2.1 Hardware and Software

types of software

📌 Operating System

• software to help standard users manage/use the computer without interfering/thinking of hardware
• software between hardware and software works, and helps users use hardware
• interface between users(real world) and computer(machine world)

• manages/controls/administrator of my computer

• saved in secondary memory(HDD or SSD)

☑️ OS has four functions

1️⃣ File management, gestion de archivos

• managed closed files only, saved in secondary memory

• as OS and closed files are both in secondary memory, this is an easy job for the OS

• ↔️ You can have a computer without HD, so File management is little important job of OS

• ➡️ FAT32, NTFS…

2️⃣ RAM management 🟰 Memory management

• when file is opened, and uploaded on the RAM
• upload on RAM and called process

• ↔️ You cannot have a computer w/o RAM, super duper important job of OS

• ➡️ Segmentation, Paging

3️⃣ Process Management

• how to distribute timing among the different processes
• ↔️ super duper important job of OS

4️⃣ Interruptions management

• when processes run, and temperature becomes too hot, OS would interfere

• As I/O Manager

• ↔️ You can have a computer w/o peripherals, so Interruptions management is little important job of OS

👉🏻 So in hybrid stucture of the OS…

• See 2.4 structure of OS

• That is the reason why in hybrid stucture of the OS,
• the kernel does two most important functions
  • RAM management
  • Process Management
• and the user server does the extra
  • File management
  • Interruptions management

✅ Levels of software

• All software can be divided into 4 different levels

1️⃣ Low Level SW

• machine code
• 0 and 1s

2️⃣ System/Base SW

• software that acts as an interface with a machine
• example: OS, Drivers

3️⃣ Programming SW

• applications for programming
• example: IDE with GUIs, visual studio

4️⃣ Application SW

• software of the users
• example: google maps

❓ How do you call the SW that acts as an interface?
- System/Base SW