Using Information Technology

Chapter 4
System Software
 System Software

System software enables applications

software to interact with the computer
and helps the computer manage its
internal and external resources.
 4.1 The Components of System Software
Operating system -
the principal
component of system
software

Device drivers - help

the computer control
peripheral devices

Utility programs -
support, enhance, or
expand existing
programs
4.2 The Operating System: What It Does

The operating system consists of the

master system of programs that manage
the basic operations of the computer.
These programs provide resource
management services of many kinds.
They handle the control of and use of
hardware resources:
disk space
memory
CPU
peripheral devices
 4.2 The Operating System: What It Does
Booting - the process of loading an operating system into
a computer’s main memory
4.2 The Operating System: What It Does

Booting
1. diagnostic routines first start up and test the
main memory, the central processing unit, and
other parts of the system to make sure they are
running properly.
2. BIOS (basic input/output system) will be copied
to main memory to help the computer interpret
keyboard characters or transmit characters to
the display screen or to a diskette.
3. Then the boot program obtains the operating
system, usually from hard disk, and loads it
into the computer’s main memory.
 The Operating System: What It Does
User interface - user-controllable display screen that allows
you to communicate, or interact, with your computer
 The Operating System: What It Does
CPU Management
Supervisor (kernel) – manages the CPU. It remains
in main memory while the computer is running,
and directs other programs to perform tasks that
support application programs.

Example
writing a report using a word processor program
and want to print out a portion of it while
continuing to write.
OS will select a printer
Executing printer driver
 The Operating System: What It Does
Memory Management
The OS also manages memory via:
1. Partitioning - division of memory into
separate areas called partitions, each of
which can hold a program or data.
2. Foreground/background - division of
memory into higher priority (foreground)
and lower priority (background) areas.
3. Queues - temporary line-ups for programs
waiting to be executed. Programs that are
to be executed wait on disk in queues.
 The Operating System: What It Does
File Management
A file is a named collection of related
information.

A file can be a program or it can be a data file.

Files are stored on hard disks and other

secondary storage devices.

OS records the storage location of all files.

 The Operating System: What It Does
File Management
Move

Rename

Delete

Copy

Back up
 The Operating System: What It Does
Task Management
A task is an operation such as storing, printing
or calculating.
A computer is required to perform many
different tasks at once.
Some operating systems also handle more than
one program at the same time.
Among the ways operating systems manage
tasks in order to run more efficiently are:
1. Multitasking
2. Multiprogramming
3. Time sharing
4. Multiprocessing
 The Operating System: What It Does
Task Management
Multitasking – executing more than one program concurrently.
Earlier OS could do only single-tasking
Today, multitasking Operating Systems are used.

Multitasking is the execution of two or more programs

by one user concurrently on the same computer with
one CPU.

OS directs the processor to spend a predetermined amount of time

executing the instructions for each program, one at a time.
A small part of each program is executed, and the cycle keeps on
repeating until processing is complete.
 The Operating System: What It Does
Task Management
Multiprogramming – concurrent execution of
different users’ programs

Multiprogramming is the execution of

different users’ programs concurrently
on a multi-user operating system.

The processor spends a certain amount of

time executing each user’s program.
 The Operating System: What It Does
Task Management
Time sharing – round-robin processing of
programs for several users.

In time-sharing, a single computer

processes the tasks of several users at
different stations in round-robin
fashion.

Time slicing is used for time sharing. A time

slice is a fraction of a second.
The computer may rapidly switch back and
 The Operating System: What It Does
Task Management
Multitasking Vs Time-sharing

Multitasking Time-sharing

The processor directs the The computer spends a fixed

programs to take turns amount of time with each
accomplishing small tasks or program before going on to the
events, such as, a calculation, next one.
search a record, print a part.

Each task may take a different

amount of time.
 The Operating System: What It Does
Task Management
Multiprocessing – simultaneous processing of two
or more programs by multiple computers

Multiprocessing is processing done by two

or more computers or processors linked
together to perform work simultaneously.

Processing instructions from different programs or

different instructions within the same program
at once.
 The Operating System: What It Does
Task Management
Two possible approaches to multiprocessing:

Co-processing - the controlling CPU works

together with specialized
microprocessors called coprocessors,
each of which handles a particular task.

Parallel processing - several full-fledged

processors work together on the same
tasks, sharing memory.
 The Operating System: What It Does
Task Management

Number of Users Number of Order of Processing

Processors

Multi-tasking One One Concurrently

Multi-programming Multiple One Concurrently

Time sharing Multiple One Round robin

Multi-processing One or more Two or more Simultaneously

Processing of two or more programs

The Operating System: What It Does

Formatting (initializing) a disk - the process

of preparing that disk so that it can store
data or programs
 4.3 Other System Software:
Device Drivers & Utility Programs

Device drivers -
specialized software
programs that allow
input and output
devices to
communicate with the
rest of the computer
system
 4.3 Other System Software:
Device Drivers & Utility Programs
 Many basic device derivers come with system
software.

