About hardware and software
Hardware is the physical parts of a computer system. It is tangible, meaning you can touch it. Examples of hardware include monitor, mouse, CPU, RAM, and HDD.
Software is the programs we use to complete tasks with our computer hardware and keep it running. Software is intangible. Software can be further split up into system software and application software. System
software is software that is used to help run and maintain your computer. This includes the operating system, utility programs, subroutine libraries and translators. Application software is the software we use to
accomplish tasks with a computer. This includes web browsers, word processors, imaging software, games and more.
The operating system
The operating system is the program that calls our boot up instructions and effectively runs our computer for us. There are a number of roles of the operating system you need to be aware of.
| Function of operating system |
Description |
| Processor management |
When you have multiple tasks running at the same time on your computer, e.g. music playing and a web browser open, they need to share the use of the processor. There are a number of methods that the operating
system can use to determine which task should be processed next. Some of these include round robin, priority queues and shortest job first. |
| Memory management |
Memory management means tracking the free space in RAM and assigning a space in RAM to programs that are running and removing these programs from RAM when they are closed to free up the space for other programs. |
| Input/Output management |
This is where the operating system handles messages it receives from input devices like the mouse and keyboard and how it sends messages to output devices like the monitor and speakers. Input/Output devices
have their own device drivers. These are small programs that allow the devices to interact with the CPU. This can be particularly useful with something like a printer where a buffer can be created to print from
allowing the processor to move on to another task. |
| Applications management |
The operating system will install new applications and the files they require. Installed applications then communicate with the operating system through an Application Programming Interface or API for short. This allows
them to do things like load and save files or update the program. |
| Security management |
The operating system also allows for a system of usernames and passwords to be used so that different users can be given different rights to different parts of the system. It also allows for files to be encrypted and
protected with passwords. Most operating systems check regularly for updates to patch any security issues. |