Podstawowe programy w systemach operacyjnych

Operating systems are systematically equipped with applications enabling additional functionality of the system. These programmes are installed along with an operating systemoperating systemoperating system on the initiative of a software provider. They can be divided into:

• utility software,

• application software,

• entertainment software.

Utility softwareutility softwareUtility software is a software designed to manage a computer system.

Application softwareapplication softwareApplication software is a software that supports performing specific tasks and finding solution to the problems of the user of a computer system. The application softwareapplication softwareapplication software includes:

• office applications,

• web browsers and graphics and audio editors,

• multimedia programmes,

• programmes supporting electronic mail, calendars and the management of contacts.

• Notepad is a simple text editortext editortext editor which was included already in the first version of the Windows system. It does not enable text formatting. As it does not add formatting tags to files, it is perfectly suitable for the edition of plain text files, e.g. system configuration files, programme files.

• Wordpad is a text editortext editortext editor that enables applying the basic options of text formatting. It is available in the Windows systems from Windows 95 onwards. It supports files saved in the RTF file format as a standard. From the version included in Windows 7 onwards it also supports the Office Open file formats: XML and ODF.

• Calculator is an application used to perform calculations on the computer. It offers several modes. The standard mode enables performing simple calculations. More advanced functions, like the trigonometric functions, exponentiation etc, are available in the scientific mode. The programmer mode offers numerical base conversions. The latest versions of the application enable new functions, e.g. unit conversion and currency conversion.

• Paint is a simple graphics editorgraphics editorgraphics editor for creating and processing raster graphics. It supports BMP files and can save and read graphics saved in compressed JPG, GIF or PNG files. Currenly in new Windows version Paint is replaced by Paint 3D, which offers many new brushes and tools that enable creating 2D and 3D drawings.

• Windows Media Player is an application used to play multimedia files:  video and audio. It supports standard music and video files typical for the computer and can also play classic CDs. It does not support DVD and Blu‑Ray. In order to play some file formats it is necessary to install additional codecs.

In the case of the Linux operating systems the situation is different. These systems are available in forms called Linux distributions. Each of them includes a different set of software. Of course the basic Windows applications have their most popular counterparts in these sets.

In the case of the Ubuntu distribution they are:

• Gedit - a simple text editortext editortext editor which does not enable text formatting. Its big advantage is a syntax colouring, for instance during writing the code of web pages in HTML. It also offers the spellcheck function.

• LibreOffice - a default office suite installed in Linux, a counterpart of Microsoft Office, including the LibreOffice Writer text editortext editortext editor, the LibreOffice Calc spreadsheet, the LibreOffice Impress presentation editor, and the LibreOffice Draw graphics editorgraphics editorgraphics editor.

• Calculator, an application for performing calculations in Linux, is very extensive and offers many modes. The basic mode enables performing elementary calculations: addition, subtraction, multiplication, division and extraction of a root. The advanced mode is complemented with scientific functions like the trigonometric functions, logarithms and modulus. The financial mode enables currency conversion in accordance with the exchange rates downloaded from the internet. The programming mode offers numerical base conversions and logical functions. The calculator also enables unit conversion for various applications, such as: area, volume, weight, time, temperature, digital data and currency.

• Gimp - an advanced graphics editorgraphics editorgraphics editor which is used to edit raster graphics. It enables for instance photo manipulation.

• Rhythmbox -- an application for playing audio files. It supports many popular music file formats, e.g. mp3, m4a. The programme enables also burning CDs, displaying album covers and creating playlists.

Every operating systemoperating systemoperating system has a set of built‑in applicationbuilt‑in applicationbuilt‑in application software. By using it you can write a text, draw a picture, perform calculations, play music, watch a film. Each operating system has its own set of such programmes.

Exercises

Glossary

Keywords

operating systemoperating systemoperating system

built‑in applicationbuilt‑in applicationbuilt‑in application

application softwareapplication softwareapplication software

utility softwareutility softwareutility software