Computer and Information Technology – Core Module – System Software p.

Computer & Information Technology

System Software
Classification of Software

Software

Application Software System Software

Device Driver Utility Software Operating System

1. Application Software
 User can have high degree of control to the operations of the software
 E.g. Word processing: MS Word
Image editing: Adobe Photoshop
2. System Software
 Software operates automatically, sometimes with accordance to user’s
configuration
 Three types
 Device driver
 Utility Software
 Operating System

Device Driver
1. For computer to get access to peripheral devices
2. Plug-and-play
 Use of hardware after connecting to computer without explicit installation
of device driver
 Basic driver programs for common hardware are pre-installed in the
Operating System

Utility Software
1. Utility software can be a software package or included in the operating system
2. Functions and examples
 Improve computer performance
 Disk Defragmenter: Reduce fragments on the disk
 Disk scanning and cleaning: Scan the disk to detect any abnormality
and remove unnecessary files
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 File management
 Program uninstaller: Remove application software and related files and
setting
 File compressor / decompressor: Compress / Decompress files
 File backup and recovery: Make a copy of files for later recovery when
necessary
3. Computer protection
 Antivirus software: Prevent and detect computer viral infections and take
appropriate actions when necessary
 Firewall: Control the incoming and outgoing data traffics

Operating System
1. An essential program for every computer to coordinate interactions between
users, application software and hardware
2. Manage, optimize and monitor the usages of computer resources, such as
hardware, memory, file and network connection
3. Function
 Device configuration
 Control and manage peripheral devices connected to the computer
 Allow application software and user to get access to the devices
 File management
 Transfer file between main memory and secondary storage
 Manage file folders
 Allocate the secondary storage space
 Provides file protection and recovery
 Memory management
 Allocate the use of RAM to requesting processes
 Monitor the running processes and take appropriate action if necessary
 Interface
 Allow the computer to run application software
 Provide an user interface for users to operate the computer system
 Network communication management
 Set up and coordinate the network communication activities
 Other functions provided in certain Operating Systems
 Maintain security by restricting users’ access privilege
 Network protection, e.g. Firewall
 Event logging
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4. Different classification
 Single-user vs Multi-user
No. of concurrent users Example Application
Single-user 1 Win XP, PalmOS Handheld PC, home computer
Multi-user >1 Linux, Unix, Windows NT Network servers

 Single-tasking, Multi-tasking and Multi-processing

No. of concurrent Example Remark

processes
Single-tasking 1 DOS
Multi-tasking >1 Win XP, Linux, Mac OS
Multi-processing >1 Red Hat Enterprise Linux  More than one processors

Win Server 2003  Usually designed for servers

 Standalone OS, Network OS (NOS), Embedded OS

Standalone OS  Run on desktop computer, notebook computer, etc.

 Able to operate with or without network

Network OS  Designated for any scales of network
Embedded OS  OS is programmed on the ROM

 Usually found in digital devices, e.g. PSP, Mobile phone

 Command-line Interface vs Graphical User Interface (GUI)

Features Example
Command-line  Users have to memorize the commands DOS, UNIX

 More time-saving, more suitable for professional users

GUI  The uses of mouse, icon, windows and menu Win XP, MAC OS

 More time-consuming, suitable for all levels of user

Platform
1. Platform = Type of CPU + OS
e.g. Pentium 4 processor + Win XP
2. Software normally can run on a particular platform
 The necessary platform is clearly written as part of the specification
 Problem:
 Availability: Software may not be available on some platform
 Compatibility: Software running on a platform may not be able to run
on other platforms
3. Cross-platform technologies
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 Same program can be run on different platforms

 Example: Java Virtual Machine (JVM), .NET framework