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Your Operating System

The Operating System (OS) is the most important piece of software. Without it, the computer would be nothing more than an expensive paperweight. The Operating System could be thought of as the computer's brain. Examples of Operating Systems are Windows 98 or Macintosh OS X.

A lot of programs and operations on a computer will have different instructions depending upon the type of Operating System it has running on it.

How to find out what sort of Operating System the computer has:
  1. Is there a picture of an apple in the upper left corner?
    The apple

    Yes? This is a Macintosh.
    No? This is a Windows Computer.
  2. Is there a button in the lower left corner that says 'Start'?

    The Start button usually looks like this

    Yes? This is a Windows Computer.
    No? This is a Macintosh.
  3. What version of Macintosh is this?
    Click on the apple in the upper left corner and under the menu choose 'About this Macintosh' or 'About this computer'. A window will pop up with information including System Software Version. It is this version number which explains what sort of Macintosh is being used.
  4. What version of Windows is this?
    There should be an icon in the upper left corner of your computer screen called My Computer.

    My Computer Icon

    Right click on it and choose 'Properties'. Under system, it should say what version of Windows is running on the computer.
    screen shot

November 22, 2009

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