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sf.cu > Definitions > Operating System

Operating System

Categories: Software

An operating system (often shortened to OS) is a collection of software responsible for managing hardware resources and booting the system. It provides resources for common services like computation and storage. It acts as an interface between the software and the hardware of the computer. It is so important that, without an operating system, a computer is useless. It is responsible for the following tasks:

• Resource Management (allocates CPU, memory, GPU and more to services)
• Memory Management (manages memory and optimizes memory usage)
• Device Management (manages hardware devices like keyboard and mouse and computer parts like mounting hard drives)
• Security (prevents malicious software)
• File Management (organizing system and user files)
• Networking (connecting to networks and handling network protocols)

This is just the tip of the iceberg. Operating systems are responsible for practically everything you do on a computer.