how did we make the first computer operating system if we didn’t have computers to make them on?
In: Technology
The Operating System didn’t just suddenly appear out of nothing, there were many steps between the first computer and the modern operating system.
The first computers did only one thing. The math people just connected wires and vacuum tubes to do the logical operations they wanted it to do. They weren’t very complicated by modern standards, a human could do it by hand. If you wanted the computer to do something else, you had to rebuild the entire thing.
Next they made it easier to do something different, by making it so you could just unplug and re plug the wires instead of building the whole thing. They also put together some bits that a lot of different math people were constantly doing, and just let you plug the wires into those.
Next they made it so that rather than plugging in wires, the wires were all connected to switches you go flip on and off. Because that was easier.
Next they made a machine that flipped those switches for you. They stored which switches to flip on punch cards and just put them into the machine. You can make the argument that this was the first operating system, though most people in the know would disagree with you.
Then a bunch of people wanted to use the same computer with their pile of punch cards. So they started writing down when they could use their cards. They’d hand it off to somebody to load all their cards for them.
Everyone then got sick of waiting for that guy, so they made a machine that figured out who gets to run their cards next and loaded the cards for them. This is probably where most people agree the operating system started.
Latest Answers