Texas Instruments TravelMate 3000, User Manual

Page: 20 / 204

Learning About Software
A computer system needs software before it can carry out any useful task. Without
software, your computer is just a Collection of electrical components. In order to use
computer hardware for tasks like writing memos or balancing a checking account,
software is necessary.
Software is a series of instructions that direct the computer to perform specific tasks.
Generally, these instructions are loaded from a floppy diskette or your hard disk into main
memory where they remain until you exit the software program or turn off the computer.
Your computer needs three levels of software to function-an input/output system, an
operating system, and an application program.
q
The BIOS (basic input/output system) is stored in ROM on the system
board. The BIOS controls the input/output functions of the hardware
itself, according to information received from the operating system or
software program, also known as BIOS calls.
q
The operating system is a software program that manages the computer's
resources, such as disk drives and printers. By performing these general
routines, the operating system is the base on which application programs
run. The operating system for this computer is MS-DOS, version 4.01,
and is provided with some diskettes.
q
An application program is software that helps you perform business and
personal tasks such as word processing, spreadsheet analyses, and
graphics presentations. Almost all application programs written to run
under MS-DOS on IBM and compatible personal computers can be used
with the TravelMate 3000 Notebook Computer.
1-10 Taking a First Look