For most people, understanding their computers extends no further than needing to know how to be able to install programs. However, there are a number of essential elements that allow a user to make use of the computer hardware. This essay will...

The history of computer operating systems recapitulates to a degree, the recent history of computer hardware. Operating systems (OSes) provide a set of functions needed and used by most application-programs on a computer, and the necessary linkages for...

The Fallon Healthcare System began an intensive overhaul of the organization's data culture and IS to improve the process of getting useful information. Fallon's data was stored on internally developed IBM and IDX systems, which were closed and contained no inter-relational database. The overhaul...

Ask 10 computer scientists to state which features define an operating system, and you will probably get 10 different answers. Ask what those features will be four years from now, and the responses will range from some vague variation on current systems to visions...