Study Guide
Introduction to Operating Systems
The operating system (OS) is the computer’s most important software. It coordinates the actions of the
hardware, the software, and the user so that they can work as one. During bootup, the operating sys-
tem is loaded from the boot disk (typically the hard disk) to RAM. It provides an interface to the user
so that he or she can start other programs by entering a command at the keyboard or by using the
mouse to perform an action. Then, depending on the actions of the user and instructions specified in
the software, the operating system directs the computer’s hardware. When the user saves a file to disk,
the OS automatically records the location so that the user can find and access the file in the future and
so that the operating system will not accidentally write over it with another file.
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