System Software
System software is computer software designed to operate the computer hardware and to provide a platform for running application software. The most basic types of system software are:
Device drivers such as computer BIOS and device firmware; these provides basic functionality to operate and control the hardware connected to or built into the computer.
The operating system (prominent examples being z/OS, Microsoft Windows, Mac OS X and Linux), which allows the parts of a computer to work together by performing tasks like transferring data between memory and disks or rendering output onto a display device. It also provides a platform to run high-level system software and application software.
Servers, in this context, are computer programs running to serve the requests of other programs, the "clients". The server performs some computational task on behalf of clients which may run on either the same computer or on other computers connected through a network.
Utility software, which helps to analyze, configure, optimize and maintain the computer.
Window systems are components of a graphical user interface (GUI), and more specifically of a desktop environment, which supports the implementation of window managers, and provides basic support for graphics hardware, pointing devices such as mice, and keyboards. The mouse cursor is also generally drawn by the windowing system.
In some publications, the term system software is also used to designate software development tools (like a compiler, linker or debugger).
In contrast to system software, software that allows users to do things like create text documents, play games, listen to music, or surf the web is called application software.
Common operating systems include Windows, the Macintosh OS, OS/2, and UNIX .
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System software can be further classified as:
1.Operating Systems
2.Utilities and Service Programs
What is an Operating System
An operating system (OS) is a set of programs that manage computer hardware resources and provide common services for application software. The operating system is a vital component of the system software in a computer system. Application programs require an operating system which are usually separate programs, but can be combined in simple systems.
Time-sharing operating systems schedule tasks for efficient use of the system and may also include accounting for cost allocation of processor time, mass storage, printing, and other resources.
For hardware functions such as input and output and memory allocation, the operating system acts as an intermediary between application programs and the computer hardware, although the application code is usually executed directly by the hardware and will frequently call the OS or be interrupted by it. Operating systems are found on almost any device that contains a computer—from cellular phones and video game consoles to supercomputers and web servers.
Examples of popular modern operating systems include Android, BSD, iOS, Linux, Mac OS X, Microsoft Windows, and Z/OS. All these, except Windows and Z/OS, share roots in Unix.
Operating systems
MS DOS
MS windows
Windows 3.0
Windows 3.1
Windows 3.11
Windows 3.15
Windows 95,97,
Windows 98,2000,ME,XP,NT
LINUX
UNIX
SOLARIS
MAC OS
OS2
os400
Different operating systems are designed for different hardware platforms or for different
functions. Operating systems may provide different types of user interfaces such as Command Line
Interface and Graphical User Interface (GUI).
Command Line Interface(CLI)
Difficult to use
Not user friendly
Should have expert knowledge
Not user friendly
Should have expert knowledge
Graphical user Interface (GUI)
Easy to handle
User friendly
Expert knowledge not necessary