Chapter Two

Computer Systems
Chapter Objectives:

At the end of this chapter, students will be able to:

 Define computer systems and its components

 Identify and give examples of categories of computer hardware
 Identify types of software and differentiate between software and hardware

1. Computer System

Section Objectives
After successful completion of this section students shall be able to:
o describe components of computer systems
o identify computer hardware based on their function
o identify computer software and their category

A computer system is the combination of hardware and software. A typical computer system
utilizes a computer that uses programmable devices to store, retrieve, and process data. The
personal computer or PC is an example of a computer system. An Automatic Teller Machine
(ATM1) is another example of a computer system. Even the simplest computer classifies as a
computer system, because at least two components (hardware and software) have to work
together. But the real meaning of "computer system" comes with interconnection. Many
computer systems can interconnect, that is, join to become a bigger system.

Computer – is an electronic device that accepts, stores and processes data to

provide useful information as an output.

Generally, a computer system is composed of two main components:

 Computer hardware and
 Computer software

1.1 Computer Hardware

Computer hardware is the physical part of the computer system that can be seen and felt. The
hardware part of a computer system is composed of a number of interacted physical parts. E.g.
keyboard, mouse, CPU

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Automatic Teller Machines (ATM) are machines that allow bank account holders to make financial
transactions automatically without going to banks by making use of a card that contains details of the
account.

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1.1.1 Types of Computer Hardware
The hardware part of a computer system is composed of a number of interacting physical parts
based on the need of the information flow. Information flows in the computer hardware. There
are several criteria by which computer hardware can be categorized. Based on information
processing, we can divide computer hardware into four:

1) Input Devices
2) Storage Devices
3) Output Devices
4) Central Processing Unit (CPU)

1.1.1.1 Input Devices

Input devices are used to enter information into computer. They convert the data we give them
into the form that can be manipulated in the computer (electronic format).

Keyboard
Keyboard is an input device consisting of a set of typewriter-like keys that enable one to enter
data into a computer. The keys on the keyboard are often classified as follows
 Alphanumeric keys - Letters and numbers
 Punctuation keys - comma, period, semicolon, etc.
 Special keys- function keys, control keys, arrow keys, caps lock, etc.

In detail the following are descriptions of the keys of keyboard.

Escape key - Generally used to abort system actions.

Function keys – their function varies from program to program. For example F1 is used to get
help most of the times
Enter key - used to enter commands or to return to the beginning of new lines in a document.
Backspace key - used to move the cursor backwards, deleting a character backward.
Delete keys - used to delete characters to the right.
Tab key - used to move the insertion point forward.
Caps lock key – used to write small or capital letters.
Shift key - used to produce upper case or lower case letters and to insert the upper character if
the key has two characters.

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Control (Ctrl) key & Alt key - commonly used in combination with other keys to enter
commands example ctrl + P in Microsoft Word opens the print dialog box.
Insert key - used to toggle between insert and overwrite modes of typing.
Arrow keys - used to move the cursor2 around the display screen.
Num lock keys - used to activate/deactivate the numeric keypad3.
Print screen keys - used to print the contents of the screen.

The arrangement of the keys on the keyboard may differ. The most common in English-
speaking countries is the QWERTY keyboard. It is called QWERTY keyboard because the first five
keys on the top row of letters spell Q, W, E, R, T, and Y. The arrangement of keys in this case is
based on typewriter (alphabets and punctuation) and calculator (numeric pad). This is to make
data entry easy.

The other type of keyboard layout is the DVORAK Keyboard. In this layout, the most commonly
used letters are placed in the most accessible places. The home keys are the five English vowel
letters A, O, E, U, I (for the left hand) & the five most often used consonants (D, H, T, N, S) are
the home keys for the right hand. The next most frequently used letters are on the keys one
row up, the next easier position to reach.

Mouse
Mouse is a hand-operated device that controls the movement of the cursor or pointer on a
display screen. It is a small object that can be rolled along a rough flat surface.

