how to interact with the device.
• Today’s smartphones have more processing power than a UNIVAC, cost less than any of its components, and fit in the palm of your hand.
• The future promises innovations such as wearable computers, using human thought as input, and computer-controlled, micro-controlled robots that treat and possibly cure cancer.
• A computer is an electronic device that receives data (input), processes data, stores data, and produces a result (output).
• Operating systems fall into four major categories depending on the type of device for which they are designed: Personal computers, Mobile computing devices, Servers, Devices other than computers.
• Mac OS set the standard for GUI operating systems and is liked by its users for being a very secure, reliable, and easy-to-maintain operating system.
• Personal or desktop operating systems are installed on a single computer and are called single-user operating systems because one user interacts with the operating system at a time.
• System Software and Application Software are two types of software.
• Windows became widespread because it ran on inexpensive personal computers created by a variety of computer manufacturers.
• Mac OS runs only on Apple Macintosh computers.
• Linux is released to the public as open-source software, meaning anyone can use, modify, and distribute it.
• Linux is available in versions called distributions, including commercial and noncommercial distributions.
• A mobile operating system is designed for small handheld computing devices.
• iOS is a version of Mac OS X written for Apple’s mobile devices, including iPhones and iPads.
• The three most popular personal computer operating systems are Windows, Mac OS, and Linux.
• A smartphone is a cell phone that includes many features of a computer.
• Embedded operating systems are part of an electronic device or system other than a computer.
• A tablet is a one-piece mobile computer that usually includes a touchscreen, which is a screen you touch to interact with the GUI.
• Server operating systems run servers, which are the computers that coordinate networks.
• Android is an open-source operating system designed to run on many types of smartphones and tablets, and is derived from Linux.
• A utility program helps the operating system set up, maintain, and protect a computer.
• Personal computer operating systems are multitasking operating systems, which means they let you work with more than one program at a time.
• Multiuser operating systems, such as server operating systems, let many users run programs and take advantage of the computer’s resources at the same time.
• Linux is a personal computer operating system related to UNIX, which is an operating system developed in the late 1960s that is frequently used by scientists and programmers.
• An operating system is software that coordinates the resources and activities on a computer.
• Windows is easy to use and to personalize, and it runs more types of applications than other operating systems.
• The resources an operating system manages include memory (RAM), processing components, storage space, and peripheral devices.
• Most contemporary software has a graphical user interface (GUI), which uses icons and other graphics to accept data and commands.
• Single-user, single-tasking operating systems let only one user perform a single task at one time.
• Mobile operating systems are designed for handheld computers such as tablets and smartphones.
• System software is the software that runs a computer, and includes the operating system and utility programs.