What is an Operating System?
The operating system is a piece software that manages all the hardware components that make up the computer. It divvies up the amount of time each program is allowed to run on the CPU, assigns disk storage space and secures data from unauthorized access. It also provides an interfacing between the hardware and applications programs. This allows the software easily to work with a variety of hardware devices, including printers, WiFi adapters and disk drives.
In addition to the previously mentioned features In addition to the above features, an OS allows multiple software processes to run concurrently on one processor. Multitasking is the term it is called. It also permits the user to communicate with the computer via an GUI (graphical) or command-line interface. The operating system could be one program running in memory or a collection of programs and libraries that reside on the hard drive and are loaded into memory when needed.
Error detection is an additional important function of an operating system. The system continually monitors all input and output to spot errors and stop them from causing more issues. It also is responsible for managing network connections and establishing security protocols to defend against unauthorized access.
The OS also records device drivers in a standard format to make it easy to identify. It can also install and configure drivers when hardware modifications occur. In addition to that, the OS can translate a user program from a high-level language to machine code using loader and compiler. It can even move information on a disk when it detects bad sectors.