Gr 10 2.3 BASIC CONCEPTS OF SYSTEM SOFTWARE Flashcards
Device Drivers
Programs that allow operating systems to communicate with
and control hardware devices.
Disk Management
A function of an operating system whereby it manages
storage – both how the data is organised on the storage
device and how or when a program can access the storage
device.
Embedded operating systems
Embedded operating systems differ from those installed and
used on a general-purpose computer such as a PC in that
they are stored on internal memory chips. They are not
loaded from disk as is the case of a computer with a hard
drive.
GUI
A graphical user interface makes use of visual controls to
allow the user to interact with the computer and with
programs on the computer.
Input/Output Management
A function of an operating system whereby it manages input
and output of the computer and how programs use the
input and output devices – i.e. which programs receive input
from input devices and which programs can use an output
devices.
Memory Management
A function of an operating system whereby it manages the
memory (RAM) to control how programs use it – i.e. make
sure that programs don’t try to use the same area of
memory at the same time and so corrupt each other’s
data/instructions.
Network Operating System
An operating system which has extra features that give it
additional ability to control and manage shared resources
(e.g. files, printers) and users on a network.
Process and task management
A function of an operating system whereby it manages the
CPU and how it runs programs – i.e. which programs and
tasks can use the CPU and for how long.
System Software
System software is software that is intended to control,
support or operate the computer.
Utilities
Programs that are part of system software and do
maintenance and administrative tasks.
