1.3.1 Table

Question 1

1st Generation (hardware)

Answer 1

Vacuum tubes

Question 2

2nd Generation (hardware)

Answer 2

Transistors replaced vacuum tubes as smaller and faster switches.

Question 3

3rd Generation (hardware)

Answer 3

Integrated circuits allowed the development of microchips to replace individual transistors.

Question 4

4th Generation (hardware)

Answer 4

Very large scale integration (VLSI) allowed the placement of a complete microprocessor on a single chip, leading to the development of personal computers (PCs).

Question 5

5th Generation (hardware)

Answer 5

Networking hardware enabled the harnessing of the power of multiple computers.

Question 6

1st Generation (OS type)

Answer 6

None

Question 7

2nd Generation (OS type)

Answer 7

Batch OS

Question 8

3rd Generation (OS type)

Answer 8

Interactive multi-user OS.

Question 9

4th Generation (OS type)

Answer 9

Desktop and laptop OS.

Question 10

5th Generation (OS type)

Answer 10

OSs for supercomputers, distributed systems, and mobile devices.

Question 11

1st Generation (characteristics)

Answer 11

All programming was done by experts in machine language without any support from an OS or any other system software.

Question 12

2nd Generation (characteristics)

Answer 12

Programs were submitted in batches of punch cards. The role of the OS was to automate the compilation, loading, and execution of programs. Multiprogramming was developed, which allows the OS to schedule the execution of jobs to make more efficient use of the CPU and other resources.

Question 13

3rd Generation (characteristics)

Answer 13

Interrupts were developed to allow the OS to enforce time-sharing and to interact with keyboards and display terminals, also developed during the same period. Increased capacity and speed of memory and secondary storage devices imposed additional management tasks on the OS.

Question 14

4th Generation (characteristics)

Answer 14

The OS was responsible for all operations, starting from the initial booting, to multitasking, scheduling, interactions with various peripheral devices, and keeping all information safe. The emphasis was on user-friendliness, including the introduction of the GUI.

Question 15

5th Generation (characteristics)

Answer 15

The ability to create extremely powerful chips spawned several directions of development. Supercomputers combined large numbers of processors and made the OS and other software responsible for exploiting the increased computation power through parallel processing. Computer networks gave rise to the Internet, which imposed requirements of privacy and safety along with efficient communication. Wireless networks led to the development of hand-held devices, with additional demands on the OS.