10 min read
Introduction
What an operating system is, why every computer needs one, and the decisions you will learn to make.
Windows, Linux or Something Else?
Where the operating system sits
What You Will Be Able to Do
- Explain the jobs of an operating system: managing processes, memory, files, devices and security, and providing a user interface.
- Describe the types of operating system.
- Compare Windows, Windows Server, Linux distributions and macOS.
- Choose and justify an OS for servers and for client computers.
- Explain how a computer boots.
- Use basic command-line operations in Windows and Linux.
Practice
When you click Print in Word, which software actually talks to the printer?
More lessons in Operating Systems · Next: What an Operating System Does