Unit 2 Task 2 P2

Purpose of operating Systems

The purpose of operating systems is to allow the computer to communicate with the hard drive. The computers operating system communicates with the peripherals through the software drivers and devices. The computers operating system controls peripherals such as keyboards and mouses. It also controls the whole machine and all of the components inside it. An example of an operating system is Windows XP. This has been very successful and updated as times have changed. Another operating system is Mac OS, this is used on apple mac devices.

Machine and Peripheral Management;

Peripheral management controls the computers peripheral devices by sending commands in the computer's own language. The software routine that deals with each device is called the driver. When a new peripheral is added, the devices driver is installed into the computer's operating system .

Security;

Every computer system must be protected against unauthorised users. This is because if an unauthorised user has access to your computer, they could cause serious damage and you could lose important documents. Operating systems have the responsibility to create protection systems to ensure that the user running a specific program is authorised to do so. The operating system identifies if a user is unauthorised or not by asking for a username, password, a fingerprint or a user card/ key. These passwords can be either random numbers or letters. Also passwords usually contain an unusual character such as !ӣ$ so that the passwords cannot be guessed easily and are unrelated to your personal life.

If an unauthorised user tries to access your personal computer, threats are sent to the computer programs which then can disable the computer program. Programs can also be installed onto your computer to prevent some websites causing viruses. These include AVAST and McaFee.

File management;

A file management system is a system that the operating systems or programs use to organise files into folders and to keep track of files. Windows software operating systems use a simple but effective system which allows the users to save items as documents. These documents can then be put into folders so that you can easily find the documents/files you are looking for. The files can be edited and saved continuously. When you click on folders, it will open however many files are in that folder. You can then click on the file that you want to access the document you have previously made.

Device Drivers;

Device drivers are tiny pieces of software that give the operating system easier access to the hard drive. It is a program that tells the computer how it will communicate with a peripheral device. For example software such as Windows to communicate with the hardware.