SLM - Unit 10
SLM - Unit 10
SLM - Unit 10
10.1 Introduction
In the previous unit we have seen various wireless input and output devices
along with the troubleshooting steps. In this unit we will study computer
software, system software, application software, online softwares,
proprietary software and open source software. We will also study virus and
antivirus. Functioning of every hardware equipment is driven by software.
For example we can compare hardware and software with human body and
human intelligence, respectively. All human physical actions, such as
walking and eating are movements initiated and controlled by the brain. If
the brain does not initiate an action, we do not perform any physical activity.
Similarly, the functioning of every hardware component is driven by
Cross-device synchronization
Improved 3G support
Picture passwords
Instant search
Linux Operating System
The Linux operating system is similar to Windows and Mac OS in its
operation. The major feature of Linux that is different from other operating
systems is that it is free and is an open source software. The operating
system’s installation files are available in the stores in the form of CDs and
DVDs, which have to be purchased and one can download and install this
operating system from the websites for free of cost. The various types of
Linux operating system are available for distributions. Which includes,
Ubuntu, Fedora, Red Hat Linux, Debian, and Mandriva Linux.
UNIX Operating System
UNIX was originally developed in 1969 by a group of American Telephone
and Telegraph (AT&T) employees at Bell Labs, including Ken Thompson,
Dennis Ritchie, Douglas McIlroy, and Joe Ossanna. UNIX is a computer
operating system that controls computer system and its peripherals. UNIX
provides the base mechanisms for booting a computer, logging in, running
applications, storing and retrieving files, and so on. UNIX systems also have
a graphical user interface (GUI) similar to Microsoft Windows which
provides an easy environment. Several people can use a UNIX computer at
the same time; hence UNIX is called a multiuser system. In UNIX, the user
can also run multiple programs at the same time, there by UNIX is called
multitasking operating system. There are various UNIX variants available in
the market. Solaris UNIX and HP UNIX are a few examples.
The philosophy behind the design of UNIX was to provide simple, powerful
utilities that could be pieced together in a flexible manner to perform a wide
variety of tasks. The kernel is the core of the UNIX operating system. The
kernel is a large program that is loaded into memory when the machine is
turned on, and it controls the allocation of hardware resources from that
point forward. The kernel knows what hardware resources are available (like
the processor(s), the on-board memory, the disk drives, network interfaces,
and so on.), and it has the necessary programs to talk to all the devices
connected to it.
faster and is less prone to system crashes. This operating system does not
suffer from as many viruses as the Windows does. Mac OS is popular with
students as well as graphic artists. The graphics software was initially
developed considering the Mac operating system.
Android Operating System
Now a days, millions of people are using mobile devices, smart phones and
tablet computers. Android acts as a Linux-based operating system for these
devices. It was initially developed by android Inc. Google purchased this
android operating system from its initial developer in 2005. A consortium of
84 hardware, software and telecommunications companies joined google
and formed a group, called the Open Handset Alliance. The Open Handset
Alliance is a consortium of big companies like Broadcom Corporation,
Google, HTC, Intel, LG, Marvell Technology group, Motorola, T-Mobile and
many more. This consortium designed and released the advanced open
standards of the android operating system for mobile device version in
2007. The developers of this consortium wrote applications in a special
version of Java. The Android code as open-source under the Apache
License was released by Google. More than 500,000 applications were
developed for android. Google then started on-line stores called the google
play from which one can directly download android applications. It is
estimated that till now more than 10 billion applications were downloaded
from the google play. Later, more computer companies joined the Open
Handset Alliance.
The Android Open Source Project (AOSP) led by the google maintains,
develops and updates android from time to time. The main goal of AOSP is
to provide really useful and successful real-world systems for the smart
phone users.
Android has a strong connectivity with technologies like Bluetooth, Wi-Fi,
and WiMAX. Necessary hardware support is provided for android to use
audio, video, still formats. External memory storage devices can also be
used in the android operating system, when high level memory storage is
required. In the android operating system, devices such as micro SD (Micro
Secure Digital) slots are included using which, one can read micro SD
cards. It uses external storage media such as USB flash drives and USB
Hard Disk Drives.
Even though the main goal of designing the android is to serve mobile
devices, smart phones and tablet computers, it can be used on other
systems like laptops, notebooks, smart books, e-books readers and smart
television. It is more interesting to note that the android operating system is
being applied to gadgets such as wristwatches, headphones, car CD and
DVD players, cameras, portable media players and many more.
BlackBerry Operating System
The BlackBerry OS is the operating system designed for Blackberry mobile
devices. The BlackBerry Operating System is a software platform developed
by its manufacturer Research in Motion (RIM). The BlackBerry is a
Smartphone device released by Research in Motion (RIM) in 1999. Early
versions of blackberry were simply two-way pagers that were particularly
popular in business for their focus on e-mail facilities, as well as providing
wireless internet and calendar functions. With the release of the 5000 and
6000 series, BlackBerry made a switch to mobile phones. The 7000 series
followed, and were the first to feature colour screens and Bluetooth
capability. The 8000 and the 9000 series were the first to be targeted at
general consumers, incorporating more commercial features, such as built-
in cameras, memory card slots and clearer screens.
