1.

4 Operating systems
Unit 1: Types and components of computer systems

1.4 Operating systems

ICT Year 9, Mr Ong & Ms Farah
 Learning objectives:

▶ Understand the function of an operating system

▶ Describe the difference between CLIs and GUIs

1.4 Operating systems

ICT Year 9, Mr Ong & Ms Farah
 Operating systems
▶ Operating systems are programs or software that control the hardware
directly by giving step-by-step instructions to tell the computer hardware
what to do.
▶ An operating system performs the following tasks:
❑ Handles inputs and outputs such as keyboards, mice, printer,
scanner
❑ Recognises hardware that have been attached to the computer
❑ Supervisesthe loading, running & storing applications software
❑ Handles the storage of data to keep track all files/ folders on the disk
❑ Maximizes the use of computer memory
❑ Handles interrupts and decides what action to take if something goes
wrong
1.4 Operating systems
ICT Year 9, Mr Ong & Ms Farah
 User interfaces
▶ An operating system needs a way of interacting with a computer
user.
▶ The way the operating system communicate with the user is
called the interface.
▶ A user interface allows a user to interact effectively with the
computer system.
▶ Some common user interfaces are:

❑ GUI (Graphical User Interface)

❑ CLI (Command Line Interface)
❑ Dialogue-based interface
❑ Gesture-based interface
1.4 Operating systems
ICT Year 9, Mr Ong & Ms Farah
 GUI (Graphical User Interface)
▶ GUI are easy to use and very popular.
▶ Instead of typing in commands, you enter them by
pointing at and clicking objects on the screen.
▶ Features of GUI are:
❑ Windows, icons, menus, pointers (i.e. WIMP)
▶ Examples of operating systems which make use of a GUI are:
❑ Windows
❑ Mac OS
❑ Ubuntu

1.4 Operating systems

ICT Year 9, Mr Ong & Ms Farah
 GUI (Graphical User Interface)
Advantages
 More user friendly for new users
to do simple tasks. Disadvantages
 Takes up more hard disk space
 No commands to remember. when being stored.
 Much easier to find programs that  Requires more memory when
are running. being used.
 Enable data to be passed easily  More experienced user prefer to
from one software package to type in commands rather than
another using drag and drop or cut using a mouse.
and paste.
 A powerful processor is needed to
1.4 Operating systems run the latest version of GUI.
ICT Year 9, Mr Ong & Ms Farah
 CLI (Command Line Interface)
▶ Users have to learn and remember commands that have to be
typed in such as opening or saving a file in a computer system.
▶A series of commands that are typed in must be precisely
worded.
▶ CLI can be difficult to remember to do so, so it is harder to
use.
▶ Example of an operating system making use of a CLI is
MS-DOS (Microsoft Disk Operating System).

1.4 Operating systems

ICT Year 9, Mr Ong & Ms Farah
 CLI (Command Line Interface)
Advantages
▶ Faster for experienced user Disadvantages
to type commands.  Need to learn and remember lots
of commands.
▶ Not much hard disk space is  Typing in commands can be
required when being  slow for users.
stored.  Commands must be issued in a
▶ Not much memory is specific order otherwise the
commands will be rejected.
needed when being run.
 Commands have been given to the
▶ No need a powerful processor computer can be difficult to edit
to run a CLI. or change.
1.4 Operating systems
ICT Year 9, Mr Ong & Ms Farah
 Dialogue-based interface

▶ A dialogue-based interface is where you use speech

to communicate with an ICT system.
▶ A command is simply issued such as:
❑ Heating up
❑ Turn volume down
❑ Dial a friend
❑ Look up a phrase using the internet
1.4 Operating systems
ICT Year 9, Mr Ong & Ms Farah
 Gesture-based interface
▶ Gestures are movements of the hands, arms or head to
express an idea of feeling.
▶ A gesture-based interface uses mathematical algorithms to
interpret gestures made by the user to control or interact
gestures made by the user to control or interact with a
computer without physically touching it.
▶ The simplest gesture-based interface uses gestures to control
your TV so that you no longer need a remote control.

1.4 Operating systems

ICT Year 9, Mr Ong & Ms Farah
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 Gesture-based interface
▶ How does it work?
❑ A camera feeds image data into a sensing device
connected to a computer.
❑ Software identifies meaningful gestures and matches
them to a stored gesture library.
❑ Each gesture is matched to a command.
❑ The computer then executes the command
corresponding to the gesture.

1.4 Operating systems

ICT Year 9, Mr Ong & Ms Farah
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 Gesture-based interface
Advantages
▶ It is a more natural way Disadvantages
of communicating.  Users needs to learn and
▶ No need additional device remember gestures.
such as a mouse.  Users must accurately give
▶ It may help in avoiding gestures.
health problems such as
RSI (repetitive strain
injury).
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ICT Year 9, Mr Ong & Ms Farah
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