Mgt 240 Lecture
Computing at ND:
Operating Systems and Software
September 2, 2004
Miscellaneous
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Questions about readings and reading
questions
Seating charts and attendance
Lecture homework help session tonight 79pm L003 – Andy Grau
Homework for next week – Working with
the operating system
Creating a new view in WebFile
Today in Lecture
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Operating system software
Application software with a focus on Excel
What Tasks Do Your Perform on
your Computer When You Start
Each Lab Session?
What Software Do You Use When
You Do Your Work in the Lab?
Software Used in Excel Portion of
Mgt 240 Lab
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Operating System
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Microsoft Windows XP
Previous versions of Microsoft Windows
Computer Platform Report
Microsoft Excel 2003
Operating Systems Software
Operating System Software –
What is It?
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Used to control your computer
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Provides the interface with which you interact
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Starts up computer
Controls file storage
Controls processing
Controls hardware and software loaded on computer
Controls network connections
Responsible for desktop interface (graphical user
interface)
Whenever the computer is on, the operating
system is working
Operating System Software –
Where is It Stored?
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My Computer, Hard Drive, Windows
Folder
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Stored on hard drive
Look at the Properties of the
Windows Folder
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Takes up a lot of hard drive space
Many different support files and folders
Operating System Software –
Where is it When It’s Running?
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Windows Task Manager - Ctrl-Alt-Del
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Applications currently running tab
This is where you see what applications are
currently running on your computer
 All of the currently running programs are
allocated space in memory (RAM) and
processor time
 OS not listed
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Operating System Software –
Where is it When It’s Running?
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Processes tab
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Each currently running application and the operating
system are made up of processes that are assigned
space in memory and processor time
16 of 30 currently running processes on the computer
I used to prepare this lecture were devoted to the
operating system
Total memory usage: 58, 216 KB
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How many MB’s is this?
How many MB’s of RAM do you have on a typical PC?
Operating System Software –
Where is it When It’s Running?
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Performance Tab
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Totals for
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Physical memory (amount of RAM installed on
your computer)
Kernel memory (amount of memory devoted to
the operating system)
Commit charge (amount of memory being used by
both applications and operating system)
The Windows Operating
System is Big!
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It takes up a lot of room on your hard
drive
It takes up a lot of room in memory
It takes up processor time
That’s why new versions of Windows
have recommendations regarding
processor speed, memory size, and
hard drive size
Operating System Alternatives
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Most PC’s come with Windows installed on them
(if they’re not Mac’s!)
A lot of people don’t like Windows. They think it’s
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Too big
Not secure enough
Has too many bugs (mistakes in its programming that
create problems for users)
Too expensive
You have to have some operating system running
your computer
What can you do?
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There are alternatives!
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One of them is Linux
Linux
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Free
Based on version of Unix (another operating
system that is often used on more powerful
computers)
Can come with different interfaces
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Graphical user interface (like Windows)
Command-line
Many free applications designed to work with the
Linux operating system
Not supported at ND
That means that no one at OIT will help you with it
not that you can’t use it
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Operating System Software –
Commonly Used Features
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File management
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Every time you open, copy, or save a file the
operating system is involved
Controlling your computing environment
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You can adjust everything from your screen
saver to your keyboard sensitivity through the
control panel – your gateway to many
operating system functions
Operating System Software –
File Management
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The operating system is in charge of
all facets of file management
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It tells the computer what to do about
physical file management
It provides the interface for you to
logically manage files
Physical File Management
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The operating system assigns memory
(RAM) to applications that are currently
running on your computer and keeps track
of those memory locations (we saw this in
the task manager)
The operating system assigns storage
space and keeps track of where files and
applications are stored on your hard drive
Properties of Drives, Folders,
and Files
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Look at properties of C: drive. It shows
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What kind of file system the operating
system uses: NTFS
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Used to provide physical addresses for your files
and applications on your hard drive
How much of your hard drive is used/unused
Properties of Drives, Folders,
and Files
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C: drive properties (cont.)
