Operating Systems

A computer is similar to a young child. It doesn’t know how to do anything by itself; it needs a “parent” to tell it how to do things. When you install a program on the hard disk inside a computer you are giving the computer the instructions it needs to do things such as search the World Wide Web, play a game, type a letter, etc.

Most computers contain many programs, so one of the first tasks you do when you use a computer is select the program you want to use. But how does the computer know how to show you the different programs you can choose from? How does the computer know how to find a program and run it? How does the computer know how to show you what’s on a disk? It knows how to do these things with the help of a master program called an operating system. This program helps you do basic tasks with your computer like the ones described above. Every computer must have an operating system and this program will start automatically when the computer is turned on. There are only a few different operating systems you may come across: DOS, Windows, The Macintosh Operating System, LINUX, and OS/2. Windows is by far the most commonly used operating system and the latest version is Windows 2000.

The Macintosh Operating System

The screen that you see when you are using the operating system is often called the Desktop. On a Macintosh computer they also refer to this as the Finder.

The programs in a Macintosh computer are listed in the Launcher. (In older Macintosh computers there will not be a Launcher. You will have to find the programs on the hard disk.) To start a program you click once on the picture in the Launcher. If the Launcher window has been closed, you can open it again by going to Control Panel in the Apple Menu.

The menus are listed at the top and contain commands that you can give the computer. For example, the Find command in the File Menu will help you find lost files. When you want to shut off a Macintosh computer you must choose Shut Down in the Special Menu. Remember that on a Macintosh computer you must hold down the mouse button to see a menu.