Both are pronouns, that is, they stand for a noun. ‘Others’ is more vague, we are not determining how many others, or which other ones. ‘The others’ is more specific; it stands for all the rest.

Use others as a pronoun which refers to more than one thing or person ("Some people believe he's guilty. Others believe he's innocent"). Use the others as a pronoun which refers to a specific group of things or people, meaning the second, the opposite, or the alternative of two options ("Only Tina and Reggie liked the food.

When you have many choices, you talk about one, another, another, another … and finally the other. “ The other” signals the last alternative or item. When you have only two choices, you talk about one and the other. Again, “the other” signals the last alternative or item (that is, the second one).