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Gives you the option to
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Clean up your disk (compress old files, delete
temporary files, and unused program files)
Compress entire contents of disk to free up space
Allow indexing of files for fast search
De-fragment drive (puts files with parts stored
separately together to speed up access)
Share drives and files
Set access rights
Set security features (encrypt information)
Logical File Mangement
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Allows you to create, arrange, and store
files in a way that makes sense to you
It reflects human thinking about file
relationships and doesn’t have anything to
do with the physical storage of the files in
memory or on the hard drive
In Windows the logical file management
tool is windows explorer
Windows Explorer
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Allows you to see the logical organization
of your drives and files
You can
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View your files in a number of different ways
(View menu)
Arrange the files in a folder in a number of
different ways
Create new folders
Move or copy existing files and folders
Set folder options
Operating System Software –
Controlling Your Computing
Environment
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In the Windows operating system, the
control panel allows you to exert control
over many aspects of your computing
environment
Open the control panel from the start
menu
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You see a number of icons that let you set
various parameters on your computer
You will be working with the control panel
in your hands-on homework for this
lecture
Application Software
Application Software
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Allows you to perform specific kinds of
tasks, for example
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Written for specific operating systems
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Word processing
Internet browsing
MS Office won’t run on Linux
Stored on your computer’s hard drive
Allocated memory space and processor
time by operating system when you start
them up
Application Software at ND
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OIT maintains a web page that provides
information about the software available on
campus
The University buys site licenses for many
software applications so you can download them
onto your campus computer for free.
Here is a list of software that can be downloaded
or purchased for reduced cost at ND
OIT also provides support (meaning you can call
the help desk if you have problems) for many
software applications
Microsoft Campus Agreement 3.0
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Allows students to purchase the following
software for $45 each:
 Microsoft Windows XP Pro OS Upgrade
 Microsoft Office XP Professional or
Office 2003 Professional
 Office X or Office 2004 for Mac
 Microsoft Visual Studio.net Pro 2003
 Microsoft FrontPage 2003
Application Software Available on
Cluster Computers at ND
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OIT maintains a list of application software
available in the various clusters around
campus
History of Spreadsheet Application
Software for PC’s
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A Brief History of Spreadsheets
VisiCalc (late 1970’s)
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Lotus 1-2-3 (early 1980’s)
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Harvard B-School student wanted better way to do his accounting
homework (1978)
Wrote a program that became the first spreadsheet
Reference card instructions for VisiCalc
Developed by Mitch Kapor
Added integrated charting, plotting and database capabilities
First spreadsheet application widely used in business
MS Excel (mid 1980’s)
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Developed first for the 512 K Mac
Graphical user interface
Dominates spreadsheet application market share today
Microsoft Excel Application
Software
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Software application designed for data analysis
Developed by programmers at Microsoft
Compiled and burned onto cd’s (Open in NotePad
– binary code is unintelligible)
Sold with documentation at stores
Often purchased as part of the Microsoft Office
Suite along with Word, Powerpoint, Access, and
FrontPage
Licensed to organizations for a certain number of
users
Microsoft Excel Application
Software
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Excel 2003 requires
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233 Mhz or faster processor
128 MB RAM
150 MB of available hard drive space
You install the software from the cd
included with your purchase
It is stored on your hard drive as excel.exe
It is loaded into memory when you start it
up – can see it in task manager
Assigned Reading
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Read and use the software section of chapter 2 (pp. 67-92) in text
Following are questions that you should be sure you can answer based on your understanding of the text
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What is the difference between systems software (operating systems) and application software?
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What kinds of applications specifically support individuals vs. groups vs. enterprises?
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What is multi-tasking?
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What is time-sharing?
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What are the capabilities of workgroup operating systems and what are some of the most common ones?
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What are the capabilities of enterprise operating systems?
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What is the difference between proprietary, off-the-shelf, and customized application software?
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What are application service providers (ASP) and how can they help organizations manage their software
applications?
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What are the advantages vs. disadvantages of buying software suites?
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What kind of functionality does work group application software typically have?
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What is enterprise application software and what are some examples of this type of software?
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What is the purpose of programming languages?
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What are some of the different licensing strategies used by software manufacturers?