CS1 - M1 Features and functions of operating systems

Features and functions of operating systems

In this blog I will be sharing the pros, cons, features and function of different types of operating systems or OS.

First up is windows 7, this is the most recent update to Microsoft’s OS series.

Here are the pros of the new system.

Easier on the eyes

Nowadays you need a bit more than a fancy wallpaper and a few cute icons to impress you, but whatever way you look at this OS, it is surely a stunner. From a wallpaper which changed itself to the control group of icons in the area near the clock, this OS puts the things in which you need the most, where you actually need them.

The Action Centre

Windows XP and vista are known for scattering important information all over the system. At the same time, and quite awkwardly, every application you install on vista and XP can pop up annoying messages, always distracting your attention while you are trying to get some work done. Windows 7’s action centre serves as the traffic policeman for announcements which inform, warn and usually get very annoying. Instead of the usual annoying pop ups, it is seen as a flag which is in the notification area which is near the clock which also turn yellow or red, showing it’s need to you.

Security

In comparison to other OS’s windows 7 has a very good security, not only is it easy to set up and use, it is also very tough. Compared to the last two OS’s made by windows, there are many difference that makes this the best. Compared to Vista, the settings are much easier  to access, this way someone who may get confused with the security can easily set the correct settings and in turn secure their data better, it also im much tougher than XP it is a lot less “permeable” or it is much harder to get through.

Here are the cons of the Windows 7 OS.

What if?

Although windows 7 can run better than vista or XP, there are still many PCs which simply can’t handle the OS. It is possible to convert an old PC into a working PC that can handle the OS, however the PC must be less than 4 years old or it may just cause more trouble than you need. It will also cost at least a couple of hundred pounds to get a PC to the right standard.

Upgrading

If you have windows XP upgrading is very, very, very complicated. It is defiantly not as easy and inserting a disk and pressing a few “next” buttons. Infact all files and applications must be backed up, hard drive must also be wiped and you must perform a clean install of the OS. After that’s done you then will have to manually reinstall all your software and replace all the files that you backed up.

The Cost

Windows 7 isn’t cheap at all. It could cost over £75 for the lowest version, and that’s just for the upgrade!

The System requirements

Compared to every other OS by windows, this needs a LOT of space. In fact if you have a 64-bit system it will require a whole 2GB of RAM just to run it! The 32 bit is also 1GB of RAM.

Hard drive space isn’t too bad but it could be better, 16GB for a 32-bit system and 20GB for a 64-bit system is a lot compared.

Next is MacOS X 10.6 "Snow Leopard". An upgrade to apples “Leopard” OS.

Here are the features and functions of the OS.

Exchange

One of the biggest features in this OS is support for Exchange, which is Microsoft’s popular e-mail, contact and calendar server. As a result to this, it has become much easier to incorporate the Mac into a business that have standardised on exchange.

Malware Check

Although this feature isn’t very known, snow leopard actually includes a good degree of built-in protection against malicious software. The normal software on lower versions that would warn you before opening a program now also checks the files for known dangers.

Finder

The finder, the central point for organising and managing files and folders in Mac OS X has actually been completely rewritten, but you would never know the difference for looking. This new version looks identical to the other versions. It is said that this new version, due to the complete rewrite is much more responsive, supported for 64-bit applications and increases threading using Grand Central Dispatch technologies.

Substitutions

Many programs autocorrect what you type, and example is when you type hte it would correct it to the. And a host of utilities for Mac will also do the same trick.

Accessibility

With new versions access ability features have improved quickly, now Snow Leopard is even better. Among these additions is improvements to features such as VoiceOver, a program for the blind where text is read out to you. It also supports Braille displays too!

Next I will be talking about the main features and functions of Linux, an open source operating system.

Free

All codes for this OS can be seen and edited, which allows the community of uses to help the developers fix bugs and problems etc. it is also downloadable for free .

Customisable

Linux can be modified to whatever you want, there are large numbers of window managers and desktop environments for the OS. You can change everything about the way the OS interacts with you.

Viruses

There are very little viruses for Linux, in fact only 2 managed to get into the system, they just exploited a few holes in the old system which have been fixed. All the others were just failed lab experiments. Linux is also immune to all the known spy-ware and malware.

