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CHAPTER 17 Management Information Systems 595

microseconds, millionths of a second, to nanoseconds, billionths of a second, to
picoseconds, trillionths of a second. To provide some perspective on these speeds,
consider that if a person could take one step per nanosecond, the person would
circle the earth about 20 times in one second. 2

Computer Software

Software is the entire set of programs, procedures, and related documentation software The entire set of programs,
associated with a system. Thus computer software is the detailed instructions that procedures, and related documentation
associated with a system
control the operation of a computer system. A software program is a specific set of
computer software The detailed
statements to direct and control computer hardware. The creation of software pro-
instructions that control the operation of
grams is called programming, and the individuals who perform this task are called a computer system
programmers. Computer software can be system software or application software. software program A specific set of
System software is a set of software programs that manage and support the opera- statements to direct and control
computer hardware
tions of the computer system. Programmers who write system software are called
system software The set of software
system programmers. Application software is a set of software programs that direct
programs that manage and support the
the computer to perform an information-processing task specified by end users. operations of a computer system
Programmers who write application software are called application programmers. application software The set of
The end user interacts with the application software, the application software inter- software programs that direct the
acts with the system software, and the system software interacts with the computer computer to perform an information-
processing task specified by end users
hardware. The most well-known type of system software is the operating system. An
operating system is the software program that manages and controls the activities operating system The software program
of the computer. The operating system helps the computer to operate in the most that manages and controls the activities
of the computer
efficient way. For example, the operating system allocates primary storage for pro-
grams, controls the printer, schedules the execution of different programs, and
keeps track of who is using the computer system. The most popular operating
systems are Windows in its 98, NT, Me, 2000, and XP versions; Unix; Linux; and Mac
OS. Other types of system software are performance monitors, security monitors,
and system utilities.

In November 2002, an employee
walks by the Earth Simulator in
Yokohama, southeast of Tokyo,
Japan. The Earth Simulator is the
fastest supercomputer in the world,
running 35.6 trillion calculations per
second.

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