What is an operating system?

Any time you’ve been looking to buy a new smartphone, laptop, or TV, one of the first questions you may have been asked is which operating system, or OS, you’d prefer.

Some of you may have the answer to this question. However, should you happen to be new to this, chances are, you may have wondered just what one means when they refer to an operating system. Well, we’re here to tell you just that.

What an operating system is and what it does?

An OS is a system of software that manages hardware and software resources and provides common services to let the users interact with devices easily. In layman’s terms, you can think of it as the interface of the device which actually lets you use the device and interact with it to perform certain specific tasks.  

It is through the OS that you give instructions to the device, which then interprets and executes them. The OS then, in essence, is responsible for organising and controlling all the different parts and pieces of a system, such that they work together. Some of the most common functions of an OS include memory management, processor management, input/output management, file management, and security.

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A big part of the overall experience of any device is the operating system. If not optimised properly, you won’t be able to exploit the full potential of the device. Two of the most common and popular OS in the case of laptops and desktops are Windows and macOS, while in the case of smartphones, they happen to be Android and iOS.