EXCEL

            I learned how to use Excel in this class (being an older student, I had not had the opportunity to learn this software program before) and was very impressed with how powerful it (and spreadsheets in general) are.  I particularly like how quickly financial information can be updated by just making minor changes to a spreadsheet that has already been created.  I plan to use Excel in the future to help keep track of my finances.

Answer to Question #5 on Homework

   Question #5:

            An operating system is the software that communicates with the computer hardware on the most basic level.  It is the master control program of the computer and begins to run as soon as the computer is turned on.  It continues to run in the background until the computer is turned off.  It is responsible for the user interface, controlling input and output, allocating system resources (including memory, processor time, and disk space), keeping track of files and directories, supervising the installation and running of other programs, and providing networking functions.  There are 4 general types of operating systems:

1.      Real-Time Operating System (RTOS) – this type of operating system is used to control machinery or scientific instruments;  its main purpose is to manage the computer’s resources so that an operation is executed in the same way, in the same time period, every time it occurs

2.      Single-User, Single Task – this type of operating system is designed to allow one user to do one thing at a time

3.      Single-User, Multi-tasking – this type of operating system allows a single user to be working with several programs simultaneously

4.      Multi-User – this type of operating system allows many users to use the computer’s resources at the same time;  this operating system has to balance the needs of all the users and their programs so that one user’s activities don’t negatively affect all the other users on the system

The sites from which I obtained information in order to answer this question are as follows:

http://www.businessdictionary.com/definition/operating-system-OS.html

http://computer.howstuffworks.com/operating-system3.html