Computer software refers to a program (or a group of programs) that instructs the computer on what to do and how to operate. Software programs can provide one main task or multiple main tasks.
As an example, a program designed to edit digital photos has one key task (ie, allow photo editing); naturally, it would have numerous subtasks (ie red-eye removal, color correction functions, resizing, and cropping/cropping an image).
On the other hand, a computer’s operating system (a complex piece of software that basically drives and runs the entire computer) would carry out many main tasks, for example, handling input and output (i.e., the user typing a keyword or incoming audio). no speakers), memory allocation, managing computer hardware components (these are the electrical components that power a computer), and much more.
The software can be roughly grouped into two groups: software application and systems software. Essentially, software that facilitates only one main task (for example, photo-editing software as in the example above) would count as application software. This is in contrast to systems software, which refers to complex, multitasking programs that help run the entire system, much like an operating system.
These two main groups of software are discussed in more detail below:
application software
This is software that is installed on an operating system (see “System Software” below for more information). As mentioned above, this type of software tends to perform only one main task. Another example of application software would be a website browser – this is the program you are probably using right now to view this article. Examples of a browser include Internet Explorer, Google Chrome, and Mozilla Firefox. In short, its main task/function is to make it easy for you to navigate the Internet.
Other types of application software are as follows:
- word processing – this type of software allows you to write documents and letters. Examples include Microsoft Office Word and Open Office.
- anti virus software – This type of software helps protect your computer system against malicious threats such as viruses and malware. Examples include Norton Antivirus, Kaspersky Antivirus, and AVG Antivirus.
- photo editing – This type of software can be used to edit and manipulate photos and other digital images in various ways. Examples include Paint.net, Corel PaintShop Pro, and Adobe Photoshop.
systems software
This type of software is fairly accurately described as the very core of any computer system. Without systems software, a computer couldn’t really function. In short, it manages all aspects of a computer system, from how the hardware interacts with the software (‘drivers’) to providing the user with an interface and platform to interact with the system (‘operating system’). Tea OS – or ‘OS’ – is the software that loads after turning on the computer. It is where all the application software is installed. Examples of an operating system include Microsoft Windows (XP, Vista, 7, etc.), Linux (Ubuntu, CentOS), and Apple Mac OS X.
Other types of system software include device units (these make the hardware components work properly with the software and the computer system) and utilities (These are also called ‘utility tools’ and help to monitor, maintain, check and analyze different parts of a computer, such as ‘Task Manager’ and ‘Disk Defragmentation in Windows operating systems).