Glossary Terms - OSS Flashcards
GUI
A type of interface used in an Operating System that makes use of icons, buttons and additional hardware such as a mouse.
Driver
A special piece of software that acts as a bridge between the operating system and device to allow the device to function properly.
Device drivers manage the connection with the computer and peripheral devices. They handle the translation of requests between the computer and the device.
Command Prompt
The user interface of an operating system where a user types commands rather than using a mouse or touchscreen.
Dumb Terminal
A terminal consisting of simply a keyboard and a screen. All processing is done on a central computer.
Benchmark
A set of standards used for a point of reference in evaluating the performance or quality of a system or documentation.
Software License
An agreement between end users and the software developers that allow users to install and use the product.
Vendor
Someone who distributes an OS or piece of software.
Rollout
A staged series of activities that gain meaning as they happen. This is used to describe products which are staged over time.
The process of installing an operating system across an entire working environment. Variety of tasks that need to be completed.
Checkpoint
Checkpoints are similar to benchmarks as they too evaluate a system, however a checkpoint does so at a certain point in time to then be compared to later with other benchmarks.
It is able to check the efficiency of a project over time.
Disk Cloning
Software that allows a user to take an ‘image’ of a disk at a particular point in time. The image can be used to copy to other computers or to reinstall the image on the same computer.
The complete copying of one disk to another disk.
EULA (End User License Agreement)
The license agreement between the owner of the software and the user. Generally states how the software is to be used as well as how and if it can be distributed.
FAT/FAT32 (File Allocation Table)
A type of file management system that’s available on Linux, Apple and Windows. It records which clusters are(n’t) being used and where files are located in the clusters.
NTFS (New Technology File System)
Introduced by Microsoft, NTFS is a file management system available only on Windows. It includes a number of features such as improved reliability, automatic clearing of hard disk errors…
HFS+
A file system developed by Apple that organises data and program files in a hierarchical manner, meaning from top to bottom in order.
Virtual Memory
Memory that appears to exist as primary storage although most of it is supported by data that is held in secondary storage. It transfers between the two automatically as required.
Paging
The movement of data from secondary storage to primary storage.
Applet
A program started within another app.
System Logs
A record of changes undertaken by the Operating System and User, maintained automatically by the Operating System.
Service Pack
A piece of software or code that will resolve issues, improve performance, add features to software.
Performance
The monitoring of how a piece of software manages to run with the hardware installed.
Usability
The degree of ease that a piece of software is able to complete a certain task. This assesses the level of difficulty involved in using the software/OS/UI.
User Interface
Refers to the different ways in which a user can interact with the operating system. The 3 most common are CLI, GUI and NLI.
Application Software
Software that allows for an application to run and is able to communicate with the operating system and the UI.
Control Element
Are a main feature of a GUI, and refer to the element of interaction such as buttons, drop-down menus, sliders, tab controls and spin boxes that the user interacts with.
