Operating Systems

Question 1

What is an operating system ?

Answer 1

An operating system (OS) is the whole package that manages out computer’s resources and lets us interact with it

Question 2

What are the two main parts of an Operating system

Answer 2

There are two main parts in an OS :

• the User space
• the Kernel space

Question 3

What is the difference between the user space and the kernel space

Answer 3

The Kernel is the main core of an OS, it talks directly to our hardware and manages our system resources

The User space is made with everything outside the kernel like system programs and user interfaces.

Question 4

Can you explain what is a process ?

Answer 4

A process is a running program

Example : your internet browser is a running program at this moment while you are studying

Question 5

What component determines which process runs at a given moment in time

Answer 5

The CPU scheduler

Question 6

What are the 3 different states of a process ?

Answer 6

• Running
• Ready
• Blocked

Question 7

What is virtual memory ?

Answer 7

The combination of hard drive space and RAM that acts like memory that our processes can use.

Question 8

What is a BIOS (or UEFI) ?

Answer 8

BIOS (Basic Input Output System) / UEFI (replaces BIOS since 2006) : a low-level software that initializes our computer’s hardware to make sure everything is good to go.

Question 9

What is a time slice ?

Answer 9

Time slice : a very short interval of time that gets allocated to a process for CPU execution.

Question 10

Explain the I/O management by the kernel

Answer 10

I/O devices: Devices that perform input and output
The kernel has to be able to load up drivers that are used so we can recognize and speak to these different types of hardware. When the kernel is able to start the drivers to communicate with hardware, it also manages the transfer of data in and out of the devices and between them.