What is an Operating System?

Operating Systems logos! This is a question that makes any new computer user ask him/herself! If you currently don’t know what an Operating system is and how it works, then you have to proceed reading this article as I have explained deeply enough to make it clear and comprehensive to you.

An Operating System is a software program that controls all the functionalities of both Computer Hardware and Software Programs (Application Programs) in the computer system. It manages all programs' processes, computer memory and peripheral devices' performance.

Sometimes abbreviated as OS, an Operating system software enables computer components to communicate to each other, making it easy for a computer user to accomplish different computing tasks in an easy and intuitive way.

Basically, it's hard to figure out which color an operating system has as it runs in background, managing your hardware devices as well as software, but you can determine your Operating system is working by investigating your PC's capabilities in accomplishing different tasks on a variety range of time.

Development in software industry has made it easy for any person to use and drive a computer system for performing different tasks by just using a small hardware device called a mouse, an opportunity that didn't happen in the earliest computing life. This is due to a presence of an important feature in all modern Operating Systems, called GUI. GUI is an acronym for Graphical User Interface. It allows computer users to use a mouse for clicking Menu items, graphical icons and text links on the screen for sending commands to the computer system.

In the early times learning and becoming a professional computer user, could take a long period of time as all computer systems relied solely on the feature commonly known as Command Line Interface (CLI), which means every computing operation required sending commands by clicking on the keyboard keys.

The common Operating Systems that offer a GUI include: Microsoft Windows Operating Systems, Mac OS X, LINUX and UNIX. They are all developed and distributed by different companies as explained below:

1. Microsoft Windows OS

Microsoft Windows OS or just Windows Operating systems as sometimes they are often called, are the Operating systems created and supplied/distributed by a software company popularly known as Microsoft Corporation. There are different versions of Windows OS, such as Windows ME, Windows XP, Windows Vista, Windows 7, Windows 8, etc. The earliest versions currently running on most PCs are Windows Vista, Windows 7 and Windows 8. The fact profile is that Windows Operating Systems come pre-loaded in most PCs.

2. Mac OS X

Pronounced as Mac O-S ten, Mac Os is another popular operating system in the computing World. Produced and distributed by Apple Inc.,this OS offers a GUI, and it comes pre-loaded in all Apple PCs (Macintosh Computers).

3. LINUX

Linux is another operating system developed for working in personal computers. This operating system is mostly used in servers than in PCs for that it make it easy for performing modifications to the systems than other operating systems can do.

Operating Systems for Mobile Devices

A mobile operating system, or simply mobile OS as you can call it, is a kind of operating system that operates and runs a smartphone, tablet, PDA, and other mobile devices. The most common Mobile Operating systems include: