System Software (Operating Systems, Utilities)

OCR

GCSE

System software serves as the critical interface between hardware, application software, and the user, governing the operation of a computer system. The Operating System (OS) manages resources through processor scheduling, memory management (paging/segmentation), peripheral management via drivers, and user interface provision. Utility software complements the OS by performing maintenance tasks such as encryption, defragmentation, data compression, and system backups to optimize performance and security. Candidates must distinguish between the managerial role of the OS and the maintenance role of utilities.

Objectives

Exam Tips

Pitfalls

Key Terms

Mark Points

What You Need to Demonstrate

Key skills and knowledge for this topic

Award 1 mark for defining the Operating System as software that manages hardware and runs application software
Credit responses that explain multitasking as the OS allocating processor time slices to active processes
Award 1 mark for stating that device drivers translate commands between the OS and specific hardware peripherals
Candidates must link defragmentation to the consolidation of file fragments and free space to improve read/write speed
Award 1 mark for distinguishing that incremental backups only save data changed since the last backup, unlike full backups

Marking Points

Key points examiners look for in your answers

Award 1 mark for defining the Operating System as software that manages hardware and runs application software
Credit responses that explain multitasking as the OS allocating processor time slices to active processes
Award 1 mark for stating that device drivers translate commands between the OS and specific hardware peripherals
Candidates must link defragmentation to the consolidation of file fragments and free space to improve read/write speed
Award 1 mark for distinguishing that incremental backups only save data changed since the last backup, unlike full backups

Examiner Tips

Expert advice for maximising your marks

💡Use the mnemonic 'PUMPF' (Peripherals, User, Memory, Processor, File) to recall the five key management functions of an OS
💡When comparing Command Line (CLI) and Graphical User Interfaces (GUI), explicitly link the interface choice to the user's expertise level
💡For 4-mark questions on backups, always contrast the 'speed of backup' vs. the 'speed of restore' for full vs. incremental methods
💡In questions about compression, clearly specify whether data is permanently removed (lossy) or fully reconstructed (lossless)

Common Mistakes

Pitfalls to avoid in your exam answers

Stating that defragmentation 'creates more disk space' rather than organizing existing files and consolidating free space
Confusing 'multitasking' with parallel processing; failing to explain that the CPU switches rapidly between tasks rather than executing them simultaneously
Describing the OS as 'controlling the computer' without specifying the management of memory, processors, or peripherals
Mixing up 'System Software' with 'Application Software' when asked for examples (e.g., listing a word processor as system software)

Study Guide Available

Comprehensive revision notes & examples

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Key Terminology

Essential terms to know

OS Resource Management (Processor, Memory, I/O)

User Interface Types (GUI, CLI, Menu-driven, NLI)

Utility Software Functions (Encryption, Defragmentation, Compression, Backup)

Role of Device Drivers and Interrupts

Likely Command Words

How questions on this topic are typically asked

Identify

Describe

Explain

Compare

State

Practical Links

Related required practicals

•{"code":"OS Tools","title":"Investigation of Task Manager and Disk Defragmenter","relevance":"Visualizing memory allocation and file fragmentation"}

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