An operating system is simply a program. This program acts as an interface between the User (YOU) and the computer hardware. Well that's a simple enough definition, but that doesn't quench your curiosity does it? It didn't for me, so I researched, a LOT, and wrote this blog to help others like me.
Let's go kindergarten on this one, what is a computer? It is a device that sends email, compiles Java programs, plays music videos, and runs GTA VI! But what part of the computer is actually doing all this awesome stuff?
Not the keyboard. Nope, not the mouse either: these are just PERIPHERAL devices. It's actually the complicated stuff that sits INSIDE the computer. The stuff that's hidden: the HARDWARE (peripherals are NOT hardware).
- The hardware is what converts your english language email into electric signals, and sends it over a wire all the way to your colleague in a different city.
- The Hardware is receiving electrical signals from YouTube (which is just another computer sitting far away which has the YouTube video saved in it's storage.)
- The hardware has your game saved from the last time you completed a mission (trivial for "level") in GTA VI; and it loads that saved game from computer-memory onto your monitor, which you can interact with, LIVE.
You know why it's all hidden? Because we don't want to look at it (unless you are an engineer like me.) It's complicated, there's no point keeping it exposed to our naked eyes lol. I am not interacting with any of it directly anyways, just like a car engine. I am not personally spraying the diesel-air mixture into the combustion chamber, I just hit the gas pedal (accelarator) and GO! (sorry about the car lingo, I'm a motor enthusiast too!) Similarly, I just want to watch my Stand-up comedy video. I Do Not Care about what happened after I searched for 'stand-up comedy' on YouTube. I just want to click on the video and laugh!
So, when you complete a mission in GTA VI and click 'Save Game', something inside the computer sends those signals to (ASKS) the hardware (in this case, the hardware is memory). The signals translate to this: "Hey Memory, my boy just completed his mission, save the game so he can continue it later." And the memory (hardware) did it!
Similarly, when the YouTube server (which is just another computer far away, which holds the youtube video in it's storage) sent you your 'stand-up comedy' video through electrical signals, something ASKED the hardware to turn those signals into the beautiful multicolor video on your monitor and 3D audio on your speakers which you can enjoy.
Yes, we know the hardware is doing everything, but the hardware is nothing but a compli-friggin-cated circuit. I am guessing if you are still reading this whole-heartedly, then you won't be surprised by the circuit part. Everything in the hardware is aSo, we need to send it certain signals to So everything that's going on inside, Operating System is an ABSTRACTION for it. My dear friend, that is literally it.