answer:Probably in most cases, it means just any corrupt data stored in memory (e.g., application data mainly) is removed and everything starts from a zero/off state. Consumer operating systems (e.g., Windows and Mac) are made to be cutting edge and fun, not reliable and mission critical, and even that is perhaps only a function of the type of applications we actually use on them. Basically: don’t do anything and it will probably not need to be rebooted as much. There are certainly computers that have run years or decades without rebooting. Checking the uptime on some of my work Linux and FreeBSD machines, I’ve had some go without a reboot for more than a year, and I had some that were only rebooted in November because of Hurricane Sandy. I’ve managed to keep Windows machines up for months, though not years. I don’t know about Apple, but current Microsoft policy seems to to make sure machines reboot regularly to install security patches and the like, probably because they used to get burned so badly on security.