INFORMATION AND

COMMUNICATION
TECHNOLOGY APPLICATION
( IMD 113 )

GROUP PROJECT REPORT

Prepared By :
MOHD FARIHAN B. CHE JUSOH
( ID : 2016219762 )
AHMAD NAZRIN BIN ISHAK
( ID : 2016836568 )
MUHAMAD SYAFIQ IMAN BIN ROHAIDI
( ID : 2015506439 )

Prepared For :
ENCIK MOHD YUSOF BIN MUSTAFFAR
 CONTENTS

No Title Page

1. Objectives 3

2. System Software 4

3. Operating Systems 5-7

- Functions OS
- Operating System Functions
- Booting
- User Interface
- Graphical User Interface (GUI)
- Memory Management
- Spooling
- Driver
- Network Operating System

4. Utility Programs 8 - 11
- File Manager
- Personal Firewall
- Uninstaller
- Disk Scanner
- Disk Defragmentar
- Screen Saver

5. Types Of Operating System 12 - 15

- Stand Alone Operating Systems
- Disk Operating System (DOS)
- Windows XP & Vista
- Mac OS
- Unix
- Linux

- Network Operating Systems

- NetWare
- Unix & Linux
- Solaris
- Windows Server

- Embedded Operating Sysytems

6. Stand Alone Utility Programs 16 - 22

- Virus
- Antivirus Program
- Spyware
- Internet Filters
- File Compression Utility
- CD/DVD Burning Software
- Personal Computer Maintenance Utility
- Summary

[2]
OBJECTIVES
Identify the types of System Software.

Describe the functions of an Operating System.

Explain the Purpose Of The Utilities included

with most operating systems.

Summarize the features of several Stand-Alone

Operating Systems.

Identify devices that use Embedded Operating

Systems.

Explain the purpose of several Stand-Alone

Utility Programs.

[3]
SYSTEM SOFTWARE
System software is a type of computer program that is designed to run a computer’s hardware
and application programs. If we think of the computer system as a layered model, the
system software is the interface between the hardware and user applications.

The operating system (OS) is the best-known example of system software. The OS manages
all the other programs in a computer.

Other examples of system software and what each does:

 The BIOS (basic input/output system) gets the computer system started after you turn
it on and manages the data flow between the operating system and attached devices
such as the hard disk, video adapter, keyboard, mouse, and printer.

 The boot program loads the operating system into the computer's main memory or
random access memory (RAM).

 An assembler takes basic computer instructions and converts them into a pattern
of bits that the computer's processor can use to perform its basic operations.

 A device driver controls a particular type of device that is attached to your computer,
such as a keyboard or a mouse. The driver program converts the more general
input/output instructions of the operating system to messages that the device type can
understand.

 According to some definitions, system software also includes system utilities, such as
the disk defragmenter and System Restore, and development tools such
as compilers anddebuggers.

 System software and application programs are the two main types of computer
software. Unlike system software, an application program (often just called an
application or app) performs a particular function for the user. Examples (among
many possibilities) includebrowsers, email clients, word processors and spreadsheets.

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OPERATING SYSTEMS (OS)

An operating system is the most important software that runs on a computer. It manages the
computer's memory and processes, as well as all of its software and hardware. It also allows
you to communicate with the computer without knowing how to speak the computer's
language. Without an operating system, a computer is useless.

Functions Operating System

Your computer's operating system (OS) manages all of the software and hardware on the
computer. Most of the time, there are several different computer programs running at the
same time, and they all need to access your computer's central processing unit (CPU),
memory, and storage. The operating system coordinates all of this to make sure each program
gets what it needs.

Operating System Functions

1. Booting

An operating sytem is sometimes described as ―the first program‖ one that allows you to run
other programs. However, it is usually stored as a file (or, more commonly, a collection of
files) on a disk. How does this ―first‖ program get to run?

The operating system is loaded through a bootstrapping process, more succinctly known
as booting. A boot loader is a program whose task is to load a bigger program, such as the
operating system.