Secure

Linuxes base model gives a true “Unix-like” multi-user environment. You are always signed in as a user and a user cannot install anything with first going through the process of giving them access to its root account. Anything that is installed in the user account cannot affect the wider system and can be destroyed by simply deleting the users directory. This is why virus are completely useless.

CS1 - P2 Operating Systems

How Operating systems work

Most PCs come with an operating system preloaded, this is the first ever thing loaded on a PC, without it any computer is useless.

The purpose of an operating system is to organise and control any hardware and software so that the device it is part of behaves in a flexible, predictable way.

The main abilities an operating system creates are:

To serve a variety of purposes

Interact with users in more ways, which can get complicated

Keep up with needs that change over time.

All computers must run with an operating system. In which the most common are the windows family of operating systems these are developed by Microsoft, the Macintosh family which are developed by apple and the UNIX systems (made by a history of individuals) but this is quickly declining.

In any device that has an operating system there is usually a way to make changed to how the device actually works. Actually one of the reasons why the operating system is just portable code is so that if it was a physical circuit, you wouldn’t have the need to scrap the whole machine. For a desktop computer this allows you to add security updates, do a system patch add new applications and upgrade to a whole new operating system, rather than throw the whole computer away and start again with another when you only need one change.  

Short Report on a New Skill

Short Report on a New Skill

Since the beginning of the academic year, I have learnt a variety of new skills. One of these is using wireshark to packet sniff a network. This was for a task given for Communication Systems. It gave me an insight to all the traffic that a network can take, especially the colleges network.

Software Utilities - CS2 - P3

In this blog i will be explaining the uses of two software utilities.

These Utilities will be:

• Firewalls
• Virus Protection

Firewalls

If you use the internet a lot, you nay have heard of the term "firewall". But what is it? How is it Used? And how does it work?  Firewalls for years have been a great help with protecting computers in large companies. It is now become a critical part of a home networks safety too. It turns out that even a small home network can have many of the same security issues that a large company can have. A firewall is used to protect your computer from offensive websites (websites that pass on viruses) and potential hackers.

A firewall is a barrier to keep dangerous forces away from your property. This is where its name comes from. Its job is very similar to a physical firewall which keeps flames from speading from one area to the next. A firewall is simply a program which filters the information that pass through your computer system. If a packet of information is flagged by these filters its is not allowed through.

Some operating systems come with a firewall already built in. if this isn’t true for you a firewall software can easily be installed with a network that has an internet connection.

Why use firewalls?

There are a large amount of creative ways people can use to access or abuse unprotected PCs:

• Remote Login – this when someone can connect to your computer and control it in some form. A program which can do this is known as a RAT (remote access Trojan or remote access tool). This can range from accessing files on your PC to running programs on your computer.
• Application back doors – some programs have special features which can allow remote acess. Others contain bugs which provide a backdoor, or a hidden access point which provides someone to enter your system and provides some level of control of that program.
• Viruses – this is probably the most know threat to your computer. A virus is a small program which copies itself to other computers. This is how a virus can quickly spread from one PC to hundreds. It can travel through a network and infect others. Viruses can range form a simple harmless message, to a complete wipe of all your data.
• Spam – this is typlically harmless, but very annoying, spam is the electronic junk mail. However it can be dangerous. Some spam may contain links to offensive websites. Therefore you should always be carful when clicking these links.

There are many more ways someone can cause damage to your PC. These are just the most common.

This can be all it takes to realise how important a firewall is. There are so many of these dangers that it is near impossible to safely browse the internet without a firewall.

In  a quick summary, a fire wall is a piece of software which prevents harmful programs from entering your PC.

Virus Protection

Although a firewall can protect your computer from viruses. Some still are able to get through. This is usually encrypted in other downloads, which you will then download and infect your PC. If you have found a free open access program and wish to download it, if you have a firewall, a warning message may coming up, requesting permission to download this piece of software. Sometimes without realising, clicking yes to this can give your PC a virus. This is why we also need Virus protection.

There are many programs that are committed to keeping your PC safe. Some can even be free, examples like AVG are good quality but free virus protection programs. These can detect harmful viruses and quickly remove them.

