COMPUTER SOFTWARE

Prepared By:Titus William Wafula

Certified TVET Trainer |Web Developer |Online
Course Developer & Tutor
DEFINITION
Set of instruction that directs a computer how
to perform various functions
CLASSIFICATION OF SOFTWARE
Classification according to purpose
 System software
Performs variety of fundamental operations that
avails computer resources to the user
Example: Operating system, Device drivers,
utility programs
Activity: State characteristics of system software?
Functions of system software
 Booting the computer
 Perform operations such as loading and
executing
 Store and retrieve files
Application software
Designed to help the user accomplish specific tasks
Example: Word processors(Ms word, Lotus word
pro),spreadsheet(Ms Excel),Desktop
publishing ,database e.t.c
Activity: State characteristics of application software

Classification according to acquisition

i)In house developed software
 Also referred to as bespoke or tailor made
 Developed for a specific use in an organization
 Are not available in the shops because once
developed for a company they may not address the
needs of other users
ii) Vendor off the shelf software
Developed by software manufacturers and distributed
for sale.
Example: Microsoft ofice suite, Adobe creative suite
Activity: Discuss the advantages of vendor of the shelf
software
Classification according to End User License
Agreement (EULA)
i)Proprietary software
Commercial software whose source code is hidden
from the users
Modification is done by software manufacturer
May be licensed for use at a fee or limited trial period
Example :Microsoft Office suite
ii) Open source Software
 Refers to software whose program (source code) is made
available to users.
 It’s EULA encourages the end users to acquire the source
code, modify and distribute modified versions of the
original software
Example: Open office, Mozilla Firefox
iii)Freeware
 Software whose license allows for free of charge
acquisition
 Does not allow users to modify the software for sale
Example: Adobe Reader
iv) Shareware
 Allows users to freely make and distribute copies of the
software
Example: Internet Download Manger(IDM)
OPERATING SYSTEM
Is a system software that manages the
hardware and execution of the applications
Types of Operating system
According to number of tasks
i) Single task OS
Allows processing of one program in the main memory at a
time
User must exit from the program before loading and running
another program
ii) Multitasking OS
Enables the CPU to excute more than one task
CPU allocates each task a time slice
According to number of users
i)Single user OS
Designed for use by one person
Example Android OS
ii) Multi User OS
Enables more than one user to access a centralized computer
According to user interface
i)Command line OS
User only type the commands at a command prompt
ii)Menu driven
Provides the user with a list of options to choose from e.g MS
DOS Shell
iiii)Graphical User Interface
Provide a screen full of icons and menus e.g Windows,ubuntu

FUNCTIONS OF OS
Memory Management
 Keeps tracks of processor and status of process. The program
responsible for this task is
 known as traffic controller.
 Allocates the processor (CPU) to a process.
 De-allocates processor when a process is no longer required
Processor Management
 Keeps tracks of processor and status of process. The program
responsible for this task is known as traffic controller.
 Allocates the processor (CPU) to a process.
 De-allocates processor when a process is no longer required
Device Management
 Keeps tracks of all devices. Program responsible for this task is
known as the I/O controller.
 Decides which process gets the device when and for how much
time.
 Allocates the device in the efficient way.
 De-allocates devices
File Management
 Keeps track of information, location, uses, status etc. The
collective facilities are often known as file system.
 Decides who gets the resources.
 Allocates the resources.
 De-allocates the resources