In this article, you will learn about what is system software, types of system software, features if system software and functions of system software.
What is System Software
A system software is a software that is developed to control the system and managed the operation of the hardware, and also the application software installed. In other words, it serves as a platform through which other software can be operated.
In most cases, system software is referred to as interface between hardware and application software since it process and execute both hard and application software simultaneously.
In terms of operations of this type of software, some are designed to work in background while others can be interacted with by the system user.
Types of System Software
The following are the different types of system software.
1. Utilities
Utilities are computer or mobile device's software designed to optimize, maintain, configure and analyze a device. Utilities normally comes in two forms; either followed operating system or installed separately by the user. Examples are DirectX, registry cleaners, antivirus e.t.c.
2. BIOS and UEFI
Basic Input/Output System (BIOS) or the Unified Extended Firmware Software (UEFS) is a system software that manages or control the flow of information between the operating system and the devices connected to the computer or mobile device. It is the BIOS that makes the system to start when it is turned.
3. Operating system
Operating system is a type of system software that act as an interface between the system users, hardware and application software during operation or usage. In every device that uses operating system, the OS is the first software to be loaded when a system is powered on.
4. Firmware
A firmware is a system software that is developed to provide instructions on how the computer or mobile device should be operated. It is usually stored in a ROM, EPROM or flash for the operating system to identify. Unlike other software, the firmware can't be uninstalled or manipulated by end-users
5. Device Drivers
This is a system software that makes it possible for external devices connected to a device to execute their designated tasks smoothly. Some hardware do come with a drivers pre-installed but in a case when it is not, the end-user has to download the prescribed driver and install it.
6. Programming Language Translator
Programming Language translator as the name implies is a system software that helps software developers to convert application written in high-level programming language code to machine level language code.
Examples of this are;
Compiler: This convert programs written in high level language to low level language at once.
Interpreter: This convert programs written in high-level programming Language to a low level language line by line.
Assembler: This translate programs written in assembly language code to machine code.
Characteristics of System Software
The following are some of the characteristics or features possessed by system software.
1. Difficult to interfere with the operation: System software is very difficult to manipulate the operation as it is written in a complex programming languages and more do not interact with humans but hardware.
2. Very fast in speed during operation: System software is developed to be fast during operation as it acts as a platform or interface for hardware and application software
3. Serves as backbone to the system hardware: Without the system software, the computer or mobile phones can't power up let alone to complete a task. The hardware solely depends on the system software to carry out its tasks
4. Understood by CPU and other hardware: System software is developed in low level language hence making it for the CPU and all hardware it houses to understand it's commands.
5. Small in size: In terms of size, system software is very small and doesn't consume alot of memory space unlike application software.
Functions of System Software
The functions of system software are as follows:
- It helps in management of the system's traffic as well as the duration and number of resources that every particular program can used i.e Operating System
- It helps in management and flow of information in the device i.e BIOS
It helps to maintain, analyze and configure the computer device i.e utilities-
It helps to provide instructions on how the computer should be operated ime firmware-