What Operating System Am I Using?
When you are using a computer you might not always be sure what operating system is installed on it. The operating system tells the computer how to operate, it controls hardware, executes programs and provides an interface to the user of the computer. Knowing the operating system you are running can help you with a number of things, from installing the correct software to following directions for an update.
If your computer is a IBM compatible (PC) it most likely has Microsoft Windows installed on it. The best way to see if you are running Windows is to look for the Start menu button in the bottom left corner of the screen. If you do not have a Start button it is probably because your computer does not run Windows.
The next most popular operating system is Linux. If you have a Linux computer it will be running the GNOME graphical interface. The most common version of Linux is Ubuntu. Other variants of Linux are Red Hat, CentOS and Debian. To find out what version of Linux you are running you can open a terminal program and type uname -a. This will give you the kernel version but might not tell you what distribution of linux your running.
Other ways to determine what operating system you are using is to watch as it boots up and look for certain visual indications. A Microsoft Windows logo or flag may indicate an earlier version of Windows than 95 such as 3.11. A red hat in the corner of the screen indicates that you are running Red Hat Linux. A green or blue “L” in the corner of the screen indicates you are running Lindows or Linspire. A gray or black foot print in the corner of the screen indicates you are using a graphical user interface called GNOME running on a form of Linux or UNIX. A purple background and any visual indication of the Sun Solaris operating system being used with X Window System is an indicator of a version of UNIX.
If you are using an Apple computer it will be running MacOS. It is the only OS that can be used on Apple devices. It can be found by going to the Apple menu on the top of the screen and selecting About This Mac. If you are using 10.6 or later your processor is 64 bit capable.
If you are using a Chromebook you are most likely running Google’s operating system called ChromeOS. This is the newest of the three major OS’s. To check what version of ChromeOS you are running open the browser and go to Google’s support page for ChromeOS. This will show you the current version and any updates that have been released. If you are using an older version of ChromeOS you will need to check the manual.
