The computer's master control program. When a computer is turned on, a small "boot program" loads the operating system. Although additional system modules may be loaded as needed, the main part, known ...

A note from the Editor in Chief: Scientific American is celebrating its 166th year. Given its history as the longest continuously published magazine in the U.S., it's probably no surprise that it has ...

What if you could strip away the layers of abstraction that operating systems impose and interact directly with your computer’s hardware? Imagine crafting a program where every instruction is executed ...