Daemon (computer software)

A daemon is a computer program that runs automatically when a computer boots up, as opposed to being directly started by a user. Typically, there are dozens of daemons, doing everything from scheduling tasks to monitoring hardware activity, such as connection requests received by a network adapter. Daemon is the term used in Unix and Linux. In Windows, daemons are called "services". Daemons, or services, run in the background and do not provide a window for user interaction.