Updated versions of the BlackBerry OS are released regularly to support
new BlackBerry Smartphones. Latest version of blackberry OS is blackberry
10 OS. The current version of the OS allows complete wireless activation
and synchronization with email exchange, calendar and other features.
The BlackBerry supports multitasking like other mobile operating systems.
At a time it can run more than one applications, for example when you are
speaking to someone on the call, you can switch to the contacts application.
These contact applications run in the background while carrying out the
current task. However, the more applications that are running, the more
memory is used by the device. It also supports e-mail, Web browsing,
viewing of Office applications, music management, video recording,
calendar tools and many more.
Chrome Operating System
One of the popular thin client operating system is chrome OS. A thin client
OS is one in which does not have a lot of utilities or features, but has right
ones for the system on which it is installed. Chrome is the name of both an
is focused on security. In Fedora a firewall is present right from the start and
can be easily configured both using the terminal or the graphical interface.
Fedora is also one of the main promoters for SELinux, which stands for
Security-Enhanced Linux, a feature which implements several security
policies, which are missing in most of the Linux-based distributions.
Self-Assessment Questions
5. Mention any two basic tasks that can be performed by operating
system.
6. Mention any two examples for operating systems.
7. __________ developed Windows operating system.
8. UNIX system supports Graphical User Interface. (True/False)
9. ___________ is a thin client operating system.
Excel
Excel is a software program which allows users to organize, format and
calculate data with formulae using a spreadsheet system. Spreadsheet is a
worksheet consisting of rows and columns. In a worksheet, each value sits
in a cell. In Excel, while doing the calculations one cell is dependent on
another. The relationship between the cells is called formula, and the names
of the cells are called labels. Calculation is done automatically once formula
is specified and the result is displayed for the user to see. If a change is
made in an independent cell, the worksheet is recalculated automatically to
reflect the changes in all the dependent cells.
There are various types of spreadsheet applications available in the market,
among those excel is most famous. Graphic features like charts and graphs
are supported by the spreadsheet. Extension of Excel document is “.xls” or
“xlsx”
PowerPoint:
PowerPoint is part of office tool. PowerPoint provides a set of tools for
creating powerful presentations. It is a widely used utility to create
presentations relating to products, organization, research papers and so on.
This presentation can be created at ease and fast. This is an effective
software, which provides techniques for designing dynamic presentations.
Using this software a slide can be designed, text can be inserted, graphics
can be inserted and animation can be given to the slides and we can insert
other objects like video, audio and animated files within the slide. Extension
of PowerPoint document is “.ppt” or “pptx”. Figure 10.3 shows a PowerPoint
user interface.
Access
Access is a part of office tool. Access is an information management tool
that helps you to store information for reference, reporting, and analysis.
The software was fine while working with small databases but in larger files
there was the danger of data corruption. A database is a collection of
information that is organized in such a way that it can easily accessed,
retrieved and updated. With each release of Office tools, a newer version of
Access is included, each of which includes new or updated features.
Access helps you to analyze large amounts of information more efficiently
than Excel or other spreadsheet applications. It provides advanced and
powerful new tools for managing the database.
The look of the image can be improved by adding text or border to the
images, enhance color balance, adjust brightness and contrast, include
animations, and so on. Some of online image editor softwares are pixlr,
adobe Photoshop Express, FotoFlexer, sumo paint, picmonkey, pizap and
many more
10.5.3 Online Document Converter
Online Document convertor makes it possible for anyone to instantly convert
one of the file formats to other file format like word (.docx) to PDF. PDF
convertor is a free convertor and it is reliable in which it can convert Excel
(.xls), Word (.doc), and PowerPoint (.ppt) to PDF format. All PDF files can
be converted into word (.doc), excel (.xls), PowerPoint (.ppt) and many
more.
Self-Assessment Questions
10. Mention any two application softwares.
11. _________ is the extension of word document.
12. Access is used for presentations. (True/False)
13. Educational software is used in _________ and ____________.
14. ______________ converts one file format to another file format.
3. Derived Works
The license must allow changes and derived works, and must allow them to
be distributed under the same terms as the license of the original software.
4. License Must Be Technology-Neutral
No provision of the license may be predicated on any individual technology
or style of interface. This provision is aimed specifically at licenses which
require an explicit gesture of assent in order to establish a contract between
licensor and licensee.
5. Integrity of the Author’ Source Code
The license may restrict source-code from being distributed in modified form
only if the license allows the distribution of "patch files" with the source code
for the purpose of modifying the program at build time. The license must
explicitly permit distribution of software built from modified source code. The
license may require derived works to carry a different name or version
number from the original software.
