An operating system (OS) is system software that manages computer hardware and software resources and provides common services for computer programs. It acts as an intermediary between the user and the computer hardware, providing a user-friendly interface and managing the execution of programs.
The first operating systems were developed in the 1950s to manage the complex hardware of early mainframe computers. These early systems were simple batch processing systems that could only run one program at a time. The development of time-sharing systems in the 1960s allowed multiple users to share a single computer, and the invention of the graphical user interface (GUI) in the 1970s made computers much easier to use.
Operating systems are now an essential part of every computer, from smartphones and laptops to supercomputers and mainframes. The most popular operating systems for personal computers are Microsoft Windows, macOS, and Linux. For mobile devices, the most popular operating systems are Android and iOS.