Introduction to Computers Section 6A

home The Operating System (OS) The operating system (OS) is software that controls the interaction between hardware and user software

home User Interface The items you see on the computer screen are the user interface

home Graphical User Interface (GUI) A GUI is a user interface that is made up of graphic objects instead of text commands

home Desktop The computers main interface

home Icons The graphic objects that you see on the desktop are called icons

home Taskbar The taskbar appears at the bottom of the Windows desktop and lets you launch and manage software programs

home Start Button and Start Menu Click the Start button to open the Start menu, which provides access to your software programs

home Shortcut or Context Menu Right-click on an object to access a shortcut or context menu that has the objects most-used commands

home Window When a software program runs, it appears in a rectangular frame, called a window

home Parts of a Window Title bar Minimize, Maximize and Close buttons Scroll bars Toolbars Menu bar

home Active Window The window that is currently in use

home Menus and the Menu Bar You choose some tasks from commands in lists called menus, accessed from the menu bar

home Dialog Box Gives you choices for what you want the software to do next

home Clipboard Temporary holding area for data that is being copied or moved Choosing Edit: Cut or Copy places information on the Clipboard Edit: Paste places the information from the Clipboard into the document

home Multitasking The computers ability to perform two or more procedures simultaneously

home Two Kinds of Multitasking Cooperative multitasking Preemptive multitasking

home File Management Manage files by saving them in folders in a hierarchical file system

home How the Operating System Manages Hardware Processing Interrupts Providing Drivers Networking computers

home Utility A utility is a software program that enhances or extends the operating systems capabilities

home Kinds of Utilities Disk defragmenter Data compression Backup Disk management Screen savers

Section 6A Operating System Basics

home Review Questions What is the Operating System? What is a Graphical User Interface? What is the Clipboard? What are the two kinds of multitasking?