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I’m 16 so the ‘young generation’ the oldest operating system I used for day to day activities was an Amiga OS. I started becoming a ‘geek’ when Windows XP was around. I have never used any type of DOS or commands of such. Now do you think that as the next generations come along they will be less exposed to the actually processes of the operating system as their ‘user interface’ develops? Or do you believe this is not the case and young people gain a better insight to computers than you had? |
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You could have a more user friendly operating system and learn something, or have a complicated operating system, get frustrated, and learn nothing at all. Which seems better? |
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I'm 16 as well the first os I used was gem. I have a little experience with dos since my second operating system was 3.1 but that was mostly gui. I was sad when my dad upgrade to 95 for some reason. Eventually I started using it for games. Being primarily a windows user, I actually had a lot of trouble using an apple. I guess I wasn't thinking literate?. The first apple computer I used was an Macintosh. I eventually got the hang of it. I learned a lot but I don't know if this answers your question :D. |
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Not necessarily. Just because all the newer operating systems are more user friendly doesn't mean you learn less. You might even argue that you learn more because you have to learn all the new features of newer OSes, that is if you started some time ago. It really depends on the user. If your just starting out you can still go back and learn about older operating systems if your interested. I really started getting into computers when I first got XP but have used computers since win3.1(but only with supervision because I was still very young). I am currently working on getting a Bachelor Degree in Computer Networking (Multi Platform) and we use DOS to diagnose some problems. So I had to learn how to use DOS and other older OSes (believe it or not some companies still use DOS, WIN 3.1 WIN 95, WIN 98, WIN2000,WIN NT and WIN XP...). EDIT: Not all knowledge is computer related. |
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No. You don't need to know how a computer works in order to use it, just as you don't need to understand your car in order to drive it. But as long as there are people who want to learn about computers, then they will find out. They might do this in their own time or by doing a course such a Computer Science degree in university. |
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Insightful question! My answer is ... I kind of agree. As Operating Systems become more "User Friendly", they just blend into the background. Like people driving cars without knowledge of mechanics. That doesn't mean We Learn Less, just we don't need to learn about the OS. We can move on to learn about other things ... |
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For any user, you only learn (from experience) when something breaks. Let a PSU die, or a Boot Table go corrupt... you'll learn fast when you it's your only computer. Most times you learn the best when the tech support in India can no longer assist you, besides you sending it in ... and you're broke. You're talking more about learning what makes Windows work, down to the core. You're talking more about the commands that the GUI does for you, more than actually learning about an OS. Most OS's work on two layers, GUI and Code. (Yes, I know there are more layers than that, but this is for clarification and simplicity!) The GUI runs the code that you could go type in the terminal yourself... making it seem simple. Computers have gotten only more complicated, making oddities harder to sort out. Things are not so cut and dry anymore. Problems can take a lot of diagnosing, and even after all that, still reach no conclusion to the average user! If you'd like to learn more about how a computer works, and how the hardware interacts with the software, I'd recommend a certification. CompTIA makes some very good exams to test your knowledge and provide you with a certification. Mike Meyers writes some great books to prepare for these tests with. I'd recommend CompTIA A+ for now. PS. Get it before the end of this year and you'll be certified for life! |
