OS Definition

The OS definition stand for operating system and is a computer program that manages the hardware with other software applications on a computer system. It provides a platform to run system and application software and acts as the intermediary between the computer hardware and the user. The operating system starts running when you power on the device and it stops running when you power off the device.

Windows, Linux, Ubuntu, Mac OS X, iOS and Android are some of the most commonly used operating systems in computers and mobile phones at the moment. There are different types of operating systems based on architecture and design. Batch, time-sharing, distributed, network, real-time, and multiprocessing OS are some of them.

What does OS do?

OS operates between the computer software and the hardware acting as the interface between them, allocating resources and managing memory and security of the computer system.

When you are using a computer system, you cannot directly control hardware resources such as the central processing unit (CPU), random access memory (RAM) and input/output (IO) devices. When you want to perform a specific task using application software, it is the OS that sends signals and connects the hardware with the application software.

For example, when a user wants to record his voice using a voice recording application, it is the operating system that opens the voice recording application, connects it with the microphone to input your voice to the system and record it using the application. Now you know the OS definition.