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An Operating System...
Provides communication between machines and humans by:
- Knowing how devices
work (drivers)
- Managing memory and CPU
(to emulate multi-tasking)
- Accepting commands from
humans (through a UI -
user interface)
- Interpreting and passing commands to hardware.
Notes:
The application layer is considered the highest level of the software controlling a computer.
Working down the layers, the hardware-specific code managed by the kernel (usually referred to as “kernel modules” or “device drivers”) is considered to be the lowest level of software possible.