You open two programs — a photo editor and a music player. Who decides how much RAM and CPU time each gets?

The operating system's scheduler and memory manager The program that was opened first gets priority automatically The CPU itself decides independently which program runs The user must manually divide RAM between programs in settings

What is the motherboard's role in a computer?

It's the main circuit board that connects and allows communication between all components — CPU, RAM, storage, and peripherals It's the board that holds only the CPU and its cooling fan It controls the power supply to protect against electrical surges It's a separate computer inside the main computer that manages security

When your OS says a program 'is not responding', what has most likely happened?

The program has stopped asking for CPU time — it's stuck in a loop or waiting for something and blocking its own progress The program has used up all its storage space The keyboard has disconnected from the computer The CPU temperature has gotten too high and it shut the program down

Why can't you run a Windows program on a Mac without special software?

Programs are compiled for a specific OS's system calls and sometimes a specific CPU architecture — they rely on OS-specific features Windows and Mac computers use different voltages, so Windows programs would damage Mac hardware It's purely a business decision — technically they could run anywhere Mac computers don't have enough RAM to run Windows programs

What is a 'device driver'?

Software that lets the OS communicate with a specific hardware device like a printer or graphics card A physical component that powers USB devices A program that backs up your hard drive automatically The part of the CPU that 'drives' calculation speed higher

A computer's 'clock speed' determines how fast the CPU runs. Why can't engineers just keep increasing clock speed to make computers faster?

Higher clock speeds generate more heat, and beyond certain speeds the chip becomes unstable and too hot to cool practically Electricity can't travel faster than the speed of light, so clock speed is capped Software isn't written fast enough to keep up with faster hardware Government regulations limit how fast consumer chips can run

When you install an app on a smartphone, where does the app primarily reside, and where does it run?

It's stored permanently on flash storage; when you open it, it loads into RAM to run It lives entirely in RAM — deleting from RAM uninstalls it It's stored in the cloud and streams to your phone each time you open it It lives in the CPU itself in a special application cache

What is the 'file system' that an OS uses?

A system that organizes and keeps track of where all files are stored on a disk A folder where the OS stores all its own system files A physical filing cabinet that IT departments use to store backup disks A security system that prevents unauthorized users from accessing files

Computers from the 1980s processed 8 or 16 bits at a time. Modern computers are '64-bit.' What does this mean practically?

A 64-bit CPU can process larger chunks of data at once and can address vastly more RAM than older processors A 64-bit CPU runs at exactly 64 GHz A 64-bit CPU has 64 cores for parallel processing A 64-bit CPU uses 64 GB of RAM by default

When you 'restart' a computer instead of just 'shutting down and turning on,' why might that fix a problem that a simple power-off didn't fix?

A restart clears RAM and reloads all OS components fresh, which can clear corrupted state or stuck processes A restart updates the computer's internal clock to the correct time Restarting defragments the hard drive automatically A restart and a power cycle are exactly the same thing — there's no difference