ELI5: Explain Like I'm 5

.img

An .img file is like a picture that you can’t see yet. It’s like a blueprint for how to make something, but instead of making something physical, it’s telling your computer what to do. The .img file has all the information the computer needs to make a program or an operating system, which is like the captain of the computer that tells all the other parts what to do.

Think of it like a recipe for baking a cake. The list of ingredients and the instructions are like the .img file, and the computer is like a baker following the recipe to make a cake. Without the recipe, the baker wouldn’t know what ingredients to use or how to put them together, just like the computer wouldn’t know how to make a program or operating system without the .img file.

So, when you want to install a program or a new operating system on your computer, you need to use the .img file like a recipe to tell your computer what to do. By following the instructions in the .img file, your computer can create something new and useful that you can use on your computer, just like baking a cake creates something yummy that you can eat!