Microsoft® Windows® 98 is an operating system for IBM and IBM compatible computers (known variously as PC's and DOS boxes). It is not available for Apple Macintosh computers (these use another operating system, called OS).An Operating System is a computer program - i.e. software. It is started by the computer when you turn it on and is the program you see on the screen when your computer starts up. It lets you manage your files (move them around, delete them, put them in folders etc) and run application programs (any software that is not an operating system).
All the programs you load and run on your computer must be designed to work with the operating system you have on the computer. You can not run a program designed to work with the Apple Macintosh operating system on a computer running Microsoft® Windows® 98.
Operating Systems sit between you and the computer and translate your commands (e.g. delete this file) into commands the computer hardware understands. This is called being an Interface. Microsoft® Windows® 98 is a Graphical User Interface, or GUI (pronounced gooey). This means you click on pictures instead of entering commands to tell the computer what to do.
In GUI's, the screen that appears when you start up the computer is called a desktop. The pictures on the desktop are called icons. You click on the icons to run programs, see where your files are etc. Programs run in windows, about which more later.
The advantage of GUI's is that you don't have to learn and remember a string of commands to use them. The icons help jog your memory about what is available to you on your computer. The only actions you need to know are how to point, click, click right and drag with the mouse.
Windows 98 has the option of making its windows work like web pages. One click will open documents etc (instead of double clicking0 and you can access web sites from any window. This makes it more convenient for people who do a lot of work on the Internet.