Mouse can have as many as three buttons whose function depends on what program is
running:
– Left-button: for left click. Example, selecting text
– Right-button: for right click. Example, see property of file
– Middle button: for scrolling purpose. This button is sometimes missing.

Most mice are connected to the system unit by a cable or cord. There are also mouse that are
not connected to system unit by a cable/cord. They are called cordless mouse (wireless mouse).
They communicate with system unit using infrared light, similar technology used in remote
controls, or radio waves. Mouse has roller ball at the bottom. The roller ball converts mouse
movements into electronic signals.

Optical Recognition Systems

Optical recognition system uses light to read characters, codes, and marks, and convert them into
computer understandable format. There many types of optical recognition systems:
 OCR (Optical Character Recognition)
 OMR (Optical Mark recognition)
 Barcode Reader
 Image scanner
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Cursor is a blinking symbol on the screen that indicates the place where the next character typed appears
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numeric keypad is the set of numeric keys found at the right hand side of the keyboard

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I) Optical Character Recognizers (OCR)
OCR are scanners that read typewritten, computer printed, and in some cases hand printed
characters from ordinary documents. They scan the shape of character and compare it with
predefined font shapes found in memory. Based on the comparison, they can convert the characters
into computer code.

Use:
Enter documents found on paper into computer without the need to type it using keyboard. This
makes the job easy.

II) OMR
OMR senses the presence or absence of a mark, such as pencil marks. It doesn’t utilize letters of the
alphabet. Instead, with the use of electronic scanners, marks and symbols are converted into
appropriate electronic signals. It is used to process questionnaires or exams using computer. The
read mark is interpreted and matched against previously entered answer key. Example, the ESLCE is
corrected using this device.

III) Bar Code Reader

Bar code reader is a peripheral that reads bar codes printed on products. Bar code uses a
pattern or symbols to represent data. It consists of vertical lines and spaces of different width.
There are different kinds of bar codes; the most commonly used is called UPC (Universal
Product Code). It is used to identify product manufacturer, product number, price, etc.

Barcode and Barcode reader

Use:
 Used in supermarkets, groceries etc to identify products and their price.

IV) Image Scanner

We sometimes want to use our previously taken images into computer. In such cases, we need
a device that converts the image on paper into computer format. This device is called image
scanner.

Speech Recognition Systems

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Speech recognition is the ability of computers to recognize human speech. We use microphone
to enter the speech into computer. The computer then processes the speech and performs the
action ordered by speech. This is the latest technology and is still under research.

Light Pen
Light pen is a light sensitive pen like device that is used in conjunction with computer monitor.
It is used by touching the screen with this device to create or modify graphics. A light cell in the
tip of the pen senses light from the screen to determine the pen’s location on the screen.

Touch Screen
Touch screen allow you to use fingers instead of mouse or related input device. It lets you to
enter data or command (e.g. button click) by touching areas of the screen. It enables you
perform activities you perform with mouse using your finger. It is not used to enter large
amounts of data.

Activity:
Can you identify other Input devices that can be used with computers? What common
characteristics do they have

1.1.1.2 Central Processing Unit

It is also called microprocessors or processors. A microprocessor is a semiconductor device
consisting mostly software controlled LSI (Large Scale Integrated) chip which performs the functions
of automatic data processing. Processors are not optimized to perform complex numerical
calculations and other special tasks (graphics manipulations). For this purpose specialized
coprocessors which are also called math-coprocessors have been developed to increase the
processing capability of a computer and speed up complex mathematical floating-point
calculations. The coprocessors operate in parallel with CPUs.

CPU executes instructions and performs the computer's processing activities. It is also known as
processor or microprocessor. It functions the same purpose as the human brain for human
being. It is called the brain of the computer.

