Operating systems like Windows, Unix or Mac OS X are widely used and known but many users fail to be able to explain what an operating system actually does. Put simply, an operating system is the core software part that brings the computer hardware and software together.
A computer usually comes with an operating system preinstalled. The type of operating system depends on the computer that has been purchased. Generally most computers come with a Microsoft Windows operating system. There are two other operating systems that compete on the market, Apple’s OS X and the various Linux distributions. Unix and Linux dominate the server market on the other hand.
Not only computers make use of operating systems. They come in many electronic devices like cell phones, video game consoles and even in high tech fridges and coffee machines.
Software and hardware are managed by the operating system which controls all the functions and features of them. It manages the communication between applications and the computer hardware. It also makes sure that software and hardware will not run into conflicts while running on a computer system.
It is also responsible for effectively managing the usage of the various hardware components in your computer such as memory and storage.
The software programs that run on the operating system receive the hardware information from it without having to use their own functions to interact with the hardware directly. All hardware of the computer is managed by the operating system.
The operating system works by recognizing input from the devices or software connected or installed. It then sends this information to the necessary recipient such as the hard drive or the monitor. From there the information is processed into output. For example when you move your mouse, the operating system detects the input from the ball inside of it, that information is sent to the monitor and the mouse pointer moves around he screen.
Security is another part of any operating system. They are usually making use of so called computer profiles which are associated with one user or a user group. Authorization can take place locally but also over a computer network or the Internet. Users and user group can have different authorization levels enabling or permitting them from using certain functions and features of the operating system.
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