System software is not a single program but is a collection of programs that handles hundreds of technical details End-users focus on application programs more than the system software, but it is important to understand how system software works
Resources Coordinate input and outputs such as keyboard, microphones, printers, mouse, storage devices, and memory User interface (Key Term) Primarily graphical user interface (GUI) Use of icons (Key Term) Applications Word processing Spreadsheets Databases Supporting multitasking (Key Term) Windows most popular operating systems Windows 95, Windows 98, Windows 2000, Windows ME, Windows XP (Key Term), Windows Vista (Key Term) MAC OS – designed to run Apple computers Unix – used by powerful microcomputers, servers on the Web, and minicomputers in network environment Linux – nonproprietary operating systems that run cross platform (Key Term) New photo.
Booting is the process of starting a computer Warm boot (Key Term) – computer is already on and you restart it without turning off the power Cold boot (Key Term) – starting a computer that has been turned off Files (Key Term) – used to store data and programs Folders (Key Term) – stores and organizes related files. May also house other folders
Operating system is sometimes called the software environment (Key Term) or platform Most are proprietary operating systems– owned and licensed by a corporation Non-proprietary – source code is available to the public Called open source Linux is an open source program In certain situations, the desktop operating system (Key Term) may also be referred to as a client operating system (Key Term) Network server (Key Term) – coordinates all communication between the other computers
Note that LINUX is easier to learn; easily transfer to UNIX UNIX originally designed as cross-platform to help “integrate” the Web
Windows has over 90 percent of the market More application programs are designed to run under Windows than any other operating system
First introduced in 1984 Provided one of the first GUIs Powerful and easy-to-use operating system Mac OS X, version 10.4 – also known as Tiger (Key Term), provides photo-quality icons and easy-to-use menus Spotlight (Key Term) – advanced search tool Dashboard widgets (Key Term) – collection of specialized programs that update and display information One version of Mac OS (called Leopard) will include Boot Camp (Key Term) which allows Apple computers to run both Mac OS and Windows operating systems
UNIX Used by powerful microcomputers and by servers on the Web There are a large number of different versions of UNIX LINUX One of the most popular and powerful alternatives to the Windows operating system
Utilities – specialized programs designed to make computing easier Hard disk crashes Antivirus programs Computer freeze-ups Decrease operation slow-downs
These utilities can be accessed from the System Tools menu
If you backup (Key Term) your files, you have a copy of your data in case of a disk failure
When you search the Web, a variety of programs and files are saved to your hard drive Use disk cleanup (Key Term) to get rid of these unnecessary files Files are stored and organized on a disk according to tracks and sectors Tracks (Key Term) – concentric ring Sectors (Key Term) – wedge-shaped sections of a track OS tries to save a file on a single track across contiguous sectors. Often the file has to broken into small parts and stored wherever space is available and the disk over time becomes fragmented
Disk Defragmenter (Key Term) should be run on your computer often Some end-users run this utility program daily, while some run it once a week Fragmented (Key Term) files - result of a file having to be broken apart into smaller parts so it can be stored wherever space is available
Norton SystemWorks AntiVirus CleanSweep Web Cleanup GoBack Personal Edition Norton Utilities One button checkup (Key Term) - integrates several of the separate troubleshooting utilities McAfee Similar programs
Device drivers - programs that work with the operating system to allow communication between device(s) and the rest of the physical system Device drivers are also referred to simply as “drivers” (Key Term) Step-by-step guidance is offered by Windows in the form of wizards that assist with installing drivers e.g. “Add Printer Wizard” (Key Term) Drivers can also be easily updated in Windows by utilizing the Windows Update (Key Term) functionality
Computers may be able to fix themselves in the future Autonomic computing is a system that allows machines to run with little human intervention
Have students turn to the end of Chapter 5 in their textbooks to view the same “Open-Ended” questions/statements
Have students turn to the end of Chapter 5 in their textbooks to view the same “Open-Ended” questions/statements