Software - Software is a set of instructions or programs written by programmers/developers

on various languages for computer to perform some specific tasks.

There are two main types of software: System Software and Application Software

1) System Software - It is a base for application software which is responsible for managing
hardware.

- System Software provides a platform to run computer’s hardware and computer application
to utilize system resources and solve their computation problem.

- It is written in a low-level language, like assembly language so it can easily interact with
hardware with basic level. It controls working of peripheral devices.
- In other words, we can say that system software is an intermediator between user and
hardware. System software is also known as Operating System.
For Example - MS-Windows, UNIX, Linux, Sun Solaris
2) Application Software - Application software is a collection of one or more programs used
to solve a specific task.

- Software used in banking industry, airline/railway reservation, generation of telephone or

electricity bills etc. all are application software.

- Application software can be used by users to complete Specific tasks, such as creating word
documents, Presentations, Graphics, sending email etc.

Popular examples of application software are the Microsoft office suite which includes Word,
Excel and PowerPoint. We have used these applications extensively. Internet explorer, Mozilla
Firefox is two applications used to access the internet.

The other two types of software based on source code are: Open Source Software and
Proprietary Software.

3) System Software - Software whose source code (the medium in which programmers create
and modify software) is freely available on the Internet.
The most well-known example of open source software is the Linux operating system.
4) Proprietary Software - Proprietary software is software that is owned by an individual or a
company (usually the one that developed it). There are almost always major restrictions on
its use, and its source code is almost always kept secret.
- Source code is the form in which a program is originally written by a human using a programming
language and prior to being converted to machine code which is directly readable by a computer's
CPU (central processing unit). It is necessary to have the source code in order to be able to modify or
improve a program.

- Software that is not a proprietary includes free software and public domain software. Free software,
which is generally the same as open source software, is available at no cost to everyone, and it can be
used by anyone for any purpose and with only very minimal restrictions.