SYSTEMS SOFTWARE

Operating Systems: and the processor and this process needs to File Management allows files to be named,
be managed by the operating system. renamed, opened, copied, moved, saved,
An Operating System (OS) is software that
searched for, sorted and deleted. It allows
helps to manage the resources of a computer A device driver is a program that provides an
users to set access rights for specific to view
system and provide the interface between the interface for the OS to interact and
file properties.
user and the computer´s hardware. communicate with an external device. Drivers
are hardware dependent and OS-specific. The User Interface:
There are five main functions of an operating
driver translates the OS’ instructions into a
system: The final function of an operating system is to
format the specific hardware can understand.
provide a user interface, allowing a human to
Memory Management & Multitasking:
Because the CPU and the peripheral will interact with the computer system. The way in
All programs must be temporarily stored in process at different speeds, a buffer is typically which a user can navigate a computer system
RAM for the CPU to be able to process them. used to temporarily store data until it can be is known as human-computer interaction
processed. (HCI).
The OS transfers programs in and out of
memory from the hard drive (or virtual User Management: Graphical User Interface (GUI):
memory) when processing is required –
The OS allows users to create, manage and The most common type of user interface is a
programs are removed from RAM when
delete individual accounts. User accounts can GUI which can be presented in many ways to
closed to free up space for other tasks.
be granted different access rights such as an make it user friendly such as icons, menus etc.
The operating system can only perform one administrator or guest.
Different types of Interfaces:
process at a time, but through memory
The OS will manage security settings such as
management it can appear that more than  Command-Line Interface: entirely text-
allowing passwords to be reset and can also be
one process is being executed – this is called based, users are required to type
used to monitor login activity.
multitasking. commands to interact with the system,
File Management: used by experts.
Peripherals Management & Drivers:
 Touch-Sensitive Interface: used with
The Operating System creates and maintains a
A peripheral is an external device connected smartphones and tablets, very intuitive,
logical management system to organize files
to a computer system to input or output data. requires no training.
and directories (folders).
Data is transferred between external devices
 SYSTEMS SOFTWARE

 Menu-Driven Interface: Displays data in a created which may be bigger than the spaces next piece of data because it is in the adjacent
series of linked menus, such as cash left by the deleted files. The new files are then memory location, saving time.
machines, generally user friendly. split up.
It is also quicker to save new files because
 Voice-Driven Interface: controlled by
Fragmentation increases access time – files there is more space together so it does not
speaking commands aloud, intuitive
that are fragmented take longer to load and need to split the file and can store the data
hands-free, commands may be misheard.
read because of the distance between the contiguously.
Utility Software: fragments of the file.

Utility Software are dedicated programs used How does defragmentation work?
for the maintenance and organization of a
Empty spaces are collected together on the
computer system.
hard disk drive and file fragments are moved
Anti-malware, firewalls and encryption to be stored together.
software are examples of utilities, data
This means that fewer disc accesses are
compression is another utility.
needed (requiring less physical movement) as
Other utility software includes backup file fragments can be read consecutively.
software, disk checkers, disk formatters and
auto-updaters.

What is fragmentation?

Overtime files stored on a hard disk drive may

become fragmented – this is when the file is
split into parts that are saved in different
What are the effects of defragmentation?
storage locations.
A defragmented file takes less time to read
Defragmentation occurs when there is limited
and access because the data is stored
contiguous space in which to store a file. This
contiguously. The read/write head of the hard
may happen as data is stored and then later
drive does not need to move as far to read the
deleted on the hard drive. New files are