1.5.1 Operating Systems

Question 1

What are the roles of the operating system? (5)

Answer 1

User Interface (1) File management (1) User management (1) Memory management (1) Peripheral management (1)

Question 2

What does the User Interface do? (2)

Answer 2

Displays output (1) to the user and allows them to interface with the hardware (1)

Question 3

What is file management? (2)

Answer 3

Allocating space in secondary storage for files (1) allowing users to open and rename / delete / create etc. files (1)

Question 4

What is user management? (3)

Answer 4

Creating user accounts and passwords (1) allocating space in memory for users’ data (1) setting rules for what users are allowed to do (1)

Question 5

What is memory management? (2)

Answer 5

Transfering data between different areas of memory (1) eg moving data from secondary storage to primary memory (1)

Question 6

What is peripheral management? (1)

Answer 6

Allowing the user and operating system to interface with additional hardware (1)

Question 7

What are device drivers? (1)

Answer 7

Software that allows an operating system to interface with peripheral devices (1)

Question 8

What is multitasking? (1)

Answer 8

An operating system appearing to do several tasks at once (1)

Question 9

What is multiprocessing? (1)

Answer 9

An operating system doing several tasks at once using a multi-core processor (1)

Question 10

How is memory management used in multitasking? (2)

Answer 10

The instructions for the current task are moved into primary memory when needed (1) then moved out so other tasks can be completed (1)

Question 11

List three features of a user interface (3)

Answer 11

A desktop where icons for programs can be arranged (1) windows to show file structures (1) menus to access applications (1)