an operating system is a piece of software, the KERNEL or core of which needs to be held in
memory at all times, other components are loaded in when needed its required to:-
To act as an interface between human and the computer
because a computer operates at electronic speeds which a
human cannot match
the user interface is where the computer sysyem and human
meet, the user interacts with menus and cons, sees programs
runig in windows and organises files in folders, - these are
virtual representations presented by the computer
To Monitor and control all hardware and software activities within the
computer system
OS and hardware
OS and software
To organise files on disk
files stored on disks must also be kept in a logical way to
ensure ease of location. therefore disks are divided into
partitions, tracks and clusters. a database is used to keep
a record of which clusters are used