How can you answer an operating system interview question with confidence?

In interviews that will include subjects conerning operating systems, it is prudent to at least be somewhat knowledgeable on certain concepts for each major platform. For instance, Windows and Linux use drivers whereas Mac OS uses kexts. Understanding the differences between Linux package managers is useful as well, as each major version uses different ones. Debian/Ubuntu use apt, Arch based use pacman, Fedora/RHEL use yum, and so on. Additionally, it's useful to know how to setup and map network shares with each system, networking basics, gui and cli navigation, and expecially system directories for both location and purpose. With access to crash course lessons on YouTube and libraries, it's recommended to learn a little about each.

That's excellent advice for anyone preparing for an IT interview, especially one related to operating systems. Understanding these fundamental concepts and terminology is crucial. Reviewing common operating systems and their characteristics can be very helpful.

Operating systems these days are very complex, and it is increasingly difficult to learn about them from an interview perspective. Learning how the simplest of the operating systems work, how the kernel thinks, what are threads and processes, how they are synchronized, how memory management works, what are file systems and how do they work, etc, can be helpful.

I think it's important to answer a very basic question - what is an operating system? How trivial it sounds is not as trivial to give the shortest and complete answer to this. Even if an interviewer skips that exact question don't hesitate to mix it into an answer to a similar one. Just to show your understanding of what makes this bunch of electronics, aka computer, to be able to communicate with us, humans :).

One thing I've found useful when preparing for OS interviews is to create a comprehensive cheat sheet or study guide. This cheat sheet should include key concepts, algorithms, and commands related to operating systems. Having this reference on hand during the interview can be a lifesaver, especially when you encounter tricky technical questions. It not only boosts your confidence but also demonstrates your dedication to the subject matter.

Be open to explore and share. Realise that every operating system is different in one way or the other. And more often than not we familiarise ourselves with general purpose one. So there is always something new to learn, something new to implement.