In Windows systems, features like the Start menu, the recycle bin and the visual representations of files and folders are all part of the GUI. The GUI is what people use to interact with the hardware and software on the computer. You can learn about these tasks in more detail in How Operating Systems Work.īut when many people think of operating systems, they think of the portion they can see - the graphical user interface (GUI). If all goes well, this work is usually invisible to the user, but it's essential to the computer's operation. Allowing programs to work with the computer's hardware.Managing hardware and software resources, including the processor, memory, storage and additional devices.
