Human Computer Interaction

As humans we interact with software and hardware, however there is another layer which im trying to understand at the momment.

for example: our interaction which one seems more correct.
The question is :

Which way do software, hardware and people work together. Now I have narrowed it down to two answers and my answer is C however, im unsure because there is another option and I will explain my thinking behind it.

answer I chose was:

C Users --> Application --> Operating System -- > Physical machine
( users interact with application which interact with OS which interact with Physical machine)

another option was

B Users --> Operating System --> Application --> Physical machines.


I chose C because applications are installed on operating systems which allow us to interact with the computer. However, B suggests that we use the operating system to interact with applications this is what is confusing me because it is true that we need an operating system to interact with applications.

My question is do we interact with the Operating system or Applications.

Edited July 17, 201411 yr by KayS