GCSE Computing/Software

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.