Operating Systems

Question 1

What are the main features on an OS?

Answer 1

File Management, User Interface, Memory Management, Error Reporting, Device Management, Scheduling

Question 2

How is error reporting useful to a programmer/developer?

Answer 2

It allows the developer to get information on what went wrong and where, so they can identify the cause and fix this

Question 3

Why do computers have much smaller cache memory than main memory?

Answer 3

There is a limited space on the die and to extend that would reduce the effectiveness of the cache memory

Question 4

What are the drawbacks of virtual memory?

Answer 4

Virtual memory is slower than RAM, requires careful software handling to operate, lessens the available hard drive space

Question 5

What is the purpose of a device manager?

Answer 5

Handles input/output devices as well as specialist devices and allows the OS to communicate instructions/data to and from these

Question 6

How many processes can each core run?

Answer 6

Normally one run and hyperthreading allows two runs

Question 7

What is threading?

Answer 7

Allows a core to run any number of simultaneous process, through task switching

Question 8

What advantages does scheduling have for a system with multiple concurrent users

Answer 8

Multiple users can see the system making progress on their tasks at the same time instead of waiting for the others to be finished

Question 9

What is the importance of process priority?

Answer 9

Higher priority means the process will get time on the core sooner ensuring that even under the maximum load, the core capabilities are not affected

Question 10

What is the most common user interface?

Answer 10

For desktops, graphical user interface for its ease of use. For servers, a command line for its efficiency and power

Question 11

What is BIOS?

Answer 11

Basic Input Output System runs the most basic functions of the computer until they can be handed over to the Bootloader and the OS

Question 12

What is a bootloader?

Answer 12

Its role is to move the main OS into memory, as the complexity of a full OS is beyond what a BIOS can handle

Question 13

Examples of operating system used outside of desktop PCs

Answer 13

mobile phone OS like android and iOS, server based systems or integrated OS

Question 14

What is a dual BIOS?

Answer 14

Allows a machine to have a backup in case there are issues with an update that would stop the system from loading

Question 15

Benefits of virtual memory

Answer 15

Provides a cheap option to effectively add more memory, enables more applications to be used at once, can handle more addresses than main memory

Question 16

What is process priority?

Answer 16

determines which process gets more CPU time and which processes can wait for execution at a later, less-demanding time