Information Technology Exercise - SOFTWARE Jacob.E.

Seraphine

Form 4

You are required to answer the following questions.

1. Explain the difference between Application Software and System Software.

Application software is used by a user to perform certain tasks and System software is used for
operating computer hardware.

2. State and explain 3 examples of Application software packages.

a. AutoCAD : this is a commercial computer- aided- design (CAD) software that architects , engineers
and construction professionals rely on to create precise 2D and 3D drawings.

b. MS Word(Microsoft word): is a graphical word processing program that users can type with.
Similar to other word processors, it has helped by putting tools to make and edit documents.

c. MS Excel (Microsoft Excel) : is a software application capable of storing and organizing data in a
tabular form.

3. What is an Operating System?

Operating system: The low-level software that supports a computer's basic functions, such as
scheduling tasks and controlling peripherals.

4. Identify 5 functions of the Operating System.

● Memory management
● Data security
● Disk management
● Device controlling
● Printing controlling

5. State and explain the 3 types of User Interfaces.

● Command line interface (CLI) : Allows the user to interact with the computer by typing in
commands . The computer displays a prompt , the user keys in the command and enter or
return.

● Menu driven interfaces (MDI) : The user is offered a simple menu from which to choose an
option. One menu often leads to a further menu . Part of the screen may have an instruction
followed by a numbered list of options to choose from.

● Graphical user interface (GUI) : is a form of user interface that allows users to interact with
electronic devices through graphical icons and audio indicators such as primary notation ,
instead of text based user interfaces , typed command labels or text navigation.

6. What do those file extensions below represent?

i) .com: this file is a simple executable file . .COM was used as a file name extension for
text files containing commands to be issued to the operating system (Similar to a batch
file).

ii) .bat: is an extension for a batch file format . These files are associated with Microsoft's
batch processing. They usually take the form of a text file containing a sequence of
commands for an operating system. They're named for the fact that they batch
commands Into a single file that would otherwise have to be presented to the system
interactively from a keyboard one at a time.

iii) .txt: .TXT is a file extension for a text file , used by a variety of text editors. TXT is a
human-readable sequence of characters and the words they form that can be encoded
in computer-readable formats.

iv) .exe: A file whose name ends in .exe is a program that when opens causes the
operating system to run the program . Some users who receive an .exe file as an e-mail
attachment should always be sure that the file came for. A trusted source and does not
contain a virus.
 v) .bmp: The BMP extension represents a bitmap Image file. BMP files contains raster
graphics which are independent of display devices. This means that a BMP image file
can be reviewed without graphics adapter.

vi) .pdf: A file with the pdf extension is a portable document format (PDF) file. PDFs are
typically used to distribute read-only documents that preserve the layout of the
document.

7. State 4 Utility programs used.

8. Show the file path to retrieve a Microsoft Word Document called ‘Computers’ saved in the
Folder ‘Technology’ in the C Drive.