Instead of getting deeper and deeper into computer technology, I’ve decided to start at the beginning. Many blogs deal with technology but not many of them are targeted at beginners. Tech people like to hide behind jargon. We will try to clear the air and the confusion, using plain English instead of buzzwords. Computers Made Simple will help you figure out what’s going on behind the scenes with your computer. If you understand the basics, I think you’ll discover that computers aren’t so mysterious after all.

Since I am a PC guy mainly, much of what you read here will pertain to the Windows Operating System (OS). Some of the posts will be cross-platform so if you’re a Mac person, keep reading. Windows and OS X are both operating systems and this post will help you figure out what an OS does.

Inside your computer are many, diverse bits and pieces. In order to make them work together, in order to simplify your work, you need an OS. This isn’t too much different from your car. It, too, has many diverse bits and pieces. Somehow, all of these pieces have to be controlled. You don’t want to be driving down a busy highway wondering whether your fuel will run out, right? There’s a gas gauge on your dashboard which takes care of that worry for you. That dashboard, full of gauges and lights, is essentially the same as Windows is on your computer. It’s the interface between the mechanical or electronic bits and pieces of your car and you. The Windows and the OS X interfaces are different but they do essentially the same thing; they control everything that is running behind the scenes while you work. They make life simpler, although that might be a questionable statement.

When you start your car, it takes a few minutes to boot or start. The engine has to get some fuel, it has to get a bit warm and it has to figure out if anything is missing that would cause a problem for you when you finally take off. It takes a look at things like seatbelts, air bags, tires (sometimes), oil pressure and so on. Once your car (actually a computer that controls your car) decides that things are running fine, it finishes the boot process and waits for you to drive off.

Windows does the same thing. When you start your computer (laptop or desktop are the same here), Windows checks hundreds of things before it is ready for you to start using it. We’ll go over some of these things in future posts but, for now, let’s say that Windows looks at file system integrity, the drivers that run the different pieces of hardware, the anti-virus software that keeps your safe as well as all of the little programs that are set to run when you start or boot your computer. Depending on your set-up, this could take just a minute or, sometimes, much longer.

Behind Windows (and OS X) is a massively complex sub-system which uses very complicated language to control everything inside your computer case. Just as you don’t actually have to know how the fuel from your tank gets into your engine to make it run, you don’t have to know how a file is saved to your hard drive, either. That in itself is a very complex process, both electronically and mechanically, but, because you are using Windows, you don’t have to think about it. It just happens.

There are some who would say that Windows has made computing more complex but if you think about the new cars, well, they are complicated, too. They do many things that cars didn’t do ten years ago. Computers, too, were simpler ten years ago but there is no reason to be afraid of them. Stick with Computers Made Simple and we’ll sort it all out together.

Thanks for reading!