Computer Software

Computer Software

Computer software is the set of programs that makes the hardware perform a set of tasks in particular order. Hardware and software are complimentary to each other. Both have to work together to produce meaningful results. Computer software is classified into two broad categories; system software and application software.

System Software

System software consists of a group of programs that control the operations of a computer equipment including functions like managing memory, managing peripherals, loading, storing, and is an interface between the application programs and the computer. MS DOS (Microsoft’s Disk Operating System), UNIX are examples of system software.

Application software

Software that can perform a specific task for the user, such as word processing, accounting, budgeting or payroll, fall under the category of application software. Word processors, spreadsheets, database management systems are all examples of general purpose application software.

Types of application software are

» Word processing software
The main purpose of this software is to produce documents. MS-Word, Word Pad, Notepad and some other text editors are some of the examples of word processing software.

» Database software
Database is a collection of related data. The purpose of this software is to organize and manage data. The advantage of this software is that you can change the way data is stored and displayed. MS access, dBase, FoxPro, Paradox, and Oracle are some of the examples of database software. » Spread sheet software
The spread sheet software is used to maintain budget, financial statements, grade sheets, and sales records. The purpose of this software is organizing numbers. It also allows the users to performsimple or complex calculations on the numbers entered in rows and columns. MS-Excel is one of the example of spreadsheet software.

» Presentation software
This software is used to display the information in the form of slide show. The three main functions of presentation software is editing that allows insertion and formatting of text, including graphics in the text and executing the slide shows. The best example for this type of application software is Microsoft PowerPoint.

» Multimedia software
Media players and real players are the examples of multimedia software. This software will allow the user to create audio and videos. The different forms of multimedia software are audio converters, players, burners, video encoders and decoders.