 If, however, we buy a new peripheral device,

such as a mouse, scanner, or printer, the
package will include a device driver (probably
on a CD-ROM).
 Utilities: Service Programs

 Utility Programs, also known as service

programs, perform tasks related to the control
and allocation of computer resources.
 They enhance existing functions or provide
services not supplied by other system
software programs.
 Built-in utilities – as part of the operating
system.
 External utility programs – such as Norton
Desktop
 Utilities: Service Programs

Backup utility - program which makes a

duplicate copy of the information on your hard
disk.

Example: Norton Backup

 Utilities: Service Programs

 Data-recovery utility - program which

restores data that has been physically
damaged or corrupted.

 Data can be damaged by viruses, bad

software, hardware failure, and power
fluctuations that occur while data is being
written/recorded.
 Utilities: Service Programs

 A virus consists of hidden programming

instructions that are buried within an
application or system program.

 They copy themselves to other programs,

causing havoc.

 Viruses are spread when people exchange

floppy disks or download information from
computer networks or the Internet
 Utilities: Service Programs

 Antivirus software - program that scans hard

disks, floppy disks, and memory to detect
viruses.
 Some utilities destroy the virus as soon as it
is detected and others notify the user of
possible viral behavior.
 Examples of antivirus software are Norton
AntiVirus, Dr. Solomon’s Anti-Virus Toolkit,
McAfee VirusScan, and Webscan.
 Utilities: Service Programs

 In order to gain more disk space, the user

has four options: delete old files, buy a new
hard disk with more capacity, add an hard
drive, or buy a data compression utility.

 Data compression utility - program which

removes redundant elements, gaps, and
unnecessary data from a computer’s
storage space so that less space (fewer
bits) is required to store or transmit data
 Utilities: Service Programs

Fragmentation - the
scattering of portions of
files about the disk in
nonadjacent areas, thus
greatly slowing access to
the files

Defragmenter utility -
program that finds all the
scattered files on your
hard disk and reorganizes
them as contiguous files
 Utilities: Service Programs

Disk scanner and disk

cleanup utilities:

Detect & remove

unnecessary files

Detect & correct

disk problems
 4.4 Common Operating Systems
Desktop & Laptop Operating Systems
Platform - the Disk Operating
particular processor System (DOS) - the
model and operating original operating
system on which a system produced by
computer system is
based Microsoft, which had
a hard-to-use
command-driven user
interface
 Desktop & Laptop Operating Systems
There are two main operating systems calling
themselves DOS:
 Microsoft’s MS-DOS: DOS is sold under
the name MS-DOS by Microsoft; the “MS,”
of course, stands for Microsoft. Microsoft
launched its original version, MS-DOS 1.0,
in 1981, and there have been many
upgrades since then.
 IBM’s PC-DOS: Microsoft licenses a
version to IBM called PC-DOS. The “PC”
stands for “Personal Computer.” The most
recent version is PC-DOS 7, released
March 1995.
 Desktop & Laptop Operating Systems

 Mac OS - operating system which runs only

on Apple Macintosh computers

 It set the standard for icon-oriented, easy-to-

use graphical user interfaces.

 The Macintosh OS was first launched in

1984, and inspired rival Microsoft to upgrade
DOS to the more user-friendly Windows
operating systems.
 Desktop & Laptop Operating Systems
Mac OS X(Roman numeral 10): released in the fall of 1999.
 Desktop & Laptop Operating Systems

Microsoft Windows 3.X (that is, Windows 3.0, 3.1, and

3.11) - released in 1992; simply a layer over DOS

Microsoft Windows 95/98 - successors to 3.X

Plug and Play - the ability of a computer to

automatically configure a new hardware
component that is added to it

Microsoft Windows Me (WinMe) - Millennium Edition

 Network Operating Systems

Novell’s Netware - a popular network

operating system for coordinating
microcomputer-based local area networks
(LANs) throughout a company or campus.

Netware was introduced by Novell in 1983.

The current release of Netware is Netware 6.

 Network Operating Systems

 Windows NT - Microsoft’s multitasking OS

designed to run on network servers; it allows
multiple users to share resources such as
data and programs

 Unveiled by Microsoft in May 1993.

 NT stands for “New Technology.”

 Windows 2000 - successor to Windows NT

 Network Operating Systems
Windows XP - Microsoft’s newest OS, which combines
elements of Windows 2000 and Windows Me

New GUI featured in Windows XP

 Network Operating Systems

UNIX - a multitasking operating system for

multiple users with built-in networking capability
and versions that can run on all kinds of
computers

Sun Microsystems’ Solaris

Solaris - super-reliable version of Unix that

seems to be most popular for handling large
e-commerce servers and large websites.
 Network Operating Systems
Linux - a free version of UNIX, with continual improvements
resulting from the efforts of tens of thousands of volunteer
programmers
 Network Operating Systems

 Linux is open-source software.

 Open-source software - software which any

programmer can download from the Internet
for free and modify with suggested
improvements
 Operating Systems for Handhelds

Palm OS - the dominant

OS for handhelds, which
runs the Palm and
Handspring Visor, and is
licensed to other
companies

Windows CE (now Pocket

PC) - slimmed-down
version of Windows for
handhelds