What is the difference between computer software and computer operating systems?

Answer 1

Computer software is data on your hard drive that the processor reads and executes. Software is a bunch of instructions telling your computer what to do. The operating system is a piece of software that gives the computer user a way to interact with the computer. When you turn on your computer, it starts your operating system. You can start other software programs like Microsoft Word or internet Explorer in your operating system.

The above post is basically saying that both are the same thing, this is not the case, software is data that is used to control and use programs stored on your hard drive, an operating system is actually mediumware, it is permanently stored on your storage device (normally hard drive) and very few changes can be made to it legitimately without the developers prior consent, mediumware works a little bit like firmware, it tells the components how to react when given commands, the difference would be that an operating system can control things globally whereas firmware is designed for 1 or 2 functions dependant on the hardware it is installed on. So essentially software is programs installed on your computer to make life using it easier, whereas an operating system will make it possible for the software to interact with your hardware.

So essentially you have hardware which is controlled by its firmware, the firmware is what the operating system (mediumware)uses to control the hardware, and the software is the part that interacts with the operating system (mediumware) to make it possible for anyone to use the hardware in a nutshell.