Peripheral Management and Drivers

Peripheral management and drivers is the operating system function that handles data travelling between peripheral devices and the processor. A peripheral is any device attached to the computer that sends data in or receives data out — a keyboard, webcam, speaker, game controller or external drive. The processor works far faster than these devices, so the operating system has to keep data moving in an orderly way: collecting input when it arrives, passing it to the program that needs it, and sending output to the correct device. It is not the same as file management, even though both move data around — peripheral management deals with devices, not with naming and storing files.

A driver is software that lets the operating system communicate with one particular device. It translates the general instructions the operating system gives into the commands that device understands, and turns the data coming back into a form the operating system can use. Different makes and models of device can each need their own driver, which is why a newly connected device sometimes has to have one installed before it will work.

Worked example

You plug a graphics tablet into a computer. The operating system needs to know where the stylus is and whether its tip is pressed down. The tablet's driver turns the incoming signals into position and pressure values that the operating system can pass to the drawing program. It also sends instructions from the operating system back to the tablet, such as switching on a status light.

A driver is software, not the physical device itself: the tablet is the hardware, and the driver is the program that tells the operating system how to use it.