Software Types and Language Translators: Question 1

Worked solution

Step 1: Recall the difference between the two categories

System software provides the services that the computer itself requires in order to operate, including the operating system and utility software. Application software provides the services that the user wants, such as a program built for a specific job like taking orders or printing invoices.

Step 2: Classify each program

• The disk-cleanup utility maintains the computer by clearing temporary files, so it is utility software, a type of system software.
• The file manager is part of the operating system, giving the user an interface for organising files. It is system software.
• The printer driver lets the operating system communicate with a specific peripheral (the label printer). Managing peripherals and drivers is a job of the operating system, so this is system software too.
• The order-and-invoice program was written to do a job the shop’s user wants done: recording orders and printing invoices. It is not something the computer itself needs in order to run, so it is application software.

Step 3: Match the description to a program

Only the order-and-invoice program provides a service the user wants, rather than a service the computer needs. The other three programs all support the computer’s own operation, so they are system software (specifically, one piece of utility software and two features of the operating system).

Final answer

The application software is the custom order-and-invoice program, option D.