Which characteristic describes virtualized containers?

The defining characteristic of virtualized containers is that they share the same host operating system. This means that instead of requiring a full guest operating system for each application, containers encapsulate applications and their dependencies but utilize the host's operating system kernel. This design allows for a much lighter footprint in terms of resource usage and significantly faster startup times compared to traditional virtual machines, which need a separate OS for each instance.

Moreover, sharing the host operating system allows containers to be deployed more efficiently, making them particularly suitable for microservices architecture and cloud-native applications. This approach facilitates rapid scaling and easier management of applications since maintaining a unified operating environment helps streamline the deployment process while reducing the overhead that comes with full system virtualization.