Applesoft was in ROM. The DOS was only for the disk controller. Without a disk drive I could still work the memory map, execute code, allocate memory, calls to locations, speaker calls, graphics control, load off of cassette, etc. That is the definition of an OS.
An operating system (OS) is system software that manages computer hardware and software resources, and provides common services for computer programs.
Apple DOS was on a disk. There wasn’t really any OS, you operated the computer through the BASIC interpreter.
Applesoft was in ROM. The DOS was only for the disk controller. Without a disk drive I could still work the memory map, execute code, allocate memory, calls to locations, speaker calls, graphics control, load off of cassette, etc. That is the definition of an OS.