[cybojanek]

The point of the OS class isn't to teach you how to CREATE an OS from scratch, but to teach you how an OS WORKS. I've interacted with a lot of CS students, and it boggles the mind how ignorant they are in using a computer. To fully understand how your program works, you should have a general understanding of what's going on behind the scenes. It definitively makes you a better coder. If you understand that a file-system, memory, cpu etc...aren't just black boxes that "just work", you can code around their bottlenecks.

My OS class was one of the most rewarding classes during my undergrad years. Don't think of it as a hurdle. Embrace it.

[brudgers]

Back in the early 90's, a neighbor was finishing his Master's in CS. We were having a discussion and I mentioned Dr. Dobbs. He'd never heard of it (though in fairness he did give me a floppy with Mosiac and Winsock).