One of the basic features of a computer that affects its entire performance is the CPU speed.
CPU speed is measured in Hertz (Hz). Hertz is the number of cycles per second. 1Hz=1cycle per
second. Larger units are KHz (Kilo Hertz), MHz (Mega Hertz), GHz(Giga Hertz), etc.
1 KHz = 1000 Hz
1 MHz = 1000 KHz
1 GHz = 1000MHZ

Current CPUs are as fast as 2-3GHz (2-3 billion cycles per second)

CPU has three sub-components:

 Control Unit (CU)
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  Arithmetic Logic Unit (ALU)
 Memory

Fig Components of Central Processing Unit

The three sub components are connected by a cable like device called bus. It facilitates
communication between the parts. It is used to transfer data between these sub components.

Control Unit
As human brain controls the body, control unit controls the computer hardware. Control Unit
does not execute instruction by itself, i.e. does not carry out instruction processing, but it
directs other processing elements to execute instructions.

It retrieves instruction from memory and this process is called fetch instruction. After fetching
instruction, it translates that instruction into computer understandable format and sends
signals to other computer hardware units to carry out the instruction. This process (the process
of translating instruction) is called decoding.

Arithmetic Logic Unit (ALU)

The purpose of ALU is to execute instruction. It performs two operations:
 Arithmetic operation
 Logic Operation
Arithmetic operation: this includes mathematical operations like addition, subtraction,
multiplication, division, etc. If you give your computer the instruction 2+3, this will be included
in arithmetic operation and it is executed by Arithmetic Unit.
Logical Operation: this is concerned with the comparison of data and it is called logical
operation. It includes operators like less than, greater than, equal to, less or equal to, greater or
equal to, different from, etc. e.g. if mark>80, grade is 'A'.

Registers
When instruction is loaded from main memory into the CPU, it is placed first in registers to wait
instruction from control unit. Registers are temporary storage location for data prior to
execution in ALU. There are different types of registers. E.g. data register, program counter,
address register, etc.

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Activity:
Can you define the function of Central processing Unit and its components?

1.1.1.3 Output Devices

Output devices are used to get data out of a computer so that it can be examined, analyzed or
distributed to others. It converts information from machine-understandable form to a human
understandable form. The outputs are of two types: Softcopy: displayed on monitor, projector,
or similar devices and Hardcopy: printed on paper

Examples
 The Visual Display Unit (VDU) or monitor or screen
 Printers (dot matrix, daisy wheel, laser printers)
 Plotters
 Voice (audio) response unit
 Disk drives

Monitors
Monitor is the most frequent type of output device. It consists of a display surface called screen
which displays output to the user. Image is displayed on monitors using pattern of lighted dots.
Each of these lighted dots is called pixel a short form of picture element.

There are three types of monitor:

1) CRT (Cathode Ray Tube)
2) LCD (Liquid Crystal Display)
3) Plasma display

CRT Monitor
CRT is similar in size and technology to televisions. It uses electron guns that emit electrons.
These electrons are directed towards phosphorous coated screen. The phosphorous coat glows
(emits light) when hit by electron from electron guns, thus creating visible things that we see.
The monitors of most desktop computers are CRT monitors. The main disadvantages of CRT
monitors are their large size and high power consumption

Liquid Crystal Display (LCD) monitors

Crystal display is most commonly used in digital watches, clocks, calculators, etc. In computers,
they are commonly used for portable computers E.g., laptops. Liquid crystal uses liquid crystal
for display purpose, not electron guns. The liquid crystal is deposited between sheets of
polarizing material which allows or blocks light to display information. Advantage over CRT:
they are smaller in size which makes it easy to transport and consumes less power which makes
it suitable for laptop.

