1.7 Systems Software

1.7 Systems Software

1. Key Words

   • System Software
   • Operating System (OS)
   • Virtual Machine
   • Utility Programs
   • Device Drivers
   • Multitasking
   • Time Slice
   • Processor Management
   • User Interface
   • Graphical User Interface
   • Command Line Interface
   • Peripheral Management
   • File Management

2. Systems software is a type of software that controls the computers hardware

   • It provides an interface between the user of the computer and the hardware.
   • An Operating System is a type of Systems Software
   • Provide an interface between the user and the hardware They are said to provide a Virtual Machine Hides the complexities of the hardware from the user The user doesn’t need to understand where about on the disk a file is being saved to, just that they have clicked save and the Operating System deals with the rest.

3. The activity that has just been completed is similar to how the processor has to divide its time between processes. It may allocate a small “time slice” to each separate process so that it appears that many processes are taking place at the same time (multitasking)