This deep dive covers Deep Dive: Multitasking within Operating Systems for GCSE Computer Science. Revise Operating Systems in Systems Software for GCSE Computer Science with 15 exam-style questions and 10 flashcards. This topic appears less often, but it can still be a useful differentiator on mixed-topic papers. It is section 5 of 8 in this topic. Use this deep dive to connect the idea to the wider topic before moving on to questions and flashcards.
Topic position
Section 5 of 8
Practice
15 questions
Recall
10 flashcards
Deep Dive: Multitasking
Modern computers run multiple programs simultaneously through time-slicing:
- CPU rapidly switches between tasks (milliseconds)
- Each process gets a time slice
- Appears simultaneous to users
- OS scheduler decides priority and order
Multi-core processors can run tasks in true parallel - each core handles different processes!