Gas Plasma

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Gas plasma substitutes neon gas for liquid crystal. The neon gas glows and produces pixels that
form picture. It is used for portable computers. Advantage: better display quality than LCD but
more expensive than LCD

Printers

Printer is a device that enables us to produce a hardcopy of data/information. They have

varying speeds, capabilities, and printing methods. Based on the way they print, printers are
divided into two:
 Impact printers
 Non-impact printer

Impact printers
Impact printers transfer printable material onto paper by striking paper, ribbon, and character
together. Most of such printers take continuous form of paper. The most commonly used
impact printers are dot-matrix printers. The combination of small dots printed closely forms a
character. Example: Epson printers

Non-Impact Printers
They print without having a mechanism that strikes a paper. They print by spraying ink or by
using heat and pressure to fuse black powder onto paper. The various types of non-impact
printer include:

Inkjet Printers - An inkjet printer sprays tiny drops of ink onto paper. The print head of such
printers contains a nozzle which has many holes. Ink is propelled by heat or pressure through
the nozzle holes and form character or image on the paper.
 Produce high quality print
 Quiet because the paper is not struck
 Heavy weight paper is recommended

Laser Printer - They work similarly to photocopying machine. They convert data from computer
into a laser beam (kind of light), why they are called laser printer. They use mirrors to direct
light onto a drum which in turn produce characters on paper. The drum is light sensitive
material that becomes charged when it is hit by light. The charged area of the drum attracts ink
from toner and the ink is transferred onto paper. A heating material heats the ink and attaches
it onto the paper. It produces high quality print.

Thermal printers - Thermal printers use heat to transfer inks from ink sheets onto printing
surface. They produce high-quality print. Because of this, they are used to produce high quality
color artwork and text. They can use plain paper but produce best result on chemically treated
papers.

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Plotters
Plotters are used to produce high-quality drawings such as bar charts, maps, architectural
drawings, and three-dimensional drawings.
 Can produce high quality multi-color documents
 Can print on large size papers, which most printers can’t handle.

Activity:
Can you identify any other output devices? What similarities do they have?

1.1.1.4 Storage Devices

One of the unique features of computers is storage. Data can be stored on different storage
media temporarily or permanently. Storage devices can be categorized into to as:
 Primary storage device
 Secondary storage device

1. Primary Memory / Main Memory

Primary memory, also called Main memory, refers to integrated circuit that stores program
instructions and data. The CPU closely works with the main memory to perform its activities.
Memory stores three things:
 Operation system software instructions
 Application software instruction
 Data that is being processed

Depending on the type of information they store and the technology used, the primary memory
can be categorized into three:
RAM (Random Access Memory)
ROM (Read Only Memory)
CMOS (Complementary Metal Oxide Semiconductor)
RAM
RAM is temporary storage i.e. the data is lost when the computer is off unlike secondary
storage. Because of this it is called volatile memory. Why is it volatile? It uses electric power to
store data. When you write anything on your computer, first it is stored on RAM. When you
save the file, it is transferred into secondary storage. RAM has differing capacity, the common
ones being 128, 256, and 512.

It is directly accessible by CPU. It is called RAM because each memory location can be accessed
randomly using memory address. Each unit in RAM has memory address by which it can be
easily accessed/referenced.

ROM
ROM stores data and programs that are permanently required by the computer. They have
programs built into them at the factory and that program could not be changed or erased by
the user, but read. It is non-volatile, read-only (not changeable) memory. Read-only means data
can't be altered or erased but read.
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ROM contains special instruction called BIOS that the computer uses when it is turned on. E.g,
instruction that starts the computer, instruction that displays information on screen, etc. The
technological advancement in ROM design has resulted in three other types of ROM:
 PROM (Programmable ROM)
 EPROM (Erasable Programmable ROM)
 EEPROM (Electrically Erasable Programmable ROM)

PROM: this kind of ROM can be written by user once. But, you can't erase or write to it more
than once; you can only read from.

EPROM: this kinds of ROM can be written to or erased as many times as the user wants. It is like
CD-RW.

EEPROM: similar to EPROM, it can be re-written to or erased. But we use electrical power to
erase the contents here.

CMOS
CMOS contains essential information that is required when the computer is turned on. E.g.
RAM size, type of mouse, etc. It is non-volatile, but modifiable to incorporate changes. It is
powered by battery when computer is off.

