What is utility software? What is a device driver?
Utility software is system software designed to help analyze, configure, optimize or maintain a computer. It is a type of system software, used to support the computer infrastructure; by contrast with application software, which is aimed at directly performing tasks that benefit ordinary users.
Аn computing, a device driver (commonly referred to simply as a driver) is a computer program that operates or controls a particular type of device that is attached to a computer.[1] A driver provides a software interface to hardware devices, enabling operating systems and other computer programs to access hardware functions without needing to know precise details of the hardware being used.
A driver communicates with the device through the computer bus or communications subsystem to which the hardware connects. When a calling program invokes a routine in the driver, the driver issues commands to the device. Once the device sends data back to the driver, the driver may invoke routines in the original calling program. Drivers are hardware dependent and operating-system-specific. They usually provide the interrupt handling required for any necessary asynchronous time-dependent hardware interface.
What is the operating system?
An operating system (OS) is the program that, after being initially loaded into the computer by a boot program, manages all the other programs in a computer. The other programs are called applications or application programs. The application programs make use of the operating system by making requests for services through a defined application program interface (API). In addition, users can interact directly with the operating system through a user interface such as a command line or a graphical user interface (GUI).
An operating system performs these services for applications:
In a multitasking operating system where multiple programs can be running at the same time, the operating system determines which applications should run in what order and how much time should be allowed for each application before giving another application a turn.
It manages the sharing of internal memory among multiple applications.
It handles input and output to and from attached hardware devices, such as hard disks, printers, and dial-up ports.
It sends messages to each application or interactive user (or to a system operator) about the status of operation and any errors that may have occurred.
It can offload the management of what are called batch jobs (for example, printing) so that the initiating application is freed from this work.
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On computers that can provide parallel processing, an operating system can manage how to divide the program so that it runs on more than one processor at a time.
All major computer platforms (hardware and software) require and sometimes include an operating system, and operating systems must be developed with different features to meet the specific needs of various form factors.
Common desktop operating systems:
Windows is Microsoft’s flagship operating system, the de facto standard for home and business computers. Introduced in 1985, the GUI-based OS has been released in many versions since then. The user-friendly Windows 95 was largely responsible for the rapid development of personal computing.
Mac OS is the operating system for Apple's Macintosh line of personal computers and workstations.
Linux is a Unix-like operating system that was designed to provide personal computer users a free or very low-cost alternative. Linux has a reputation as a very efficient and fast-performing system.
Windows operating systems have long dominated the market and continue to do so. As of August 2016, Windows systems had a market share of over 85 percent. In contrast, Mac OS was at a little over 6 percent and Linux was just over 2 percent. Nevertheless, Windows is losing market share from a long-held 90 percent and higher.
A mobile OS allows smartphones, tablet PCs and other mobile devices to run applications and programs. Mobile operating systems include Apple iOS, Google Android, BlackBerry OS and Windows 10 Mobile.
An embedded operating system is specialized for use in the computers built into larger systems, such as cars, traffic lights, digital televisions, ATMs, airplane controls, point of sale (POS) terminals, digital cameras, GPS navigation systems, elevators, digital media receivers and smart meters.
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