2. User Interface

In information technology, the user interface (UI) is everything designed into an information
device with which a human being may interact including display screen, keyboard, mouse,
light pen, the appearance of a desktop, illuminated characters, help messages, and how an
application program or a Web site invites interaction and responds to it. In early computers,
there was very little user interface except for a few buttons at an operator's console. The user
interface was largely in the form of punched card input and report output.

3. Graphical User Interface (GUI)

Graphical user interface (GUI), a computer program that enables a person to communicate
with a computer through the use of symbols, visual metaphors, and pointing devices. Best
known for its implementation in Apple Inc.’s Macintosh and Microsoft Corporation’s
Windows operating system, the GUI has replaced the arcane and difficult textual interfaces of
earlier computing with a relatively intuitive system that has made computer operation not
only easier to learn but more pleasant and natural. The GUI is now the standard computer
interface, and its components have themselves become unmistakable cultural artifacts.

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4. Memory Management

Memory management is the act of managing computer memory. The essential requirement of
memory management is to provide ways to dynamically allocate portions of memory to
programs at their request, and free it for reuse when no longer needed.

5. Spooling

Spooling is a process in which data is temporarily held to be used and executed by a device,
program or the system. Data is sent to and stored in memory or other volatile storage until the
program or computer requests it for execution.

Spooling works like a typical request queue or spool where data, instructions and processes
from multiple sources are accumulated for execution later on. Generally, the spool is
maintained on the computer’s physical memory, buffers or the I/O device-specific interrupts.
The spool is processed in ascending order, working on the basis of a FIFO (first in, first out)
algorithm.

The most common implementation of spooling can be found in typical input/output devices
such as the keyboard, mouse and printer. For example, in printer spooling, the
documents/files that are sent to the printer are first stored in the memory or printer spooler.
Once the printer is ready, it fetches the data from that spool and prints it.

6. Driver

In computing, a device driver (commonly referred to simply as a driver) is a computer

program that operates or controls a particular type of device that is attached to a computer. A
driver provides a software interface to hardware devices, enabling operating systems and
other computer programs to access hardware functions without needing to know precise
details of the hardware being used.

A driver communicates with the device through the computer bus or communications
subsystem to which the hardware connects. When a calling program invokes a routine in the
driver, the driver issues commands to the device. Once the device sends data back to the
driver, the driver may invoke routines in the original calling program. Drivers are hardware
dependent and operating-system-specific. They usually provide the interrupt handling
required for any necessary asynchronous time-dependent hardware interface.

[6]
Device drivers simplify programming by acting as translator between a hardware device and
the applications or operating systems that use it. Programmers can write the higher-level
application code independently of whatever specific hardware the end-user is using.

For example, a high-level application for interacting with a serial port may simply have two
functions for "send data" and "receive data". At a lower level, a device driver implementing
these functions would communicate to the particular serial port controller installed on a user's
computer. The commands needed to control a 16550 UART are much different from the
commands needed to control an FTDI serial port converter, but each hardware-specific
device driver abstracts these details into the same (or similar) software interface.

7. Network Operating System

A network operating system (NOS) is a computer operating system system that is designed
primarily to support workstation, personal computer, and, in some instances, older terminal
that are connected on a local area network (LAN). Artisoft's LANtastic, Banyan VINES,
Novell's NetWare, and Microsoft's LAN Manager are examples of network operating
systems. In addition, some multi-purpose operating systems, such as Windows NT and
Digital's OpenVMS come with capabilities that enable them to be described as a network
operating system.

A network operating system provides printer sharing, common file system and database
sharing, application sharing, and the ability to manage a network name directory, security,
and other housekeeping aspects of a network.

[7]
UTILITY PROGRAMS

A program that performs a very specific task, usually related to managing system resources.
Operating systems contain a number of utilities for managing disk drives, printers, and other
devices.

Utilities differ from applications mostly in terms of size, complexity and function. For
example, word processors, spreadsheet programs, and database applications are considered
applications because they are large programs that perform a variety of functions not directly
related to managing computer resources. Utilities are sometimes installed as memory-resident
programs. On DOS systems, such utilities are called TSRs.