2. Secondary Storage
Secondary storage (also called auxiliary storage) supplements the primary memory. It takes
many forms. It includes punched cards, punched paper tape, magnetic tape, magnetic disk and
optical disk. Based on information access, secondary storage devices are divided into two:

 Sequential Access: information is accessed sequentially. To access information on such

media, we start from the beginning and read through to the end. Jumping to some part is
not possible. E.g. tape recorder cassette
 Random Access: information can be accessed in any order. You can access the first or the
last part of information by jumping others. E.g. floppy disk

Sequential Access Media

1) Punched Cards
Punched cards are one of the oldest and most familiar data storage devices. There are two
types of punched cards, 80 columns and 96 columns, and the first one is a standard punched
card. Data is stored on punched cards by cutting parts of the paper out and leaving other parts intact.
The cut part (hole) may represent binary 1 and the intact part represents binary 0.

2) Magnetic Tapes
During 1950s and 1960s, magnetic tape was the primary method of storing large amount of
data. Today they are used primarily for back up purposes. It consists of thin ribbon plastic called

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tape. One side of the tape is coated with iron-oxide, a material that can be magnetized. By
magnetizing and demagnetizing the tape, computer stores data on it.
Disadvantage:
 Sequential access
Advantage:
 Store more data on a small area
Magnetic tapes are not used with desktop computers. However, because of their advantage,
magnetic tapes are used to take backup of data. Backup is data that is stored in a different
place than the original computer where data is used. This is to avoid the danger of data loss due
to disasters. If the original data is lost, the copy will be used.

Random Access Storage Media

A. Magnetic Disks
Magnetic disk is the most widely used storage medium on all computers. It consists of a round
piece of plastic or metal the surface of which is covered with magnetic material. Magnetic disks
offer:
 High storage capacity
 Reliability
 Fast date access during reading or writing to disk.

Magnetic disks are metals or plastic platters coated with ferrous oxide, an easily magnetically
material. They allow for random access of information and overcome the slow access time
commonly found in tape files.
Examples: floppy disk, hard disk

1) Floppy Disks. They are also called diskette. It is made up of thin Mylar plastic which is coated
with metal oxide. Data is stored as electromagnetic charges on the plastic coat. It stores data by
means of magnetizing and demagnetizing the metal oxide.

Floppy is an easily removable storage used to transport data from one computer to another. It
is used to store programs and data for a longer period outside the computer system. Often used
with mini and micro computers. Data is stored in concentric circles called tracks.

Sector and Track of a floppy disk

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Each track is further divided into sectors. A sector stores the amount of information that can be
read or written in single operation. The most widely used type of floppy disks is the 5.25 inch and
the 3.5 inch wide floppy disks. Each has two different storage capacity.
31/2 inch: -can store 1.44MB of data on double side high density
-can store 720kb of data on single side low density
51/4 inch: -can store 1.2MB of data on double side high density
-can store 360kb of data on single side low density

Density refers to the number of bits that can be recorded on one-inch of track.
High density: increased storage capacity
Low density: low storage capacity

Rules for handling Floppy Disks

Floppy disks are magnetic devices which stores data on them. Improper handing of floppy disks
may result in loosing the data stored on the disk. It is therefore necessary to know the following
rules to protect your disks and/or your data on it from damage.

 Never place the disk near magnetic devices, keep the disk away from your telephone since
telephone boxes contain magnetic units.
 Always place disks back into their envelope when you are not using them.
 Never touch your floppy disk media.
 Never smoke near floppy disks.
 Store your floppies in a safe location.
Keep at room temperature in the range of 10 to 50oc
Always make a backup copy of your floppy disk.

2) Hard Disk. A high capacity magnetic disk made up of metal which can be fixed in the system
unit of the computer. It serves as a secondary storage and it enables very fast accessibility of
data. Accessing data from hard disk is faster than from floppy disks.

