1.5 Systems Software Flashcards
Features of the operating system
1) Peripheral management and device drivers: managing input and output requests from programs for peripheral devices such as printers, speakers, keyboards etc
2) user interface: providing a user interface that allows users to interact with the software
3) user management: allows different users to have different accounts so multiple users can use the computer but have access to different software and files
4) file management: controls the permission to open/delete/move files. Also controls the organisation of file storage
5) memory management: allow multitasking by controlling the transfer of data between memory locations, the cpu and secondary storage. The operating system will mansge the memory and cpu use to ensure that tasks are processed efficiently
Utility system software
1) encryption software: encryption uses an algorithm to encode data so that it cannot be read. A key is used to encryption and decrypt the data. The data cannot be understood without a key
2) defragmentation: hard disk becomes fragmented with segments of the same file being saved in available gaps. Defragmentation reorganised the data held on the disk by grouping data from same file together and grouping gaps of available space together. Makes faster read and write times
3) data compression: reduces the size of large files so that they will take up less storage space or can be transmitted/ uploaded/ downloaded faster
