FACULTY OF EDUCATION

DEPARTMENT OF TEACHER DEVELOPMENT

ASSIGNMENT COVER
REGION: HARARE
_____________________________________________________________________

PROGRAMME: PGDE

INTAKE: 31

FULL NAME OF STUDENT: ISAAC T CHISUNGA

PIN: p2426605c_

MAILING ADDRESS: [email protected]

CONTACT TELEPHONE/CELL:0774663658 ID. NO.: 1555200S47

COURSE NAME: Computer Applications In Education COURSE CODE: PGDE 106

ASSIGNMENT NO. e.g. 1 or 2: _________________1__________ DUE DATE: 30

September 2024

ASSIGNMENT TITLE: ASSIGNMENT 1: With the aid of examples, describe the

following forms of computer software:
a) system software (20 marks)
b) operating software (20 marks)
c) application software (20 marks)
d) utility software (20 marks)
e) communication software (20 marks)

MARKER’S COMMENTS:
______________________________________________________

_________________________________________________________________________
OVERALL MARK: _____________ MARKER’S NAME:
________________________
MARKER’S SIGNATURE:_______________________________ DATE: ___________

Issue Date: 3 October 2013 Revision 0

Introduction

According to O’Leary and O’Leary (2002), software or programs are instructions that tell the
computer how to process data into the form you want. Thus we can say that software refers to
one or more programs and data held in the storage of the computer for some purpose. In
essence, software is intangible and it provides instructions to the computer hardware. At the
lowest level, software is in the form of an assembly language, a set of instructions in a
machine-understandable form. At the highest level, software is in the form of high-level
languages, which are compiled or interpreted into machine language code.

System Software

System software is a program that manages and supports the computer resources and
operations of a computer system while it executes various tasks such as processing data and
information, controlling hardware components, and allowing users to use application
software. Thus, systems software provides the basic functions for computer usage and helps
run the computer hardware and system. Haag et al. (2002) suggest that within system
software, you will find two categories of software: operating system and utility software.
Systems software functions as a bridge between computer system hardware and the
application software. System software is made up of many control programs, including the
operating system and database manager. Examples of system software includes device
Drivers, operating systems, servers, utilities, Windows systems. Following are some
examples of system software Operating Systems (OS) like Windows, macOS, Linux1, Device
Drivers; Software that allows the OS to communicate with hardware devices like printers and
graphics cards, Firmware; Low-level software embedded in hardware devices, such as the
BIOS in computers, Utility Programs; Tools for system maintenance and optimization, like
disk defragmenters and antivirus software.

Operating system software

Operating software, often referred to as the operating system (OS), is a type of system
software that manages computer hardware and software resources and provides common
services for computer programs. It is a collection of integrated computer programs that
provide recurring services to other programs or to the user of a computer. These services
consist of disk and file management, memory management, and device management. In other
words, it manages CPU operations, input/output activities, storage resources, diverse support
services, and controls various devices. An operating system is the most important program for
computer system. Without an operating system, every computer program would have to
contain instructions telling the hardware each step the hardware should take to do it’s job,
such as storing a file on a disk. Examples include Microsoft Windows, macOS;The operating
system for Apple’s Mac computers, Linux; an open-source operating system used on servers,
desktops, and embedded systems, Android; a mobile operating system developed by Google.

Application Software

Application software refers to softwares designed to help users perform specific tasks. Unlike
system software, it is used directly by the end-user to accomplish various activities.
According to Haag et al. (2002), application software is the software that allows you to
perform specific tasks such as writing a term paper, surfing the Web, keeping a home budget,
and creating slides for a presentation. Application software is considered as the layer of
software closest to the user because it deals with specific information-related tasks one wants
to perform. O’Leary and O’Leary (2002) argue that application software might be described
as ‘enduser’ software. Thus, application software performs useful work on general purpose
tasks such as word processing and data analysis. Application software falls into two general
categories; horizontal applications and vertical applications. Horizontal applications are the
most popular and widespread in departments or companies. Vertical applications are niche
products, designed for a particular type of business or division in a company. Some example
of application software include Microsoft Word; a word processing application for creating
and editing documents, Adobe Photoshop; a graphic design software for editing images and
creating digital art, Google Chrome; a web browser for accessing the internet, VLC Media
Player; multimedia player for playing audio and video files.

Utility Software

Utility software is a type of system software designed to help analyze, configure, optimize, or
maintain a computer. It focuses on the computer’s infrastructure. It is also referred to as
service program, tool, service routine, or utility routine. Software Utilities are specifically
designed to help the end-user manage and tune the computer hardware/software, operating
system or application software and perform as single precise task as opposed to application
software which performs multi-tasking. These programs offer the various maintenance and
performance evaluation utility tools to configure and optimize the various processes that
influence the performance of your computer. Disk cleaners, anti-virus software, data
compression programs, disk drive partition utilities, storage, editors, backup and archiving
programs are some of the common examples of utility software. Examples include Antivirus
Software; Programs that protect against malware like mcAfee, File Compression Tools;
Software like WinZip and 7-Zip that compress and decompress files, Disk Cleanup Tools;
utilities that free up disk space by deleting unnecessary files, such as Windows Disk Cleanup.

Communication Software

Communication software refers to software that enables the exchange of information between
users or systems. It includes tools for messaging, video conferencing, and collaboration. This
software helps one communicate with other people through the use of a computer. One can
communicate with other teachers in the school and those outside. Communications software
mainly includes e-mail software, connectivity software and Web browser software. It is
therefore another means of sending information at a less expensive cost for example through
the use of e-mails. Several popular example include Skype; A tool for video calling and
instant messaging, Zoom, a popular video conferencing software, Microsoft Teams; a
collaboration tool that integrates with Office 365.