File Manager

A file manager or file browser is a computer program that provides a user interface to manage
files and folders. The most common operations performed on files or groups of files include
creating, opening (e.g. viewing, playing, editing or printing), renaming, moving or copying,
deleting and searching for files, as well as modifying file attributes, properties and file
permissions. Folders and files may be displayed in a hierarchical tree based on their directory
structure. Some file managers contain features inspired by web browsers, including forward
and back navigational buttons.

Some file managers provide network connectivity via protocols, such as FTP, NFS, SMB or
WebDAV. This is achieved by allowing the user to browse for a file server (connecting and
accessing the server's file system like a local file system) or by providing its own full client
implementations for file server protocols.

[8]
Personal Firewall

A personal firewall (sometimes called a desktop firewall) is a software application used to

protect a single Internet-connected computer from intruders. Personal firewall protection is
especially useful for users with "always-on" connections such as DSL or cable modem. Such
connections use a static IP address that makes them especially vulnerable to potential
hackers. Often compared to anti-virus applications, personal firewalls work in the
background at the device (link layer) level to protect the integrity of the system from
malicious computer code by controlling Internet connections to and from a user's computer,
filtering inbound and outbound traffic, and alerting the user to attempted intrusions.

Uninstaller

An uninstaller is a program or tool that is part of an application bundle used with Windows
operating systems (OS). It allows a user to safely uninstall an application by running a
program and following a series of prompts that warn users about the application's removal.

After running an uninstaller, traces of an application still requiring removal may remain,
usually in the system registry. These should be removed individually or by using the control
panel's add/remove command. In most cases, the uninstall tool is the easiest way to remove
an application.

[9]
Disk Scanner

A disk utility is a utility program that allows a user to perform various functions on a
computer disk, such as disk partitioning and logical volume management, as well as multiple
smaller tasks such as changing drive letters and other mount points, renaming volumes, disk
checking, and disk formatting, which are otherwise handled separately by multiple other
built-in commands. Each operating system (OS) has its own basic disk utility, and there are
also separate programs which can recognize and adjust the different filesystems of multiple
OSes. Types of disk utilities include disk checkers, disk cleaners and disk space analyzers

Disk Defragmentar

Disk Defragmenter is a utility in Microsoft Windows designed to increase access speed by

rearranging files stored on a disk to occupy contiguous storage locations, a technique called
defragmentation. Defragmenting a disk minimizes head travel, which reduces the time it
takes to read files from and write files to the disk. Beginning with Windows XP, Disk
Defragmenter also reduces system startup times.

[10]
Screen Saver

A screensaver (or screen saver) is a computer program that blanks the screen or fills it with
moving images or patterns when the computer is not in use. Initially designed to prevent
phosphor burn-in on CRT and plasma computer monitors (hence the name), screensavers are
now used primarily for entertainment, security or to display system status information.

Some screensavers also offer additional functions like automated workstation password
protection during inactivity (i.e., probably absent) user or disk scan with installed antivirus
software.

[11]
TYPES OF OPERATING SYSTEM
Operating systems usually come pre-loaded on any computer you buy. Most people use the
operating system that comes with their computer, but it's possible to upgrade or even change
operating systems. The three most common operating systems for personal computers are
Microsoft Windows, Mac OS X, and Linux.

Modern operating systems use a graphical user interface, or GUI. A GUI lets you use your
mouse to click icons, buttons, and menus, and everything is clearly displayed on the screen
using a combination of graphics and text.

Each operating system's GUI has a different look and feel, so if you switch to a different
operating system it may seem unfamiliar at first. However, modern operating systems are
designed to be easy to use, and most of the basic principles are the same.

1. Microsoft Windows

Microsoft created the Windows operating system in the mid-1980s. Over the years, there
have been many different versions of Windows, but the most recent ones areWindows 10
(released in 2015), Windows 8 (2012), Windows 7 (2009), and Windows Vista (2007).
Windows comes pre-loaded on most new PCs, which helps to make it the most popular
operating system in the world.

