6.1.9 - Outline how an operating system hides the complexity of the hardware from users and applications.

Question 1

How does an operating system use abstraction to hide hardware complexity?

Answer 1

The OS hides hardware details through abstraction, allowing users and applications to interact with hardware without seeing its complexity. Related devices appear the same to users, such as hard disks and USBs.

Question 2

What are drive letters in operating systems?

Answer 2

Drive letters are single alphabetic characters assigned to physical drives or partitions, such as ‘C’ for a hard drive. They help abstract the hardware for easier user interaction.

Question 3

What are virtual machines and how do they hide hardware complexity?

Answer 3

Virtual machines use software to emulate hardware, allowing one OS to run inside another. Virtual machines can also run intermediate code, such as with Java Virtual Machines (JVMs).

Question 4

What is a Java Virtual Machine (JVM)?

Answer 4

A Java Virtual Machine (JVM) interprets compiled Java bytecode for a processor, allowing Java code to run on any platform by using platform-specific JVMs.