How are the operating system and application software related?

Answer 1

Simply put, the operating system is a set of software code assembled to have the hardware of a computer performing a series of basic tasks that, working in conjunction, will provide the many functions of the computing process, like reading a record from a disk, checking a field, opening a file, sending an instruction to a printer, etc.. It is normally written in a specific programming language, which relates to the low-level code required by the machine to be understood.

An application software is a piece of code that runs on top of the operating system, collecting inputs from an operator/user, submitting these data to its internal rules for processing and delivering the corresponding results to an I/O (input/output) device - a monitor, a printer, a CD-recorder, etc.. It is normally written in a high-level language, familiar to programmers and offering several aids to make the programming easier.

Several application softwares can be contained in a single computer and are activated every time a specific process is to be performed.

Application software needs an operating system to have the machine running, because it sends its commands (open, write, read, close) to it expecting that they will be performed in that order, and that the operating system will return the information after being processed.

In fact, the application software uses the operating system as an interface between itself and the hardware, to have specific jobs performed and results delivered.