System software

Name:

Date:

Class:

Quick Questions

Shade in the A or B circle for each question.

1. Which statement describes system software?

A Software that lets a user do a task such as writing an essay

B Software that provides the services the computer itself needs to run

2. Which of these is an example of system software?

A Operating system

B Word processor

3. Utility software is a type of system software.

A False

B True

4. Which pair is made up only of system software?

A Operating system and disk defragmenter

B Operating system and web browser

5. System software often does its work in the background without the user asking.

A True

B False

Match the Pairs

Draw a line connecting each item on the left to its match on the right.

Left column		Right column
1system software		AA word processor and a web browser are application software that help the user do tasks. They are not system software. Examples of system software are the operating system and utility software.
2operating system		BSoftware that provides the services the computer itself needs to run, such as the operating system and utility software
3Utility software is system software because it looks after and maintains the computer, for example by protecting it or organising its storage		CThis is wrong because system software often runs in the background without the user asking for it, such as a firewall or the operating system managing memory.
4System software often runs in the background without the user asking for it, such as an antivirus scan or a firewall		Dsystem_software = ["operating system", "utility software"]
5system_software = ["word processor", "web browser"]		Eantivirus.scan(background=True)
6if system_software == "user must start it every time":		FA type of system software that manages the hardware, memory, files and users so the computer can run

Definitions

system software

Fill in the Blanks

Complete each line of code by filling in the missing parts.

OUTPUT "Operating system is ______ software"

softwareType ← "system software" OUTPUT ____________

IF program = "antivirus" THEN category ← "system software" _____

OUTPUT "Utilities run in the __________"

types ← ["operating system", "_______"]

Spot the Error

Shade in the letter of the line that contains an error.

Question 1

A system_software = []

B system_software.append("OS")

C system_software.append("antivirus")

D print(system_software

Question 2

A software = "antivirus"

B if software == "antivirus":

C kind = "system"

D print("User starts it")

Question 3

A s = "operating system"

B if s == "operating system":

C kind = "application"

D print(kind + " software")

Question 4

A utility = True

B os = False

C system = utility and os

D print(system)

Question 5

A def is_system(software):

B types = ["OS", "utility"]

C return software == types

D print(is_system("OS"))

Answer Key

System software

Section A: Quick Questions

B — Software that provides the services the computer itself needs to run

A — Operating system

B — True

A — Operating system and disk defragmenter

A — True

Section B: Match the Pairs

system software → Software that provides the services the computer itself needs to run, such as the operating system and utility software

operating system → A type of system software that manages the hardware, memory, files and users so the computer can run

Utility software is system software because it looks after and maintains the computer, for example by protecting it or organising its storage → system_software = ["operating system", "utility software"]

System software often runs in the background without the user asking for it, such as an antivirus scan or a firewall → antivirus.scan(background=True)

system_software = ["word processor", "web browser"] → A word processor and a web browser are application software that help the user do tasks. They are not system software. Examples of system software are the operating system and utility software.

if system_software == "user must start it every time": → This is wrong because system software often runs in the background without the user asking for it, such as a firewall or the operating system managing memory.

Section C: Definitions

system software — Software that provides the services the computer needs to run, such as the operating system and utility software, often working in the background without the user asking.

Section D: Fill in the Blanks

OUTPUT "Operating system is system software"

softwareType ← "system software"
OUTPUT softwareType

IF program = "antivirus" THEN
   category ← "system software"
ENDIF

OUTPUT "Utilities run in the background"

types ← ["operating system", "utility"]

Section E: Spot the Error

D — The print call is missing its closing bracket. It should be print(system_software).

D — System software such as antivirus often runs in the background without the user asking. The message should say it runs quietly, not that the user starts it.

C — The operating system is system software, not application software. The line should be kind = "system".

C — Software is system software if it is the operating system OR utility software. Using and needs both, so it wrongly gives False for a utility. It should be utility or os.

C — A string can never equal a whole list, so this always returns False. To check whether the software is in the list of system software types, use in.