The disks, which are usually grouped together into a disk pack are separated by small air spaces
to allow access for read-write head. Each disk is subdivided into tracks and sectors on which
information is stored. The disk pack is mounted on a magnetic disk drive which rotates the disk at
speed up to 1,000 revolutions per second.

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Hard disk

Platters are grouped together to form hard disk. The amount of time it takes to retrieve (or
store) data from (or to) disk is called the disk access time. It rotates at high speed and this is
measured in terms of revolutions per second.

Data is stored on hard disks by magnetizing and demagnetizing the surface each cylinder. They
store data on both sides of the cylinder i.e two sided. It is read-write head that reads or writes
data from hard disk.

B. Optical Disk
Optical disks use laser light to read or write data from optical disk. Laser - Light Amplified
Stimulated Emission of Rays. Optical disks use high powered laser light to burn microscopic
holes on the surface of the disk to store data. Burned out part is called pit, and the non-burnt
part is called land. Land may represent binary 0 and pit binary 1.

CD pit and land

Optical disks use low powered laser to read data. There are two most common types of optical
disks:
 CD (Compact Disc)
 DVD (Digital Versatile Disc)

CD (Compact Disc)
CD can store 700BM of information. Data is stored only on one side of the disc. There are three
basic types of CDs:
1. CD-ROM (Compact Disc Read Only Memory) - This kind of is read only i.e. you can’t
write data to such CDs or you can’t erase from them. Data is only accessed/read from

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 these CDs.
2. CD-R (Compact Disc Recordable) - It is also called WORM (Write Once and Read Many).
These CDs can be written on once. But then after, you can’t rewrite on it or erase data
from it. After you first wrote data on such discs, then only thing you can do to read data
from them.
3. CD-RW (Compact Disc Read-Write) - They are also called erasable optical discs. You can
write data as many times as you want on such CDs. You can also erase the content of
such CDs.
DVD
DVD stands for Digital Versatile Disc. But some people mistakenly call it Digital Video Disc. It is a
relatively new technology that is introduced recently. It is similar to CD except that it can store
large amounts of data and it has narrow tracks than CD. It can store 4 -17GB of information.

Another possible categorization is based on the significance of the devices – System Unit and
Peripheral Devices.

Disk drive: is part of a computer system which reads from and writes data on a disk.

Activity:
What are the four activities that computers do? What are the hardware components
responsible for these activities?

Components of computers – Based on their location

1. The system Unit

A system unit, also known as a base unit, is the main body of a desktop computer. It typically
consists of a metal or (rarely) plastic enclosure containing the motherboard, power supply,
cooling fans, internal disk drives, and memory and expansion cards that are plugged into the
motherboard, such as video and network cards.

Components of System Unit

System unit contains: case, motherboard, power supply and disk drives.

Case: A computer case (also known as the computer chassis, cabinet, tower, box or housing) is
the enclosure that contains the main components of a computer. Cases are usually constructed
from steel, aluminum, or plastic.

Power Supply: The PC power supply converts 120/240 volts Alternating Current (AC) into 5 and
12 volts Direct Current (DC) used by the PC. The PC power supplies have built-in power on/off
switches and power connectors for the motherboard and the disk drives.

Motherboard: A motherboard, also known as a system board, is the central or primary circuit
board making up a complex electronic system.

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A typical computer is built with the microprocessor(CPU), main memory(RAM), and other basic
components on the motherboard. Other components of the computer such as external storage,
control circuits for video display and sound, and peripheral devices are typically attached to the
motherboard via ribbon cables, other cables, and power connectors. Motherboard contains
ports, expansion slots, CPU slots, RAM slots, etc

Ports and Connectors

A port is a socket used to connect the peripheral devices to system unit. It serves as an
interface between the computer and other computers or peripherals in the form of an
electrically wired outlet into which a plug or cable connects. They have different physical
shapes such as male, female, round, rectangular, square, oblong, etc. There is some
standardization to physical properties and function.

