# Operating System - Wikipedia ![rw-book-cover](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/e/e1/Operating_system_placement.svg/1200px-Operating_system_placement.svg.png) ## Metadata - Author: [[wikipedia.org]] - Full Title: Operating System - Wikipedia - Category: #articles - Summary: An operating system acts as a bridge between application programs and computer hardware, managing functions like memory allocation and input/output. It provides a user-friendly interface for programmers and supports various types, including security-focused and real-time systems. Most operating systems are built using C or C++, which can introduce vulnerabilities. - URL: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Operating_system ## Highlights - As of September 2024[[update]](https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Operating_system&action=edit), [Android](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Android_(operating_system)) is the most popular operating system with a 46% market share, followed by [Microsoft Windows](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Microsoft_Windows) at 26%, [iOS](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/IOS) and [iPadOS](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/IPadOS) at 18%, [macOS](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MacOS) at 5%, and [Linux](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Linux) at 1%. Android, iOS, and iPadOS are mobile operating systems, while Windows, macOS, and Linux are desktop operating systems.[[3]](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Operating_system/#cite_note-gs.statcounter.com-3) ([View Highlight](https://read.readwise.io/read/01jk538n3xg0nrn6dwh8ftz0fx)) - An operating system is difficult to define,[[6]](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Operating_system/#cite_note-FOOTNOTETanenbaumBos20234-6) but has been called "the [layer of software](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abstraction_layer) that manages a computer's resources for its users and their [applications](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Application_software)".[[7]](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Operating_system/#cite_note-FOOTNOTEAndersonDahlin20146-7) ([View Highlight](https://read.readwise.io/read/01jk53ep4pvtrxqm6b3exhzqwr)) - On modern personal computers, users often want to run several applications at once. In order to ensure that one program cannot monopolize the computer's limited hardware resources, the operating system gives each application a share of the resource, either in time (CPU) or space (memory).[[10]](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Operating_system/#cite_note-FOOTNOTEAndersonDahlin20149–10-10)[[11]](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Operating_system/#cite_note-FOOTNOTETanenbaumBos20236–7-11) ([View Highlight](https://read.readwise.io/read/01jk53wk747gkzwpktmvgt6hmp)) - Operating systems provide an interface that abstracts the details of accessing [hardware](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Computer_hardware) details (such as physical memory) to make things easier for programmers.[[9]](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Operating_system/#cite_note-FOOTNOTEAndersonDahlin20147-9)[[13]](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Operating_system/#cite_note-FOOTNOTETanenbaumBos20235-13) ([View Highlight](https://read.readwise.io/read/01jk543wy0bm7f15scypwmr13h))