unit 2: P2

An operating system is piece of software that manages the computer hardware resources and provides communication services for computer programs to run efficiently, e.g. windows, Linux and Mac common desktop operating systems.

Machine and peripheral management: you are able to control and change certain things on your computer, for example via the control panel you are able to add devices e.g. cameras, mobile phones etc. however you would probably have to download certain softwares to do this. Through the control panel you are also able to control things like brightness of the screen and the volume level.

Security: this is to protect the data etc that is on the computer. This also prevents unauthorised access to the computer, allowing the computer to detect viruses on websites. The security operating systems then remove the virus before it effects the computer files, otherwise this could be a problem for the computer.

File management: this handles the filing system, which consists of two parts:

• a set of files - these are saved on a secondary storage, these can be accessed directly or sequentially. The files have names, locations, size, type, time and date of creation.

• a directory structure - these provided information about the files stored on the secondary storage, this has information about what each file contains.

Device drivers: in an operating system these are pieces of technology that you are able to connect to your computer e.g. mobile phones and cameras etc. A software may have to be downloaded for the device to function properly when it has plugged into the computer, once this has been completed you will be able to connect the device anytime you wanted

 and this allows you to transfer pictures and videos etc. with ease.