Meaning – The term platform, refers to an ambiguous term that may refer to the hardware, the operating system, or a combination of the hardware and the operating system on which software programs run.
In personal computing, a platform is basic hardware (computer) and software (operating system) on which software applications can be run. This environment constitutes the basic foundation upon which any application or software is supported and/or developed.
Computers use specific central processing units (CPUs) that are designed to run specific machine language code.
The platform conforms to a set of standards that enable software developers to develop software applications for the platform. These same standards allow owners and managers to purchase appropriate applications and hardware.
Example of usage – “An example of a computing platform is a modern laptop running Windows as an operating system. Another example would be an Apple computer running the Mac OS X operating system.”
