The assignment enhances the acquisition of new knowledge through reading, research and practical work in class and at home. It requires critical thinking applied to real life tasks such as:

• analysis of user requirements and specifying evaluation criteria,

• multi-operating systems installations and comparative investigation of the two different Linux distributions and the Operating System (OS) of your choice (existing OS purchased with a computer such as Windows XP/7).

• ICT related troubleshooting and

• preparing professionally written reports.

It also involves and requires team work and the evidence of effective collaborative communication.

Instructions

Stage 1

1. Investigate implementation of Linux for home or small business use. Consider what can be the best for your interest, e.g. one computer for home Internet, study, work and experimenting with different tools. You may also consider to evaluate either purchasing a new computer(s) or to extend the functionality of existing one(s).

2. Choose the best available machine for multi-operating systems and tasks required.

3. Backup your data, defragment partitions and if necessary the OS and device drivers.

4. Test backup and restore of your data.

Note: Steps 2-4 are optional and applicable to e.g. home PC/laptop scenario. Because of the risk and extra time involved, optional steps are egligible for bonus marks - subject to quality of evidence.

Stage 2

1. Clearly define the purpose of the machine and each Operating System (OS) with security concerns comparing OS installations and the user privileges.

2. Install multi-operating systems residing on the same hard disk and configure it (e.g. a boot loader - GRUB, adding users/profiles and theme selection, removing guest account etc.). Practice your skills during the lab sessions.

3. Document your log - Task Sheet activity, with supporting evidence (e.g. screen-shots image files, commands, "how-to" descriptions, etc.) of:

a. achieved troubleshooting,

b. self critique,

c. lessons learned (to be documented in conclusion and future opportunities).

4. Install and test:

a. Application(s) of your choice.

b. Simple example scripts (SH - shell scripts and BAT - batch files) to automate the tasks of your choice. If possible, it is desired than the task automation is in accordance with the intended purpose of the installed OS.

Stage 3

1. Produce Topic Pros Cons matrix, select and justify the best multi-OS case study to be reported. Include this into the Appendix section of your report.

a. Organise, document and agree on team work (individual tasks, milestones, etc).

b. Optional self assessment (for cases where the team members failed to contribute equally). If this part is missing, an equal mark will be allocated to each team member.

2. Produce a professionally presented report adhering to Report Structure

3. Final improvements and Report finalisation.