In a strict sense, an operating system can be defined as the software that controls the hardware resources of the computer and provides an environment under which programs can run. Generally, we call this software thekernel, since it is relatively small and resides at the core of the environment.
In a broad sense, an operating system consists of the kernel and all the other software that makes a computer useful and gives the computer its personality. This other software includes system utilities, applications, shells, libraries of common functions,
and so on.
從嚴格意義上講，可將操作系統定義爲一種軟件，它控制計算機的硬件資源，並且提供程序可以運行的環境。一般來說，我們稱這軟件爲kernel，因爲它相對小並且位於環境的核心處。
從廣義上講，一個操作系統由kernel和一些其他軟件組成。這些軟件可以使得計算機更加有用並且給予計算機個性化。這些其他的軟件包含系統實用程序，應用程序，shell，公用函數庫等。
