GNVQ ICT - Intermediate

Unit 3 - Hardware and Software

[ Unit 3 ]

Hyperlinks:

On this level:

Hardware
Software
Health and Safety
Macros
Website
Templates
The Test
2007 Tasks

On the level below:

SOFTWARE

You need to use the checklist shown below and make sure you know what each of the terms means.  Look up any information you need in the textbook or using www.webopaedia.com  

To download the software exercise click here

The Computer BIOS (Basic Input Output System)

Usually stored on read only memory (ROM) chips inside the main system unit.

The Operating System software

This is the first software to run and usually controls the way that files are saved, deleted, copied, printed etc.  It is also used to create folders/directories for work to be stored.  Examples include MS-Dos (Microsoft Disk Operating System); Windows XP; Windows 2000; Windows ME/98/95.

A GUI (Graphical User Interface)

Most of us are familiar with Windows XP, 95, 98 or ME.  This is an example of a GUI (graphical user interface) – it enables us to work using a mouse to move a POINTER on the screen – also you can select from MENUS and click ICONS with applications running in WINDOWS.  Sometimes a GUI is called a WIMP – see the words above shown in capital letters to see why!

Applications software

This includes everything that is used to carry out tasks on a computer system – including office applications such as word processing, desktop publishing, presentations, spreadsheets, databases, website design, email, web browsing, drawing, painting, photo editing, video editing, CAD etc. Each type of software has special features that make it suited to the tasks.  For example spreadsheet software can be used to create a model so that calculations can be carried out automatically.

You need to think carefully about the types of applications software which will be most suitable for a task.  For example, a single page advertisement for a leisure centre could be created using several different types of software application - but the MOST suitable application may be Desktop Publishing software - as it is best to use when combining text and graphics together on a page. 

Programming software

There are several programming languages that can be used to create the instructions needed for a computer application.  These include Visual Basic, Pascal etc.

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