[12]
2. Mac OS X

Mac OS is a line of operating systems created by Apple. It comes preloaded on all new
Macintosh computers, or Macs. All of the recent versions are known as OS X(pronounced O-
S Ten), and the specific versions include El Capitan (released in 2015),Yosemite (2014),
Mavericks (2013), Mountain Lion (2012), and Lion (2011).

According to StatCounter Global Stats, Mac OS X users account for less than 10% of global
operating systems much lower than the percentage of Windows users (more than 80%). One
reason for this is that Apple computers tend to be more expensive. However, many people do
prefer the look and feel of Mac OS X over Windows.

3. Linux

Linux (pronounced LINN-ux) is a family of open-source operating systems, which means

they can be modified and distributed by anyone around the world. This is different from
proprietary software like Windows, which can only be modified by the company that owns it.
The advantages of Linux are that it is free, and there are many different distributions—or
versions you can choose from.

According to StatCounter Global Stats, Linux users account for less than 2% of global
operating systems. However, most servers run Linux because it's relatively easy to customize.

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NETWORK OPERATING SYSTEMS

A network operating system (NOS) is a computer operating system system that is designed
primarily to support workstation, personal computer, and, in some instances, older terminal
that are connected on a local area network (LAN). Artisoft's LANtastic, Banyan VINES,
Novell's NetWare, and Microsoft's LAN Manager are examples of network operating
systems. In addition, some multi-purpose operating systems, such as Windows NT and
Digital's OpenVMS come with capabilities that enable them to be described as a network
operating system.

1. NetWare

NetWare, made by Novell, is a widely-installed network server operating system. Initially

very successful in installing its products in large and small office local area networks
(LANs), Novell redesigned (or at least refeatured) NetWare to work successfully as part of
larger and heterogeneous networks, including the Internet. A early - and primary competitor
was the Microsoft Windows NT operating system.

2. Unix & Linux

Linux is an open source, free to use operating system widely used for computer hardware and
software, game development, tablet PCS, mainframes etc. Unix is an operating system
commonly used in internet servers, workstations and PCs by Solaris, Intel, HP etc.

Many refer to Linux as a UNIX-like operating system. It is an open source operating system
that has many of the same principles and ideals as UNIX, but it is not a true UNIX operating
system like Solaris, AIX®, HP-UX, and others.

3. Solaris

Solaris is a Unix operating system originally developed by Sun Microsystems. It superseded

their earlier SunOS in 1993. Oracle Solaris, so named as of 2010, has been owned by Oracle
Corporation since the Sun acquisition by Oracle in January 2010.

Solaris is known for its scalability, especially on SPARC systems, and for originating many
innovative features such as DTrace, ZFS and Time Slider. Solaris supports SPARC-based and
x86-based workstations and servers from Oracle and other vendors, with efforts underway to
port to additional platforms. Solaris is registered as compliant with the Single Unix
Specification.

4. Windows Server

Windows Server is a brand name for a group of server operating systems released by
Microsoft. It includes all Windows operating systems branded "Windows Server", but not
any other Microsoft product. The first Windows server edition to be released under that brand
was Windows Server 2003. However, the first server edition of Windows was Windows NT
3.1 Advanced Server, followed by Windows NT 3.5 Server, Windows NT 4.0 Server, and
Windows 2000 Server; the latter was the first server edition to include Active Directory, DNS
Server, DHCP Server, Group Policy, as well as many other popular features used today.

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EMBEDDED OPERATING SYSYTEMS

An embedded operating system is an operating system for embedded computer systems.

These operating systems are designed to be compact, efficient at resource usage, and reliable,
forsaking many functions that non-embedded computer operating systems provide, and which
may not be used by the specialized applications they run. They are frequently also referred to
as real-time operating systems, and the term RTOS is often used as a synonym for embedded
operating system.

