The operating system and utility programs are the two major categories of
. Just as the processor is the nucleus of the computer system, the operating system is
of all software activity.
An operating system (commonly abbreviated OS and O/S) is the software component of a computer system that is responsible for the management and coordination of activities and the sharing of
of the computer. The operating system acts as a host for
on the machine. As a host, one of the purposes of an operating system is to handle the details of the operation of the hardware. This relieves application programs from having to manage these details and makes it easier to write applications. Almost all computers, including handheld computers, desktop computers, supercomputers, and even video game consoles, use
some type. Some of the oldest models may however use an
that may be contained on a compact disk or other data storage device.
OS is the first program loaded into memory when the computer is turned on and, in a sense, brings
. Without it, you cannot use your word processing software, spreadsheet software, or
applications.