6. No Discrimination against Persons or Groups
The license must not discriminate against any person or group of persons.
7. Distribution of License
The rights attached to the program must apply to all to whom the program is
redistributed without the need for execution of an additional license by those
parties.
8. License Must Not Be Specific to a Product
The rights attached to the program must not depend on the program's being
part of a particular software distribution. If the program is extracted from that
distribution and used or distributed within the terms of the program's license,
all parties to whom the program is redistributed should have the same rights
as those that are granted in conjunction with the original software
distribution.
9. License Must Not Restrict Other Software
The license must not place restrictions on other softwares which are
distributed along with the licensed software. For example, the license should
not restrict that all other programs which are distributed on the same
medium should be open-source software.
10.8 Virus
A computer virus is a program or piece of code that is loaded onto your
computer without your knowledge and runs against your wishes. All
computer viruses are man-made. A simple virus that can make a copy itself
over and over again is relatively easy to produce. Even such a simple virus
is dangerous because it will quickly use all available memory and bring the
system to a halt. Viruses are even capable of transmitting across networks
and bypassing security systems.
Viruses attempt to hide themselves and can often attach themselves to
other programs. They remain in resident memory locations and are reloaded
when another infected program runs. Some viruses automatically duplicate
themselves by sending an e-mail containing the virus to everyone in a
user's address book.
One of the most common types of attack on information systems is the
virus. Once the virus is resident of a computer system, internal computer
security tools are needed to detect and recover from the virus. Some
popular viruses are multipartite viruses, macro virus, Trojan Horse virus, file
viruses, boot sector virus and many more.
Some symptoms of virus attack are:
Computer runs slower than usual.
Computer no longer boots up.
Screen sometimes flickers.
PC speaker beeps periodically.
System crashes for no reason.
Files or directories sometime disappear.
Some computers display a message.
Erasing of files.
Scrabble data on a hard disk.
Halt the computer.
Many viruses do nothing except spread
Self-Assessment Questions
20. __________ attacks on information system.
21. Name any two viruses.
22. List any two symptoms of virus attack.
10.9 Antivirus
Antivirus is software which is designed to detect and destroy computer
viruses. Antivirus software scans a computer hard disk and main memory to
detect viruses and sometimes, to destroy them. Antivirus solutions are of
different types and multiple antivirus solutions are provided by enterprises.
Examples of anti-viruses are Symantec, Norton antivirus, Mcafee virus
scan, panda antivirus, platinum and so on. New viruses appear every day,
so it is advisable to look for an antivirus utility that offers frequent online
updates without additional cost.
A remedy for virus attacks is the installation of the latest, updated and
strong antivirus software. Antivirus software detects the presence of viruses
by scanning each file. Regular scanning of systems for detecting and
removing viruses helps to keep systems free from viruses. Antivirus
solutions are easy-to-use, have good interfaces and can be easily updated.
It must be able to scan different types of files and must be capable of
providing online and real-time protection as well. While surfing the web, it is
always advisable to keep enabled the auto protection facilities available with
antivirus software.
Installation of anti-spyware/malware programs can prevent spyware
programs from getting installed. Spyware is a type of program that is
installed with or without your permission on your personal computers to
collect information about user. Spyware removal programs help in removing
spyware software from systems. Regular scanning of systems is
recommended to remove spyware. Spyware can exist as dll files or as
Active X controls. Complete removal of spyware is tricky. Since spyware
acts like a program, these can be removed using add or remove program
option from the control panel menu in windows systems.
Self-Assessment Questions
23. ____________ detects and destroys computer virus.
24. Mention any two antiviruses softwares
10.10 Summary
Computer software is defined as a set of programs, procedures, and
related information that instruct a computer system what it has to do.
10.12 Answers
Self Assessment Questions
1. Operating System (OS)
2. System
3. False
4. True
5. Allocating memory and prioritizing system requests.
6. Unix and android
7. Microsoft
8. True
9. Chrome OS
10. Educational and Entertainment software
11. .doc
12. False
13. Teaching and learning.
14. document converter or online document converter
15. Proprietary
16. Adobe Photoshop, WinZip
17. Open source.
18. Source code and distribution of license
19. Apache Web server and GNOME
20. Virus
21. Trojan Horses & file viruses
22. Computer no longer boots up and erasing of files
23. Antivirus
24. Symantec, Norton antivirus
Terminal Questions
1. The computer software refers to the instructions, or programs, that tell
the hardware what to do. (Refer to section 10.2)
Computer software is categorized into System software and application
software. (Refer to section 10.2)
2. System software manages the fundamental operations of the computer,
such as loading programs and data into the memory, executing
programs, saving data to disks, displaying information on the monitor
and so on. (Refer to section 10.3)