Usually, the hardware running an embedded operating system is very limited in resources
such as RAM and ROM therefore systems made for embedded hardware tend to be very
specific, which means that due to the available resources (low if compared to non-embedded
systems) these systems are created to cover specific tasks or scopes. In order to get advantage
of the processing power of the main (or only) CPU, system creators often write them in
assembly. This machine efficient language "squeezes" the potentiality in terms of speed and
determinism, which means maximizing the responsiveness of the operating system. Though,
it is not an absolute rule that all embedded operating systems are written in assembly
language, as many of them are written in more portable languages, like C.

An important difference between most embedded operating systems and desktop operating
systems is that the application, including the operating system, is usually statically linked
together into a single executable image. Unlike a desktop operating system, the embedded
operating system does not load and execute applications. This means that the system is only
able to run a single application.

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STAND ALONE UTILITY PROGRAMS

A stand-alone program is a computer program that does not load any external module, library
function or program and that is designed to boot with the bootstrap procedure of the target
processor – it runs on bare metal. In early computers like the ENIAC without the concept of
an operating system, standalone programs were the only way to run a computer. Standalone
programs are usually written in or complied to the assembly language for the specific
hardware.

Later standalone programs typically were provided for utility functions such as disk
formatting. Also, computers with very limited storage used standalone programs, i.e. most
computers until the mid-1950s, and later still embedded processors.

Nowadays, standalone programs are a nearly extinct species of programs. Even the most
basic processors these days have sufficient storage to allow the operating system overhead,
and if this is still a problem, basic general purpose operating systems are available for that
purpose. E.g., in the diskette era, apparently standalone utility programs were delivered with
a basic version of DOS fitting onto the same diskette.

Virus

A computer virus is a type of malicious software program ("malware") that, when executed,
replicates by reproducing itself (copying its own source code) or infecting other computer
programs by modifying them. Infecting computer programs can include as well, data files, or
the "boot" sector of the hard drive. When this replication succeeds, the affected areas are then
said to be "infected" with a computer virus.

The term "virus" is also commonly, but erroneously, used to refer to other types of malware.
"Malware" encompasses computer viruses along with many other forms of malicious
software, such as computer "worms", ransomware, trojan horses, keyloggers, rootkits,
spyware, adware, malicious Browser Helper Object (BHOs) and other malicious software.
The majority of active malware threats are actually trojan horse programs or computer worms
rather than computer viruses. The term computer virus was a misnomer until it was coined by
Fred Cohen in 1985.

Viruses often perform some type of harmful activity on infected host computers, such as
acquisition of hard disk space or central processing unit (CPU) time, accessing private
information (e.g., credit card numbers), corrupting data, displaying political or humorous
messages on the user's screen, spamming their e-mail contacts, logging their keystrokes, or
even rendering the computer useless. However, not all viruses carry a destructive "payload"
or attempt to hide themselves—the defining characteristic of viruses is that they are self-
replicating computer programs which install themselves without user consent.

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Antivirus Program

Antivirus or anti-virus software (often abbreviated as AV), sometimes known as anti-

malware software, is computer software used to prevent, detect and remove malicious
software.

Antivirus software was originally developed to detect and remove computer viruses, hence
the name. However, with the proliferation of other kinds of malware, antivirus software
started to provide protection from other computer threats. In particular, modern antivirus
software can protect from: malicious browser helper objects (BHOs), browser hijackers,
ransomware, keyloggers, backdoors, rootkits, trojan horses, worms, malicious LSPs, dialers,
fraudtools, adware and spyware.

Some products also include protection from other computer threats, such as infected and
malicious URLs, spam, scam and phishing attacks, online identity (privacy), online banking
attacks, social engineering techniques, advanced persistent threat (APT) and botnet DDoS
attacks.

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Spyware

Spyware is software that is installed on a computing device without the end user's knowledge.
Such software is controversial because even though it is sometimes installed for relatively
innocuous reasons, it can violate the end user's privacy and has the potential to be abused.

