Chapter 5 
Types of Utility Programs and Operating Systems

System Software

• System software consists or the programs that control or maintain the operations of the computer and its device
• Operating systems and Utility Programs

Operating system 

• An operating system (OS) is a set of programs containing instructions that work together to coordinate all the activities among computer hardware resources

-start and shut sown a computer 
-provider a user interface 
-manage progams
-manage memory
-coordinate task
-establish an internet connection
-monitor performance
-provide utilities
-automatically update
-control a network 
-administer security

Operating system functions

• the process of starting or restarting a computer is called booting 

cold boot-is turning on a computer that has been powered off                            completely
Warm boot-is using the operating system to restart a computer

• it includes various shut down options

-sleep mode saves any open documents and programs to RAM, turn off all unneeded functions, and then places the computer in a low-power state
-hibernate saves any open documents and programs to a hard disk before removing power from the computer

• a user interface is to controls how to enter data and instructions and how information is displayed on the screen
• with a graphical user interface(GUI), you interact with menus and visual images
• with a command-line interface is a user uses the keyboard and to enter data and instructions to CPU

• How an operating system handles programs directly affects your productivity such as single user and multiuser ,single tasking and multitasking , Foreground and background,preemptive multitasking and multiprocessing
• Memory management optimizes the use of RAM 
• Virtual memory is a portion of a storage medium functioning as additional RAM
• A performance monitor is a program that assesses and reports information about various computer resources and devices
• 
• operating systems often provide users with the capability of 

-managing files 
-searching for files 
-viewing images 
-securing a computer
- uninstalling programs 
-cleaning up disks
-defragmenting disks
-diagnosing problems
-backing up files and disks 
-setting up screen savers

• Automatic update automatically provides updates to the program
• some of the operating systems are designed to work with a server on a network
• a network administrator uses the server operating system to add and remove users,computers and other devices or install software and administer network security
• a server operating system organizes and coordinates how multiple users access and share resources on a network
• a user name or user ID identifies a specific user
• a password is a private combination of characters associated with the user name

Stand-Alone Operating Systems 

• a stand-alone operating system is a complete operating system that work on a desktop computer or other computing device 
• for example window 7 , mac os x ,UNIX and Linux

Embedded Operating Systems

• An embedded operating system resides on a ROM chip on a mobile device or consumer electronic device
• for example window Embeddes CE, Windows phone 7,Palm OS,iPhone OS,BlackBerry,Google Android,Embedded Linux and Symbian OS

Utility Programs

• A utility program is a type of system software that allows a user to perform maintenance-type tasks
• A file manager is a utility that perform functions related to file ,it will displaying a list of files ,organizing files in folders,copying,renaming,deleting,moving,and sorting files and folders and creating shortcuts
• A search utility is a program that attempts to locate a file o your computer based on criteria our specify
• for an image viewer is to allow user to display,copy and print the contents of a graphics file
• uninstaller is to removes a program that associated entries in the system files
• A disk cleanup utility searches for and removes unnecessary files
• A disk defragmenter reorganizes the files and unused space on a computer'shard disk so that the operating system accesses data more quickly and programs run faster
• A backup untility is to copy files to another storage medium
• restore utility is to reverses the process and returns backed up files to their original form
• screem saver cause the display device's screen to show a moving image or blank screen if no activity occurs for a specified time 
• personal firewall is to detects and protects a computer form unauthorized intrusions
• media player is to view images and animation ,listen to audio, and watch video files on computer
• disc burning software is to copy the data recordable or rewritable optical disc
• personal computer maintenance utility identifies and fixes operating system problem, detects and repairs disk problem, and includes the capability ofimproving a computer performance