Zusammenfassung der Ressource
System Software
- A type of software
that controls the
computer's hardware
- Interface between the
hardware and applications
- Operating System (OS)
- A type of System Software that allows the computer to run
applications and controls the operations of a computer
- Said to provide a
Virtual Machine
- Hides the complexities of
the hardware from the user
- No need to understand where the
date is being saved on the disk
- Allocates memory between the
different programs that are open
at the same time (Multitasking)
- Provides an interface between
the user of the computer and
the hardware
- Also a platform (environment where
applications/programs/software can run)
- Has a kernel
- Kernels take care of all the low-level hardware
operations and connects applications to the hardware
- e.g. iOS, Chrome,
Android, Mac OS
- Multitasking
- A technique used by the processor which makes it
seem to us that many tasks are done at the same time
- The processor does a small time slice for each
task/program which, in reality, has resources such as
memory and the processor being shared among all tasks
- Splits the time it takes for
each task to be executed
- Drivers
- A piece of software used to
control as a piece of hardware
- Allows a peripheral device to be
connected to a computer and
interact with the computer
- Can get drivers for graphics cards,
mouse, sound cars and network
interface cards
- Are OS specific and
are regularly updated
by companies
- Peripheral Management
- Peripheral - A piece of hardware not directly connected
to the CPU e.g. Keyboard, Mouse
- OS manages all peripheral devices connected
to the computer - allows them to be disabled
or drivers to be updated
- e.g. Window Device
Management
- Controls external devices by sending
them commands, allowing them to
communicate with the computer
- File Management
- Software that manages files
- OS must know where the file is located (specific track, sector, surface
address) to accurately find the file on the hard disk drive
- Utility Software
- Designed to do just one or two tasks
- Interacts with the computers hardware
- Built into the OS
- Types of Utility Software
- File Compression
- Disk Defragmention
- File Repair
- Disk Copying
- Disk Formatting
- Disk Backup/ Restore
- Anti-Virus
- Compression
- Reducing the size of the file by
performing an algorithm on the
original data
- Lossess - The original file can be
recreated as no data is lost
- Lossy - Some of the original data is
lost and cannot be recreated
- Compresses data so device can use fewer bits
to transmit the same amount of data
- Defragmentation Software
- Groups fragmented files (broken-down/
scattered files) back toghether
- Done normally when storage device is full
- Encryption Software
- Software which encrypts and
decrypts data via the same key
- Done so data can be sent
safely over a large network
- Backups
- Backups are done to restore any
files/data/programs in case of a computer failure
- Copies of data and/or software are taken regularly
and usually stored in a different location
- Backup Types
- Full
- A copy of all data and software on the Hard Disk Drive
- Can also be a copy of the data and software transferred onto an
external storage device; this makes it kept at a different location
- Takes a long time to complete (usually overnight)
- Recovery of data and software takes a long time as all data and software is being restored
- Incremental
- A full backup is made initially
- Files which have only been changed since the last
incremental backup are copied (done daily)
- Much faster to complete than full backups, less memory wasted
- Takes much longer at restoring data than a full backup
because additional incremental backups would have to
be restored after the full backup restores data
- User Interface - A computer
design that allows the user to
interact with the computer
- GUI (Graphics User Interface)
- User interface that uses graphics/images
and words to represent the interaction
between the end user and a computer
- e.g. WIMP (Windows, Icons, Menus, Pointer)
- CLI (Command Line Interface)
- Text input using the computer keyboard and
the computer displays it on the monitor
- Memory Management
- Controls the computer's memory to optimise its system performance
- User Management
- Administrative feature of a computer system to control user access into a network