Spyware that is installed for innocuous reasons is sometimes referred to as tracking software.
In the workplace, such software may be installed on corporate laptops to monitor employees'
browsing activities. In the home, parents might install a keystroke logger to monitor their
children's activity on the internet. Or an advertiser might use cookies to track what webpages
a user visits in order to target advertising in a contextual marketing campaign. If the end user
is told that data is being collected and has the ability to learn with whom the data is being
shared, such data collection programs are not considered spyware.

When tracking software is abused, there can be a significant impact on privacy. For example,
if a smartphone gets infected with spyware that was bundled with a free mobile app, the
phone's camera and microphone can be used to spy on nearby activity, record phone calls, log
browsing activity and keystrokes, and monitor the phone owner's location.

[18]
Internet /Web Filters

A Web filter is a program that can screen an incoming Web page to determine whether some
or all of it should not be displayed to the user. The filter checks the origin or content of a
Web page against a set of rules provided by company or person who has installed the Web
filter. A Web filter allows an enterprise or individual user to block out pages from Web sites
that are likely to include objectionable advertising, pornographic content, spyware, viruses,
and other objectionable content. Vendors of Web filters claim that their products will reduce
recreational Internet surfing among employees and secure networks from Web-based threats.

File Compression Utility

A file compression utility is a software program that is used to compress or decompress files.
Most often such a software program is used to compress files of various formats that are no
longer being actively used and reduce their size so that they take up about 40 percent less
space on hard disk.

However, a file compression utility is used in many other situations, for example where large
sized files of one particular format need to be compressed. Here it can be used when
thousands of files of one format are created on a daily basis and these need to be compressed.
For instance when image files are created as part of a scanning process, such a software
program can be used to convert these normally large sized files into much smaller ones. This
can result in a large amount of disc space being saved as such files can quickly overwhelm
servers, especially when a scanning process is continuous and files are created daily.

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CD/DVD Burning Software

Ripping and burning are two functions that go hand in hand when creating copies of CDs,
DVDs or Blu-rays for personal use. To rip means to extract and copy select tracks or entire
disc contents from a disc and store them to a hard drive or computer media library. To burn
means to physically write (also known as record) the ripped data to a disc copy.

Computer applications that can be downloaded or installed on your operating system for the
purpose of recording copies of CDs, DVDs or Blu-rays are known as ripping and burning
software. A majority of this software is tailored to the ripping and burning processes and
comes packaged together. It gives you the ability to save data to record to a disc from a
variety of files including MP3, WMA and WAV.

Technological advances in burn and rip software have helped to ward off errors unique to the
ripping process. Streaming real-time data was of questionable reliability especially for CDs
until the specialized software of today started to provide more accurate rips. Consequently,
ripping discs to a hard drive or media library for personal use is a solution that can help
safeguard your data and entertainment from theft, damage or accidental loss.

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Personal Computer Maintenance Utility

In computers, a utility is a small program that provides an addition to the capabilities

provided by the operating system. In some usages, a utility is a special and nonessential part
of the operating system. The print "utility" that comes with the operating system is an
example. It's not absolutely required to run programs and, if it didn't come with the operating
system, you could perhaps add it.

In other usages, a utility is an application that is very specialized and relatively limited in
capability. A good example is a search-and-replace utility. Some operating systems provide a
limited capability to do a search-and-replace for given character strings. You can add a much
more capable search-and-replace utility that runs as an application program. However,
compared to a word processor, a search-and-replace utility has limited capability.

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SUMMARY

System software works with end users, application programs and computer hardware to handle
many details relating to computer operations. Not a single program but a collection or systems
of programs, these programs handle hundreds of technical details with kittle or no user
intervention.

Four kind of systems programs are operating systems, utilities, device drivers and language
translators.
 Operating systems coordinate resources, provide an interface between users and the
computer and run programs.
 Utilities (service programs) perform specific tasks related to managing computer
resources.
 Device Drivers allow particular input or output devices to communicate with the rest of
the computer system.
 Language Translators convert programming instructions written by programmers into a
language that computer can understand and process.

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