Hardware ports can be divided into two groups:

Serial ports: serial port transmits or receives data one bit at a time. They are very good to send
information over long distance. Devices like keyboard, mouse, modem, etc all use serial ports to
connect to system unit of computer.
A newer type of Serial port is the USB(Universal Serial Bus). It is faster and it allows one USB
port to be used to connect several devices to the system unit.

USB connector and its icon

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Parallel ports: Parallel ports transfer and receive multiple bits of information at a time. They
send eight bits of data simultaneously across eight parallel wires. Parallel ports are mostly used
to connect devices that send or receive large amounts of data such as printers, disk drives, tape
drives, etc. They are used for short distance communication.

Parallel port (Printer port)

Expansion Slots and Cards

An expansion slot is a socket designed to hold circuit boards called cards. Expansion cards add
capability to your computer like playing sound (sound card), watching TV (TV card), connecting
computers together (network card) or to the internet (modem), etc. These cards are plugged
into the expansion slot of the motherboard.

Drives: drives are devices that read data from or write data onto storage devices. Examples of
drives include hard disk drive, floppy disk drive, CD drive, DVD drive, etc. Drives have some sort
of motors that rotate the storage devices from which data is read or onto which data is stored.
(For more information read about storage devices).

2. The peripherals
A peripheral is any device connected to the system unit. These are keyboards, monitors, mice,
printers, scanners, microphones, speakers, cameras, to list just the most familiar ones.

Activity:
Classify the components in the system unit as input, output, storage, processing and other
devices.

1.2 Computer Software

Computer hardware is directed by a set of instructions. Without these instructions, computers
can do nothing. These set of instructions are called software (also called programs). We use
programming languages to write these instructions. Examples of programming languages
include C, C++, Visual Basic, Java, etc.

Software are categorized into two:

 System Software
 Application Software

1.2.1 System Software

System software consists of programs that are related to controlling the actual operations of
the computer equipment/resource. There are three types of system software:

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  Operating System
 Utility Software
 Language translators

Operating system manage resources, provides a user interface, and run application software. It
organizes resources such as keyboard, mouse, printer, monitor, etc. It also presents GUI
(Graphical User Interface) to the user for easy use of computer. It makes complex hardware
more user friendly i.e. it acts between the user and hardware.

A) Operating system
Operating system coordinates the activity between the user and the computer. An operating
system has four major functions.

I. Process management
In operating system terms, a process is a program or part of a program that can be executed
separately. The operating system does the task of managing these processes that are being
executed and waiting to be executed.

II. Input/output Management

The I/O manager coordinates the computers communication with outside world, flow of data to
the display screen and other output devices (printers/ plotters) and from the key board or other
input devices. It also handles the flow of data to and from the disk drives (file management) and
the process of preparing a disk for use, the copying, renaming, erasing task of a file.

III. Memory Management

During processing, some areas of memory are used to store the operating system instructions,
application program instructions, and data to be processed. It is the task of operating system to
allocate or assign each of these items to a memory area.

IV. System Administration

Operating system as a system administrator manages the performance of the system (e.g
response time), system security (username and password), and storage device management
(deleting files, renaming files, formatting disks, creating directories, etc).

Types of Operating System

o Based on the number of programs they can run a time, operating systems are divided into
two:

Single tasking operating systems: on such system, only one program can be run on the
computer at a time. To run another program, you have to close the first program and load
another program. For example, if you are working on Microsoft Word and in addition if you
want to open Microsoft Excel, first you have to close Word first because you can’t open two
programs at the same time. Then you can open Excel. Single tasking operating system can’t

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 handle more than one program at a time. Examples of such operating systems are MS-DOS,
and PC-DOS which were used in 1980s.

