Operating environment

Not to be confused with operating system.

In computer software, an operating environment is the environment in which users run application software. The environment consists of a user interface provided by an applications manager and usually an application programming interface (API) to the applications manager.

An operating environment is not the totality of the functionality and appearance of an operating system; rather, it is a form of middleware that rests between the OS and the application. An example of an operating environment includes Windows 1.0, Microsoft's first version of Windows that was a GUI laid over MS-DOS with its own API. Similarly, the IBM U2 system operates on both Unix/Linux and Windows NT. Typically, the user interface is either text-based or graphical, rather than a command-line interface