Editing System software (section)

==Operating systems or system control program==
The [[operating system]] (prominent examples being [[Microsoft Windows]], [[macOS]], [[Linux]], and [[z/OS]]), allows the parts of a computer to work together by performing tasks like transferring [[data (computing)|data]] between [[random access memory|memory]] and [[disk storage|disks]] or rendering output onto a [[display device]]. It provides a platform ([[Hardware abstraction|hardware abstraction layer]]) to run high-level system software and [[application software]].{{cn|date=May 2025}}

A [[kernel (operating system)|kernel]] is the core part of the operating system that defines an [[API|application programming interface]] for applications programs (including some system software) and an interface to device drivers.

[[Device driver]]s and [[firmware]], including computer [[BIOS]] or [[UEFI]], provide basic functionality to operate and control the hardware connected to or built into the computer.

A user interface interacts with a computer.<ref>{{cite web |title=Microcomputer Information Technology |url=http://home.olemiss.edu/~misbook/sfsysfm.htm|access-date=2013-09-22}}</ref> It can either be a [[command-line interface]] (CLI) or, since the 1980s, a [[graphical user interface]] (GUI). This is the part of the operating system the user directly interacts with; it is considered an application and not system software.