What is the primary purpose of an operating system?

The primary purpose of an operating system is to manage hardware and software resources. This encompasses a wide array of functions essential for the efficient operation of a computer system. The operating system acts as an intermediary between users and the hardware components of the computer, ensuring that hardware resources such as the CPU, memory, and input/output devices are allocated appropriately among various applications and tasks.

By managing these resources, the operating system helps enable multiple applications to run simultaneously without conflicts, maintains system stability, and allows users to interact with the computer in a straightforward and manageable way. It handles basic functions like file management, process scheduling, memory management, and error handling, ensuring that both the software and hardware work in harmony.

While enhancing graphics processing is important, it is just one of many tasks an operating system might facilitate through drivers and system calls. Similarly, connecting devices to a network and providing internet access are functionalities that often rely on the management capabilities of the operating system but are not its main function. These operations depend on the underlying resource management to perform effectively.