Chapter 4

Software

Software
 Software is the program that control computer hardware.
 It can be classified into two types:
o System software
o Application software

System software
 System software manages the running of the hardware and other software ,and allows
communication between these components.
 These are task that help the computer perform its functions and improve or maintain its
efficiency.
 Two types of system software are
o Operating system(OS)
o Utility programs.

Application software
 Allows the user to perform a specific task.
 Example of application software are
o A word processor allows the user to create written documents.
o A spreadsheet allows the user to perform calculations on data.
o A database allows the user to store and search a set of data.
o A web browser allows the user to view and navigate websites.
System Software
 Systems software provides the services that the computer requires, including operating
system and utility software.
 E.g allowing instructions to be processed by the CPU to allow word processing software to
process. Without systems software the system would be useless.
 System software is made up of two core elements: the operating system and utility
software.

Utility Software
 Utility programs perform specific tasks related to computer functions,resources,file and
security.
 Some of these utilities include:
o Security utilities
o Disk Defragmentation
o Data compression
o File backup

Security utilities
 Anti-Virus
o Scans the computer system and ensures that file are quarantined so that they can
be removed by the user.
 Encryption
o Uses an algorithm to scramble(encrypt) a file according to the key which is used to
make the file unreadable
o The key is needed to decrypt the file back to it original from so it can be read.
 Firewall
o Monitors network traffic and blocks unauthorised access.
o Criteria is set and if the data meets the criteria it is accepted otherwise it is
rejected.
Disk Defragmentation
 System clean up software
o System clean up software search for and removes un-used programs and data.
 Defragmentation
o It is used to rearrange the parts of files on the disk drive, when a file is saved to the
disk so that can cause the disk to read data faster.

Data compression utilities

 File compression software
o To make files smaller so that they take up less storage space and can be
transmitted to other users more easily.

File backup utilities

 Full backup
o Stores all files and software on the system.
 Incremental backup
o Only backs up the files and software that have been added since the last backup.

Operating System
 This is a program designed to run other programs on a computer.
 It is considered the backbone of a computer, managing both software and hardware
resources.
 Example of operating System:Window,MAC,linux.
Main function of the Operating System
1. Providing an interface.
2. Managing memory
3. Multitasking(MT)
4. Hardware peripheral management(HPM)
5. Managing user accounts
6. Managing files
7. Security Management(SEC)

Providing an Interface
 User must interact with the operating system through a user interface.
 The user interface is a system which converts what the user inputs to a form that the
computer can understand and vice versa.
 There are different types of interface:
o Graphical User Interface(GUI)
 GUI has windows,icons,menus and pointers(WIMP).
 It is easier to use rather than other type of interface because user does not
need to learn any commands.
 An example of GUI is Windows
o Command Line Interface(CLI)
 CLI requires the user to enter text as commands.
 This is most useful for expert users because the command entered must be
exact.
 An example of CLI is Linux.
o Natural Language interface
 Allows the user to enter any text commands, or speak commands.
 The OS then analyses what has been entered and performs the action.
Managing memory
 A computer uses memory to store data.
 This can be using secondary or primary memory.
 The OS manages the movement of data to and from hardware, primarily RAM.
 It also checks the processes being carried out and make sure that they have enough
memory allocated to perform their function.
 The OS will also make sure that two process do not try and access the same memory
location.

Multitasking
 Multitasking allows the computer to carry out more than 1 task at a time.
 A single computer can only ever execute one instruction at a time.
 The processor does this so fast that it appears to be doing several tasks at one.
 The OS allows this to happen by deciding which processes should be executed next and
how long they can spend being processed before switching to another process.
 The OS does this using interrupts.

Hardware peripheral management(HPM)

 A computer cannot be used without input and output devices and these are called
peripherals.
 A driver is system software that translates data from the computer to the peripheral,and
vice-versa.
 Roles of the OS:Carry out Hardware Management
o Use device driver
 Communicates with all input and output devices.
 Take data from a file and translates it into a format that the input/output
device can understand.
o Ensures each hardware resource has a priority so that they can be used and
released as required.
Managing user accounts
 Oversees the management of these user accounts.
 The administrator can create account, delete user accounts and restrict user account
activity.

Managing files
 File naming convention which can be used.
 Performing specific tasks (for example, create,open,close,delete,rename,copy and move).
 Maintaining the directory structures.
 Ensuring memory allocation for a file by reading it from the HDD/SDD and loading it into

Interrupts
 An interrupt is a signal to the processor to tell it that something needs its attention.
 An interrupt can be software or hardware based.