The computer's master control program. When a computer is turned on, a small "boot program" loads the operating system. Although additional system modules may be loaded as needed, the main part, known ...

Expertise from Forbes Councils members, operated under license. Opinions expressed are those of the author. A traditional operating system (OS) such as Windows, macOS and Linux facilitates user ...

A system software component that is external to the operating system kernel. If the phrase is used to refer to the operating system itself, it is redundant because an operating system "is" software.