UNIT – I

COMPUTERS IN BUSINESS:

Computers Are Used for Communication in Business

When it comes to establishing contact with clients, computers are a vital tool. This is a very important
computer application in business, enabling a business to communicate with its clients via email, Skype,
collaboration software, and via various other communication solutions that a business might wish to
use.

When a business can keep in touch with its clients, it becomes easier for the clients to make inquiries of
the business or to ask for more information about the services and products. It also becomes easier for
the business to offer customer support to its clients in a timely, efficient manner.

Computers Are Used for Marketing

Computers allow a business to perform a variety of tasks. With the help of the internet, computers help
put a business on the map. The business can create ads to run on websites and social media platforms,
using special software. The computer is likely the greatest marketing device ever built!

Computers Are Used for Accounting

Accounting software enables a business to quickly and accurately obtain large- and small-scale pictures
of the company's financial situation. Computers also involves tasks such as invoicing clients; maintaining
data about debtors and creditors; calculating payroll, calculating and filing tax forms, as well as for a lot
of other functions.

Computers Are Used for Educational Purposes

Computers can be used to educate employees. A business can use a computer to educate the
employees on such things as the company policy, software use, as well as standard procedures and
safety.

Computers Are Used to Produce Documents

Most businesses will need to produce numerous documents, either in the form of written documents or
spreadsheets. Computers provide word processors and spreadsheet software to help with this.

Elements of a Computer System:

A computer system is a set of six elements viz.:

(ii) Software,

(iii) People

(iv) Procedures,

(v) Data and

(vi) Connectivity

(i) Hardware:

The physical components of a computer are considered as Hardware. These include keyboard, mouse,
monitor and processor. Hardware consists of input devices and output devices that make a complete
computer system.

Examples of input devices are keyboard, mouse and joystick which are used to enter data into the
computer. Output devices such as monitor and printer are used to get the output from the computer.

(ii) Software:

A set of programs that form an interface between the hardware and the user of a computer system are
referred to as Software.

There are two main types of computer software:

System Software - The software that comes with the computer system, which is used by the computer
for its work, called system software. For example: Windows, macOS, Android.

Application Software - The software that we use according to the need, that software are called
applications software. There are many types of application software, for example: Antivirus softwares,
MS Office, web browser, etc.

(iii) People:

The most important element of a computer system is its users. The following types of people interact
with a computer system:

(a) System Analysts: People who design the operation and processing of the system.

(b) System Programmers: People who write codes and programs to implement the working of the
system

(c) System Operators: People who operate the system and use it for different purposes. These are also
called the end users.
(iv) Procedures:

Procedure is a step by step series of instructions to perform a specific function and achieve desired
output.

(v) Data:

The facts and figures that are fed into a computer for further processing are called data. Processed and
useful data is called information which is used for decision making.

(vi) Connectivity:

When two or more computers are connected to each other, they can share information and resources
such as sharing of files (data/music etc.), sharing of printer, sharing of facilities like the internet etc.

Software Package:

A software package is a group of programs which are bundled together to serve a common purpose. The
products in the package may include executable programs, program documentation and, in some cases,
example files that show how the various components work.

Types of software packages-

A software package typically contains related programs that can perform different functions. For
example, Microsoft Office is a software package that includes programs for creating, editing and viewing
documents (Word), spreadsheets (Excel), presentations (PowerPoint) and email (Outlook).

Some software packages contain one main application and multiple smaller, complementary programs
that are bundled in the primary application. Because these packages are relatively easy to install and
use, they are accessible to a broad range of users.

Other packages include multiple executable components, each with its own specialized function.

Operating System:

An operating system is the fundamental basis of all other application programs. Operating system is an
intermediary between the users and the hardware.

Operating system controls and coordinates the use of hardware among application programs. The major
services of an operating system are −

 Memory management
 Disk access
  Creating user interface
 Managing the different programs operating parallel

Types of Operating System:

 Disk Operating System (DOS)

Disk Operating System:

MS-DOS is one of the oldest and widely used operating system. DOS is a set of computer programs, the
major functions of which are file management, allocation of system resources, providing essential
features to control hardware devices.

DOS commands can be typed in either upper case or lower case.

Following are the significant features of DOS −

 It is a single user system.

Types of DOS Commands

Following are the major types of DOS Command −

Internal Commands − Commands such as DEL, COPY, TYPE, etc. are the internal commands that remain
stored in computer memory.

External Commands − Commands like FORMAT, DISKCOPY, etc. are the external commands and remain
stored on the disk.

Windows Operating System:

The operating system window is the extension of the disk operating system. It is the most popular and
simplest operating system.

However, the Windows Operating System requires DOS to run the various application programs initially.
Because of this reason, DOS should be installed into the memory and then window can be executed.

Following are the significant element of Windows Operating System (WOS) −