CS1 Health and Saftey

This is very important, not just for you but for your PC as well.
First of all the obvious, make sure nothing dangerous to the PC like liquids is around where your working. Also make sure there is space available for your working. The next thing you will need is antistatic protection. For any product you buy for the computer, the part is stored in an antistatic bag. These can be bought in any specialist computer store.

These bags ensure nothing can damage the part to your computer. However when you go into the computer you also needed to be protected from static electricity, as with the components you could get quite a shock.

Antistatic protects comes with an antistatic mat and wristband. What the matt does is absorb and static electricity and then removes it. this is done by the mains. The matt is connected to the mains and the any static electricity enters the current and moves with the mains. the way of assembling this is fairly obvious. An Electrostatic Wristband is used to protect the computer from you. Electrostatic Discharge Damage occurs when a source of stored static electricity leaves something such as another person, into a conductor with a different potential, like a computer.

CS1 - Computer Systems - Graphics Cards

Graphics cards

Think of a graphics card as a translator, its main job is to translate binary data from the CPU as an image seen on the screen. Your computer screen is made up of millions of pixels, tiny dots that eventually build up an image. Although a graphics cards job is complex, its componants are very easy to understand. To understand the card, we can use a bit of metaphorical examples, think of the PC as an ordinary company, with an art department, when another department needs some artwork done, the art deparment gets a request, and the art department decides how to create the image and puts it on paper. A graphics card is this art department and the CPU sends information about the image or “requests” the graphics card then chooses how to use the pixels to display this image needed. It will then send this information the monitor to display it. The graphics card is placed on a slot in the motherboard, these slots can be:

• PCI-X
• PCI-Express 1.6X
• PCI
• AGP
• PCI-Express 1X

As you can see the AGP is the only brown port.

The main way of knowing which is which is by the indents, make sure the indents are the same in the slot on the graphics card. without looking at this, you will most likely break the card or the port.

It is simple, on the slot, there are two clips, if there is already a graphics card, pull these clips on the end apart and remove the graphics card. Make sure you have an Anti-static band handy, when an electronical piece of equipment is placed in here and sealed, you can be certain it will not be damaged by static electricity. When placing your new card in, all you have to do is carefully place the card in the slot and push down, this will automatically lock the card into place.


Health and Saftey must be thought about when any changes or repairs are made to a PC, Read my post on Health and Saftey

ports

Here Is a diagram of the ports found at the back of the computer.These Ports are from the cards which are connected to the motherboard.  I will go through all the ports in this post.

Power Supply: This is fairly obvious. It is where you plug the machine to the, dare i say it, power supply.

Mouse And Keyboard (PS/2): These ports were introduced, by IBM. it supports a plug with just 6 pins. Most PCs will have this port. The plugs and ports are colour coded for the piece of equipment that is going to be connected. Green is for mouse and Purple is for the keyboard.

Parallel Port: this port is mainly used to connect external devices like printers. Most PCs have this port, however recently more and more external devices have been increasing in it's USB 2.0 Connection. However if you cannot find a device that will connect to this port, you can still get Adapters to plug a USB printer to the  port.

VGA Port: this is the port which is part of the graphics cards. Obviously there is no way you can view the graphics without a monitor. This is what this port does, it connects the monitor. this is how the graphics card sends its information. Afterall all it does is change the data in the PC to a graphical format for us to use.

USB Slots: USB is frequently becoming the most commonly used port in the PC. Due to the new adaptations like USB 2.0, the port is constantly increasing in speed. now a USB port is now capable  to connect anything other ports do. It can connect external devices like Parallel Ports. it also is increasingly being used for Mouses and Keyboards too. This is the one slot you will need the most off. this is due to almost everything connecting to them, like Music Players or Memory Sticks. 

Ethernet Port: This is the connection for an ethernet cable, usually linked to the telephone line. This is your source of your local area network. It is what connects you to the internet. Increasingly Broadband Modems have been used to increase the speed of your internet, not just that but on a dial-up connection, the phone cannot be used and visa versa. A broadband modem lets both be used.

Microphone and Speaker: These are used to connect audio devices to the computer. obviously the Microphone (pink) connects a microphone and the Speaker (green) connects speakers