SYSTEM SOFTWARE
System software is a set of one or more programs, which are designed to control the operation and networking of computers. It acts as an intermediary between computer hardware and application program. It can further be divided into three types: Operating System, Language Processing and Utilities.
Operating System: An operating system is a set of instructions that manages overall performance and functioning of the computer system by controlling the resources such as CPU, memory, I/O devices and overall flow of information within the system. It acts as an interface between the machine and its users. Some examples are Linux, MS/PC-DOS, Mac OS, Windows 95/98/NT/ME/ Millienium/VISTA.
Language Processors: For program execution, instructions must be converted into the machine language. Language processors are used to convert assembly language and high-level language programs into machine level language. Examples: assemblers, translators and compilers.
Utilities: These are designed to aid, manage and tune the computer hardware, operating system or application software. These are also known as service programs, service routines, tools, or utility routines. Examples: disk defragmenter, disk compression, disk cleanup, disk checkup etc.
