What does the operating system provide?

The operating system is fundamentally responsible for managing the computer's hardware and providing an environment for applications to run. Its primary role is to serve as an interface between users, application programs, and the underlying hardware. It ensures that the user can interact effectively with the system, allowing them to utilize hardware resources like the CPU, memory, and storage without needing to understand the complexities of the hardware itself.

In this context, while firewalls, web browsing tools, and disk cleanup utilities could be associated with operating systems, they are not foundational components of what an operating system inherently provides. A firewall operates as a security measure that might be included in an operating system's suite of tools but is not the primary function. Similarly, the tools for web browsing and disk cleanup may be applications that run on the operating system but do not define its core purpose. The operating system's main function remains to facilitate interaction and management of system resources for both users and applications.