Software, processing, operating

systems
• This is a collection of computer programs,
procedures and documentation that perform
some tasks on a computer system.
• There are two categories of software:
– System software
– Application software
 System software
• System software
Systems software is software that controls the way
the computer works and lets you use the computer.
For example, it:
-makes sure that all of the pieces of computer
hardware communicate with each other.
-takes care of the computer's memory and storage.
-lets you load and use application software packages
-lets you save your work.
 Types of System software
• 1. Utility software
– This is a specialized software that tries to protect
and maintain the operating system. Some jobs
done by the utility software include:
1. protecting the operating system against damage
caused by the computer viruses.
2. making copies of files(back up)
3. recover files after the system software has stopped
working.
• 2. Operating system
– An operating system is a collection of programs
that manages all the other programs (i.e,
application programs) in a computer as well as the
allocation and use of hardware resources such as
the CPU (central processing unit), memory and the
hard disk drive (HDD).
 Functions of the operating system
• Software control
– The operating system controls how all software
applications, games and other programs work on
the computer, these include file management,
multi-tasking, multi-user and security.
 Hardware control
• The operating system has a set of rules for
controlling hardware resources. Some
hardware resources controlled by the
operating system includes:
1. Peripherals- example keyboards, printers,
scanners and so on
2. memory
3. CPU
4. Disk space
 Types of Operating Systems
• The following are some of the operating
systems available.
1. Single User processing
2. Single user multi-tasking processing
3. Batch processing
4. Time-sharing multi-processing
5. Real time online processing
 Single user processing
• This system allows only one user at a time,
running only one program at a time.
 Single user multi-tasking processing
• A Single user multi-tasking processing system
is one in which the use of the computer is
limited to one person at a time, who is
allowed to do multiple tasks.
 Batch processing
• This is a system that group tasks together and
process them collectively, in the same order in
which they were grouped. This is referred to
as a "first in first out" (FIFO) processing.
 Time-sharing multi-processing
• This is a system that allows more than one
user to have access to the system unit, with
each user having the impression that he/she
has full control of the processor. Each job is
allotted a time-slice, with processing switching
from one job to another in a round-robin
basis, until the jobs have been completed.
 Real time online processing
• A Real time online processing system is one in
which processing is done immediately on
receipt of the input data, with the results been
returned at once. This is used in critical
situations, such as, with critically ill patients;
and in nuclear plants.
 Application software
• Application software are programs that allow
the computer to carry out specific tasks for
users.
 Types of Application Software
1. General purpose software
2. Custom-written software
3. Specialized software
4. Integrated software
 General purpose software
• These are programs that are designed to meet
the needs of a wide variety of users. The
programs are multi-purposed and can be used
by schools, business places, homes and so on.
Examples include word processing, databases,
spreadsheet, presentation and so on. General
purpose software is much cheaper than other
types of application software.
 Custom-written software
• These are software designed to perform
specific tasks for users. Sometimes general
purpose software are edited to perform
specific tasks for the user. Custom-written
software is generally tailored to meet the
needs for a specific business or organization
and is more expensive than general purpose
software.
 Specialized software
• These are software which is written only for a
special or specific task. Examples of
specialized software include:
1. software used by air traffic controllers to control
flight of air craft.
2. accounting software
3. airline reservation software
4. computer-aided design
 Integrated software
• This is a program that includes all the major
types of application is a single software
package. Some types of applications included
in integrated software are word processing,
spreadsheet, database and so on. An
example of integrated software is Microsoft
Works.