Which type of software is permanently stored on a chip and is required before any other program can run?
- A.Application software
- B.Utility software
- C.Firmware
- D.Freeware
Correct answer
Explanation
The correct answer is C, firmware. Firmware is software written permanently into a read only memory chip at the time of manufacture. The BIOS on the motherboard is the standard example: it is the first code the processor executes when the machine is switched on, it runs the power on self test and it then calls the bootstrap loader, so nothing else can run before it.
Option A, application software, is written for a user task such as typing a document or preparing a spreadsheet, and it runs only after the operating system is already loaded. Option B, utility software, includes tools such as antivirus programs, disk defragmenters and file compressors; these are system software but they are stored on disk, not burnt into a chip. Option D, freeware, describes the price of a program rather than where it lives; freeware is software distributed free of cost and may be of any kind.
Read the full article: Software and Operating Systems: Types, Functions and MCQs
Practice Questions
View allWhich of the following is the core part of an operating system that always remains in main memory?
- A.Shell
- B.Kernel
- C.Compiler
- D.Loader
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The kernel is the central part of the operating system and is the portion that is loaded at boot time and stays resident in main memory for as long as the computer is running.
Read the full explanation →Which scheduling algorithm allots a fixed time slice to every process in rotation and is therefore used in time sharing systems?
- A.First Come First Served
- B.Shortest Job First
- C.Round Robin
- D.Priority scheduling
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In Round Robin scheduling every ready process is given the processor for a fixed period called the time quantum, and when that period expires the process is moved to the back of the queue and the next one is served.
Read the full explanation →UNIX operating system was developed in 1969 at which organisation?
- A.Bell Laboratories
- B.IBM
- C.Microsoft
- D.Apple
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UNIX was developed in 1969 at Bell Laboratories by Ken Thompson and Dennis Ritchie, and it became the model for almost every multi user operating system that followed.
Read the full explanation →The situation in which two processes each hold a resource the other needs and neither can proceed is called
- A.Thrashing
- B.Deadlock
- C.Spooling
- D.Fragmentation
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Deadlock is the state in which every process in a set is waiting for a resource that another process in the same set is holding, so none of them can ever move forward without the operating system stepping in.
Read the full explanation →Which of the following file systems is used by the Linux operating system?
- A.NTFS
- B.FAT32
- C.ext4
- D.exFAT
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The extended file system family, of which ext4 is the widely used member, was written for Linux and is the default arrangement for storing and naming files on a Linux disk.
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