GCSE J277 Unit 1.

5 | System software Craig’n’Dave

Specification & learning objectives

By the end of this topic you will have studied:
• The purpose and functionality of operating systems: User interface, Memory management and multitasking, Peripheral management and drivers, User management, File
management
• The purpose and functionality of utility software
• Utility system software: Encryption software, Defragmentation, Data compression

Resources
We recommend the OCR endorsed text book from PG Online for use during your GCSE studies.
Craig'n'Dave videos for SLR 1.5
GCSE J277 Unit 1.5 | System software Craig’n’Dave

The purpose and functionality of operating systems

The purpose of an operating system is to: provide a platform for users to run programs, accomplish tasks and maintain their computer system.

Operating system software falls under the following category of software: system software

The other type of software that also falls under this category is: utility software

Operating system

User
User Applications
Interface

Operating Utility
Memory
System Programs
Management

File Device
Hardware
Management Drivers
GCSE J277 Unit 1.5 | System software Craig’n’Dave

User interfaces

Features of a graphical user interface (GUI):

• Windows
• Icons
Features of a natural language interface:
• Menus
• Pointers
• Easy to use • Answer questions spoken in
• Visual
natural language
• Intuitive • Not always reliable
• Optimised for mouse
or touch gesture input

Features of a menu interface:

Features of a command line interface:

• Text-based
• Less resource-heavy than a GUI • Successive menus
• For advanced users presented to the user
• Efficient • Single option chosen
• More commands than a GUI at each stage
• Automate processes using
scripts
GCSE J277 Unit 1.5 | System software Craig’n’Dave

Memory management: multi-tasking

Multitasking is: running multiple applications at the same time,

giving each a small slice of processor time.

Programs are loaded from secondary storage – usually a

hard disk – into random-access memory (RAM).

The operating system holds these programs in a queue. The

program at the front runs its code on the processor.

After a short time, the program stops running and is moved

to the back of the queue.

The next program in the queue then starts running.

The cycle continues with newly-loaded programs joining the

PowerPoint
WebClock
Antivirus
browser
queue and closed programs leaving the queue.
GCSE J277 Unit 1.5 | System software Craig’n’Dave

Memory management – loading and managing programs

a. Program loaded b. Program loaded c. Program closed

X

RAM RAM RAM

d. Program loaded
When programs are loaded, the operating system decides: where the program will be held in memory.

As programs are loaded and closed over time, the memory becomes: fragmented.

RAM The operating system keeps track of these parts of programs, all held in different areas of memory.

If the memory becomes full, virtual memory will need to be used.

To make this easier, memory is divided into equal-sized parts called pages.
GCSE J277 Unit 1.5 | System software Craig’n’Dave

Peripheral management and drivers

How the operating system manages peripherals:

Each peripheral has a device driver that translates commands from the operating system into hardware-specific commands that only that device understands.
The device can also pass data back to the operating system using the device driver.

OS OS

DRIVER DRIVER

Document created Document created

using a word processor using a word processor

A laser printer attracts toner particles to An inkjet printer sprays

magnetised areas of the paper. different coloured inks onto the
Heat is used to fuse the toner to the page. page one row at a time.
GCSE J277 Unit 1.5 | System software Craig’n’Dave

User management

User management means:

Allowing different users to log in to a computer and

retaining individual settings for each user.

Different users may have different access rights to

certain files and peripherals.

3
GCSE J277 Unit 1.5 | System software Craig’n’Dave

File management

Computers store data in files. With many operating systems, each file has an extension that tells the operating system which program to load

the file into when it is opened. The operating system presents the folder structure to the user, allowing files to be moved, edited, renamed,

and deleted. Over time, as files are saved and deleted, the hard disk will become fragmented, which will slow the computer down.

A folder structure for files doesn’t really exist, but files are presented in such a way as part of a user-friendly interface. A typical folder structure is:

Root

English Maths Science

Essay.docx
GCSE J277 Unit 1.5 | System software Craig’n’Dave

Utility system software

Three utilities include: encryption data compression defragmentation

Utility 1: Utility 2:
I love computer science  h gjyw erthipoz fgbbnl 1111111111 000000000000 11111 00000  1010 1100 0101 0101

Encryption uses an algorithm to scramble plain text into cyphertext. The Compression software reduces the size of a file so it takes up less disk
text can only be decrypted and made readable again with a key. space and is quicker to download over the internet. Compressed files
must be extracted before they can be read.

Utility 3:


Defragmentation reorganises files on a hard disk to put fragments of files

back together and collect free space – this reduces the movement of the
read/write head across the surface of the disk, speeding up file access.
Solid-state drives do not need to be defragmented because they contain
no moving parts. Defragmenting an SSD actually reduces its lifespan.