Operating systems (OS) are a collection of integrated programs which manage computer resources and operations. The OS is not visible to the user, however it provides services that software can make software and hardware more usable.

It is a fundamental operating system function. The OS must be capable of organizing the contents of files to increase speed, reliability, and storage efficiency. This is referred to as a file system. It permits files to have names and attributes as well as to be arranged into directories online data privacy or folders forming a directory tree.

The majority of computers come with a variety of hardware devices, like keyboards, printers, and other peripherals. These devices depend on driver software for the device to communicate with the operating system. The operating system installs and configures these drivers to offer the right service to the applications. It also hides the hardware details from the user, so that they can interact with the system without having to know about the specific hardware configuration.

Process Management

An OS keeps track of all the applications running on the computer and decides the amount of time to be allocated to each in a multitasking scenario. It also manages the interruptions applications make to get a processor’s focus and ensures there is enough memory to allow the application to complete its task without interfering with other processes.

Operating systems also perform other tasks that are associated with the general operation of the computer, for example, keeping the primary memory full of huge byte arrays or word files that each have an address. The OS can track how many bytes are utilized by different applications and move, delete, or reorganize these bytes to free up space.