System Software - Operating System

Computer Software

   ☺   Software, also called a program, tells the computer what task perform and how to perform them

☺System software consists of the programs that control or maintain the operations of the computer and its devices

- Operating Systems

- Utility Programs

❀ Operating Systems

An operating system (OS) is a set of programs containing instructions that work together to coordinate all the activities among computer hardware resources

•Start and shut down a computer

•Provide a user interface

•Manage programs

•Manage memory

•Coordinate tasks

•Configure devices

•Establish an Internet connection

•Monitor performance

•Provide utilities

•Automatically update

•Control a network

•Administer security

✵ Operating System Functions

1.Start and Shut Down a Computer

❃ The process of starting or restarting a computer is called booting

2. Provide a User Interface

✿ A user interface controls how you enter data and instructions and how information is displayed on the screen

✿ 2 types of user interface:

üGraphical user interface (GUI)

•With a graphical user interface (GUI), you interact with menus and visual images

üCommand-line

•With a command-line interface, a user uses the keyboard to enter data and instructions

3. Manage Programs

❦ How an operating system handles programs directly affects your productivity

❦ An OS manages multiple programs & processes while you use the computer

•Single user and multiuser

•Single tasking and multitasking

•Foreground and background

•Preemptive multitasking

•Multiprocessing

4. Manage Memory

✰ Memory management optimizes the use of RAM

✰ Operating System allocates data and instructions to memory while they are being processed, monitors the content of memory and release from memory when the processor no longer requires them

5. Coordinate Tasks

• The operating system determines the order in which tasks are processed

6. Configure Devices

7. Establish an Internet Connection

•Operating systems typically provide a means to establish Internet connections

8. Monitor Performance

•A performance monitor is a program that assesses and reports information about various computer resources and devices

9. Provide Utilities

•Operating systems often provide users with the capability of:

10. Automatically Update

•Automatic update automatically provides updates to the program

11. Control a Network

•Some operating systems are designed to work with a server on a network

•A server operating system organizes and coordinates how multiple users access and share resources on a network

•A network administrator uses the server operating system to:

–Add and remove users, computers, and other devices

–Install software and administer network security

12.Administer Security

•Establish permissions to resources

•Define who & when they can access certain resources

•By setting user account

•Each user has a user account

–A user name, or user ID, identifies a specific user

–A password is a private combination of characters associated with the user name