<p>I can answer some of these questions.</p>
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<p>The kernel is the core component of an operating system. It does things like:</p>
<p>1) manage memory
2) decide what programs should be running (scheduling)
3) interact with devices like your network card and your keyboard
4) provide services for user programs running on the computer (system calls)</p>
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<p>It doesn’t cost any money and there’s a lot of free software for it. I don’t know how well it performs compared to Windows.</p>