You are testing out a new multi-tasking operating system. In your testing, you find that some applications are not getting sufficient CPU time while other applications are getting more than necessary. Which component is likely to be the cause of this problem?

The kernel is software that constitutes a fundamental part of the operating system. It is primarily responsible for providing different programs with secure access to computer hardware. He is in charge of managing resources, through system call services. It is also responsible for deciding which program can use a hardware device and for how long, what is known as multiplexing. Accessing the hardware directly can be really complex, so the kernels usually implement a series of hardware abstractions. This allows to hide the complexity, and provides a clean and uniform interface to the underlying hardware, which facilitates its use to the programmer.