What is an operating system and a interface?

Question

I am trying to learn more about computers and would like to know what an operating system is and the terms related to an operating system and what they mean. Also, what is an operating system's interfaces. What is a service? What does layers of abstraction mean when it comes to the operating system's environment and how can you relate this concept to the black box concept.

What are the primary services that an operating system provide and how does this complex system can be constructed by plugging together a set of layers. How does the operating system serve as a platform? I am in my 70's and what to learn more about how my computer works.

Answer 1

Operating System (OS), this is the software that communicates with computer hardware on the most basic level. Without an operating system, no software programs can run. The OS is what allocates memory, processes tasks, accesses disks and peripherials, and serves as the user interface. Some OS include Windows, Mac OS, and Linux.

Answer 2

OS is what windows/linux/mac is

Or simply everything that your monitor shows u(ocourse it does not come from the monitor but from the computer

Edit:

And googling isnt bad:

"OS is:The software that manages hardware and resources on a computer. Applications use the operating system to make requests for services and interact with the computer's devices."

Answer 3

Where to begin? An operating system or OS is the software that controls your computer and handles how resources are allocated: what program gets processor time and how much memory. Chances are that if you use a computer at all, you are looking at the interface. Most modern OSes have a GUI or Graphical User Interface. Again, think Windows. A service is a process that runs in the background (you don't see) that handles objects for the OS. A common service on a a Windows PC is DHCP Client and DNS client. These services help out with networking and connecting to the Internet.

Now lets look at abstraction. Abstraction refers to the trust level that an OS has for various users. A user is any thing that uses the resources controlled by the OS and can include other software programs and physical users like you. At the heart of this model is the kernel of the OS. this is the bare minimum that the OS requires to function. On top of that, you have the user System followed by other service users with the human user on top. The closer you are to the kernel, the more you can do to an OS.

i hope that this gives you a basic overview of an OS. The easiest way to earn is to just play with your own computer. Good luck.