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 perform Computer and Office
Applications simple 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.
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