Which term refers to the software that manages a computer's hardware and software resources?

• A. Operating system
• B. Application software
• C. Firmware
• D. Middleware

Answer: (A)

The term is the operating system. It sits between you, the applications, and the computer’s hardware, coordinating all the resource use to keep things running smoothly. It manages CPU time so multiple programs can run without crashing into each other, allocates and protects memory, handles input/output devices, and organizes files and security. Applications rely on the OS to use these hardware resources without needing to know the low-level details of the hardware. Firmware, in contrast, is the low-level code embedded in hardware for basic control and startup tasks, not general resource management for the whole system. Middleware is software that helps different programs communicate or work together, often in distributed setups, rather than managing a single computer’s resources.