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 ...

An operating system is a master control program that runs the computer system. In all environments, except for specialized scientific and process control applications, the operating system (OS) ...

Early computers of the 1940s and 1950s did not have disk drives. Instead, they were hard-wired to carry out specific computations. Later computers were able to store instructions loaded into the ...