ITPEC IP April 2022 Question 18
Which of the following is an OS function that executes multiple application programs concurrently on a single PC, such as when a file is downloaded from a web site while data is processed with spreadsheet software?
Explanation
Multitasking — the OS function that lets several application programs run concurrently on one PC.
The operating system splits CPU time among tasks and switches between them quickly. While the download waits for data from the network, the spreadsheet can use the CPU, so both appear to run at the same time. This is a software function of the OS and works even on a single-core CPU.
Answer (d)
Why not others:
- •(a) Virtual reality — a technology that makes a computer-generated space feel real, unrelated to running programs side by side
- •(b) Dual core — a CPU with two processor cores; it is hardware, not an OS function, although it can speed up multitasking
- •(c) Dual system — two identical systems performing the same processing and comparing results for reliability, not concurrency on one PC
Key rule: Multitasking is the OS scheduling several tasks concurrently; multi-core is hardware and dual system is a reliability configuration.
Software · AI-written, may contain errors
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