Multi-tasking operating systems: on such systems you can run as many programs as you
like. You can work on Word and Excel at the same time. Such systems can handle more than
one program at a time. Examples include Windows 2000, Windows XP, Macintosh, etc.

o Based on the number of users they can serve at a time, we divide operating systems into
two:

Single User: they can serve only one user at a time. E.g. Windows 95, Windows 98/XP, etc

Multi User: lets more than one user to access the computer at one time. E.g., UNIX. This is
done via network that connects terminals to the multi user computer.

B) Utility Programs
Utilities are programs that make computing easier. They perform specific tasks related to
managing computer resources or files. There are different utility programs:
i) Troubleshooting programs: enable us to recognize and correct computer problems
before they become serious.
ii) Anti-virus programs: they protect your computer against viruses or other malicious
programs that damage computer. E.g MacAfee, Sophos, Norton, etc.
iii) File compression programs: are used to reduce the size of files or data so that it takes
less storage space or network band. E.g WinZip, WinRAR, etc.
iv) Uninstall programs: these software enable us to safely and completely remove
unneeded programs/software from your computer.
v) Back up software: with the help of this software, we can make copies of files to be
used in case of the original data is lost/damaged. This copy is called back up.
vi) Screen savers: helps to prevent your work from being seen by others if you leave
your computer idle for some time.

C) Language translators
Language translators are used to convert the programming instruction written by users into
binary code that the computer can understand. They are written for specific programming
languages and computer system.

1.2.2 Application Software

Application software performs useful work for the user. These useful works could be:
 Word processing-document creation
 Spreadsheet-electronic calculation
 Email/communicating-email sending and reading
Users use these software to perform different activities like calculation, video editing, word
processing, presentation, etc. Some of the uses of application software:

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 i) Word Processing
This is the most widely used computer application. Word processing is the use of computer
to produce documents that consist primarily of text. Such documents can also contain
pictures, drawing, photograph, etc.
Used for:
 Writing letter
 Writing memos
 Producing reports
Some of the software used for word processing include:
 Microsoft word
 Corel WordPerfect
 Lotus WordPro
 WordStar

ii) Spreadsheet Software

Spreadsheet software is used to organize, manipulate, and graph numeric information. It
enables us to do financial analysis, and other complicated mathematical calculation
electronically. E.g., interest rate, payroll, etc.
Some of the software used for this purpose include:
 Lotus 1-2-3
 Microsoft Excel
 Quatropro

iii) Database Management system (DBMS)

Database is a collection of related data that is stored in computer. DBMS organizes the
collection of data so that information can be retrieved easily. Database software allow you
to create a database and to retrieve, manipulate, and update the data. Database may
contain one or more tables. The following table and other related tables together form
database.
Name ID DOB Department Salary
1
2
3

Example of an Employee table

Software that are used for DBMS:
 Microsoft Access
 Oracle
 MySQL and Microsoft SQL Server
 FoxPro
 Dbase IV

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 iv) Presentation Graphics
Presentation graphics helps you to create professional and exciting presentations that could
be used in meeting, group discussion, etc. Such software enable you to incorporate charts,
graphics, sound, etc in your presentation. Software used for this purpose include:
 Microsoft PowerPoint
 Lotus Freelance Graphics
 Corel Presentations

v) Accounting software
Accounting software enables companies to record and report their financial transactions.
Tasks done by these software include:
 Invoicing
 Accounts Receivable
 Accounts Payable
 Payroll
 Inventory
 General Ledger
 Purchase orders, etc
Software used for this purpose:
 Peachtree accounting
 Intuit QuickBooks

vi) Computer Aided Design

It is used to create design for products, new buildings, etc. They are used by engineers.
Example of software used for this purpose include: AutoCAD, ArchiCAD, Parametric

vii) Communication
They are used to transfer data from one computer to another. They enable computers to
send and receive data of any kind such as text, graphics, fax documents, etc.
Some of the software used for this purpose are:
 Netscape Navigator-to work on internet
 Internet Explorer-to work on internet

Activity:
Can you name some application software? To which category do they belong?

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