An operating system manages the general operation of a computer system by providing a user interface, managing applications and files, allocating memory resources, and handling security and input/output devices. It provides two main interfaces - a graphical user interface (GUI) and a command line interface (CLI) - for users to interact with the computer system and its applications. Operating systems help users save work, organize files, run programs, and protect the computer from unauthorized access.
11. WHAT IS OPERATING SYSTEM?
ï‚¢ An operating system is a special piece of software that manages the general
operation of a computer system:
ï‚¢ It provides a user interface so that we can interact with the computer
ï‚¢ It manages applications that are running on the computer, starting them when the user
requests, and stopping them when they are no longer needed
ï‚¢ It manages files, helping us save our work, organise our files, find files that we have
saved and load files
ï‚¢ It manages the computers memory, deciding what should be loaded into memory and
what should be removed
ï‚¢ It looks after computer security, preventing unauthorised access to the system
 It manages the computer’s input and output hardware such as printers, etc.