Technical Implementation(Software) Flashcards

1
Q

Define Software

A

Software is the instructions and data that allows the computer to run and the user to accomplish tasks

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2
Q

What type of software is an operating system?

A

Systems Software

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3
Q

State the functions of an Operating System

A
<ul>
<li> Interpreting User Commands</li>
<li>Memory Management</li>
<li>File Management </li>
<li>Input/Output Management</li>
<li>Resource Allocation</li>
<li>Error Reporting</li>
</ul>
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4
Q

Describe the function of an operating system in

a) Memory Management
b) File Management

A

a) Memory management - keeps track of how much space is left, controls where data/programs are placed
b) File management - manages the backing storage devices, ensures no files are overwritten, organises hierarchical folder system

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5
Q

Define what is meant by ‘licence’

A

A licence is when you have permission to have a copy of the Operating System

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6
Q

Olivia is the president of a large company and is looking to buy software for all of the computers in the company. What type of licence should she get?

A

Site Licence

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7
Q

Is brainscape an example of freeware or shareware? Explain why

A

Brainscape is an example of <em>shareware<em> because although it is free of use, you do have to pay if you want extra functionality( Go pro/upgrade) such as randomisation of cards and seeing user statistics </em></em>

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8
Q

Explain the difference between proprietary software and open source software

A

Proprietary - distributed without source code, authors have full copyright, not able to be shared, modified or reverse engineered
Open Source - source code is available, able to modify and redistribute, often developed collaboratively

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9
Q

Describe two advantages and two disadvantages of open source compared to propreitary

A

Advantages: Don’t have to wait for next update to fix bug in code, free to distribute and change
Disadvantages: May not be straightforward to learn, May have to switch to open source platform to use software

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10
Q

Define ‘portability’ of a system

A

Portability of a system is <em>the ability of the software to run on a different system other than the one it was designed for with little or no change</em>

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11
Q

Describe some current trends in operating system

A

<ul>
<li>Movement away from command driven interfaces, which require the user to learn the commands to be entered to GUI(Graphical User Interface) to allow the OS to be more user friendly</li>
<li>As systems have movement from keyboard and mouse controlled to touchscreen, there has been a shift in OS as new operating systems must be designed to respond to user's touch instead of a click of the keyboard or mouse</li>
</ul>

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12
Q

What type of operating system does a desktop use?

A

Disk based operating system

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13
Q

What is a ‘thin client’?

A

A thin client is a low specification computer used on a network where most applications run on a server

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14
Q

Define commercial software

A

Commercial Software is software that is sold for a profit

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15
Q

What is the role of an operating system when data is being transferred to a peripheral?

A

Input/Output Management handles the transfer of data and is responsible for the communication between devices and the signals of these devices. I/O will check to see if devices are ready for transfer. If data is lost during transmission, error reporting will display an error message.

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