411 REFERENCE · Wikibooks
GCSE Computing/Software
Reference material by Wikibooks contributors. This retains its source identity and is not 411 news reporting.
What you need to know
Candidates should be able to:
(a) explain the need for the following functions of an operating system:
user interface,
memory management,
peripheral management,
multi-tasking,
security
(b) describe the purpose and use of common utility programs for:
computer security (antivirus, spyware protection and firewalls),
disk organisation (formatting, file transfer, and defragmentation),
system maintenance (system information and diagnosis, system cleanup tools, automatic updating)
(c) discuss the relative merits of
custom written software,
off the shelf software,
open source software,
proprietary software.