What Is an Operating System?

Operating systems (OS) are a set of integrated programs which manage computer resources and operations. The OS is invisible to the user, however it provides services that programs can utilize to enable hardware and software to be more usable.

It is a fundamental operation system feature. The OS must be able to organize the contents of files to improve speed, reliability and efficiency of storage. This arrangement, known as a file-system, permits files to be given attributes and names. They can also be organized into directories or folders to form the directory tree.

The majority of computers are equipped with a variety of hardware devices, like keyboards, printers, and other peripherals. These devices rely on device driver software to communicate with the operating system. The operating system installs and configures these drivers to provide the correct service to applications. It also hides hardware information from users, so they can use the system without having to know about the precise hardware configuration.

Process Management

An OS keeps track of all the applications running on the computer and decides the amount of time to be allocated to each in a multitasking system. It also manages interruptions that applications create to attract a processor’s attention and ensures that there’s enough memory to allow an application to complete its work without interfering with other processes.

Operating systems also perform other functions that are related to the overall performance of the computer. For instance they maintain the primary memory, which includes huge arrays of bytes or words with an address for each. The OS monitors how many of these bytes are being used by various applications and can delete, move or arrange them to free up space.

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