Centos is a community-supported operating system that maintains binary compatibility with Red Hat Enterprise Linux. It provides a free enterprise computing platform and is managed through the yum package manager for updates. Centos supports various processor architectures including x86, x86-64, s390, and ia64. It has different available kernels for single and multi-processor machines. Centos was created as a free version of Red Hat Enterprise Linux and shares its source code but removes Red Hat branding. Its goals include long-term support, usability, and a strong community.