Operating system is a computer program that manages computer hardware and software resources, and is also the core and cornerstone of computer system. Operating systems need to deal with such basic tasks as managing and configuring memory, determining the order of supply and demand of system resources, controlling input and output devices, operating networks and managing file systems. The operating system also provides an interface for users to interact with the system.
Microsoft Windows series operating system is a graphics operating system based on MS-DOS designed by Microsoft for IBM machine. Today's Windows systems, such as Windows 2000 and Windows XP, are all built on the modern Windows NT kernel. NT kernel is borrowed from OS/2 and OpenVMS systems. Windows can run on 32-bit and 64-bit Intel and AMD processors, but earlier versions can also run on DEC Alpha, MIPS and PowerPC architectures.