System software is computer software designed to operate the computer hardware and to provide a platform for running application software.
Two basic types of system software are:
An operating system is software, consisting of programs and data, that runs on computers, manages computer hardware resources, and provides common services for execution of various application software. in a computer system. Without an operating system, a user cannot run an application program on their computer, unless the application program is self booting. The operating system is the most important type of system software
Utility software is a kind of system software designed to help analyze, configure, optimize and maintain the computer. A single piece of utility software is usually called a utility or tool.
2.Briefly describe various server operating systems: Windows Server, UNIX,Linux, Solaris, and NetWare.
Unix (officially trademarked as UNIX, sometimes also written as Unix) is a multitasking, multi-useroperating system originally developed in 1969 by a group of AT&T employees at Bell Labs, including Ken Thompson, Dennis Ritchie, Brian Kernighan, Douglas McIlroy, and Joe Ossanna. computer
Unix was designed to be portable, multi-tasking and multi-user in a time-sharing configuration. Unix systems are characterized by various concepts: the use of plain text for storing data; a hierarchical file system; treating devices and certain types of inter-process communication (IPC) as files; and the use of a large number of software tools, small programs that can be strung together through a command line interpreter using pipes, as opposed to using a single monolithic program that includes all of the same functionality. These concepts are collectively known as the Unix philosophy.
Under Unix, the "operating system" consists of many utilities along with the master control program, the kernel. The kernel provides services to start and stop programs, handles the file system and other common "low level" tasks that most programs share, and, perhaps most importantly, schedules access to hardware to avoid conflicts if two programs try to access the same resource or device simultaneously. To mediate such access, the kernel was given special rights on the system, leading to the division between user-space and kernel-space.
A Linux-based system is a modular Unix-like operating system. It derives much of its basic design from principles established in Unix during the 1970s and 1980s. Such a system uses a monolithic kernel, the Linux kernel, which handles process control, networking, and peripheral and file system access. Device drivers are either integrated directly with the kernel or added as modules loaded while the system is running.
Solaris is a Unix operating system originally developed by Sun Microsystems. It superseded their earlier SunOS in 1993. Oracle Solaris, as it is now known, has been owned by Oracle Corporation since Oracle's acquisition of Sun in January 2010.
3.Summarize the features of several embedded operating systems: Windows Embedded CE, Windows Mobile, Palm OS,
iPhone OS, BlackBerry, Google Android, Embedded Linux, and Symbian OS.
Windows CE is optimized for devices that have minimal storage—a Windows CE kernel may run in under a megabyte of memory. Devices are often configured without disk storage, and may be configured as a “closed” system that does not allow for end-user extension (for instance, it can be burned into ROM). Windows CE conforms to the definition of a real-time operating system, with a deterministic interrupt latency. From version 3 and onward, the system supports 256 priority levels and uses priority inheritance for dealing with priority inversion. The fundamental unit of execution is the thread. This helps to simplify the interface and improve execution time.
Most versions of Windows Mobile for Pocket PC have these standard features:
Today screen shows the current date, owner information, upcoming appointments, e-mail messages, and tasks. (Home screen in later WM6.5 builds)
The taskbar shows the current time and the audio volume.
Office Mobile, a suite of Mobile versions of Microsoft Office applications, including Outlook Mobile.
Internet Explorer Mobile, an Internet browser developed by Microsoft for Pocket PC and Handheld PC that comes loaded by default with Windows Mobile and Windows CE for Handheld PC.
4.File system similar to that of Windows 9x/Windows NT, with support for many of the same file types.
Ability to multitask.
The key features of the current Palm OS Garnet are:
Simple, single-tasking environment to allow launching of full screen applications with a basic, common GUI set
Monochrome or color screens with resolutions up to 480x320 pixel
Handwriting recognition input system called Graffiti 2
HotSync technology for data synchronization with desktop computers
Sound playback and record capabilities
Simple security model: Device can be locked by password, arbitrary application records can be made private
TCP/IP network access
Serial port/USB, infrared, Bluetooth and Wi-Fi connections
5.Expansion memory card support
Defined standard data format for personal information management applications to store calendar, address, task and note entries, accessible by third-party applications.