NICS 002 A Flashcards
What are the types of software?
Utility Software
Code Development Software
Application Software
Operating Systems
What is utility software?
This is software that helps manage your computer.
What is code development software?
You will use this type of software a lot during your time at Access.
What is application software?
This is essentially everything else that you run on a computer that hasn’t been included in the previous two types.
What is an operating system?
An operating system is the lowest level of software and links the user to the hardware. These usually come with some kind of easy to use Graphical User Interface (GUI) though this is not a given.
What are the five types of OS?
Multi-Tasking OS
Batch OS
Real-Time OS
Network OS
Mobile OS
What is a batch operating system?
A Batch Operating System works by collecting a large amount of similar jobs together and then sending them all off to be completed as one singular batch. This is commonly used in scenarios where you need to dedicate an entire computer’s processing speed to an activity Think things like High-Performance computing which is what a lot of AI research requires.
What is a multi-tasking operating system (MTOS)?
These are the Operating Systems that you are already very familiar with. Windows and MacOS are common examples of Multi-Tasking Operating Systems as they enable the RAM to store more than one application at a time. You are commonly able to change the priority of certain services within a MTOS which means that the CPU will spend more of its time on those tasks.
What is a real time operating system (RTOS)?
A RTOS is a deterministic and predictable Operating System commonly used in embedded systems that have a strict time requirement. Think things that have a real-life impact and that could, if performed poorly, could cause injury or death to people. Air Defence Systems and Self-Driving Cars.
What is a network operating system?
A NOS is an operating system designed to run a network of other computers. These are extremely common in industry and if any of you want to get into IT Support work in the future, you will become familiar with these. NOS’s are extremely good at file sharing, user management and handling the dreaded print services.
What is a mobile operating system?
A Mobile Operating System is an Operating System that runs on a mobile device. The only real difference between this and a Multi-Tasking/Time Sharing OS is that a lot of the time, there will be barriers to what applications can run or be installed on them without jailbreaking or rooting them.
