COMPUTER SOFTWARE

What is Software?
• Software is the combination of instructions to
perform the specific task.
• Software tells the computer what to do and
how to do.
• A computer performs different operations
according to the instruction of software.
• Software is developed in a computer
programming language.
 Types of Software
Software can be classified into following two
main categories or types:

1- System Software
2- Application Software
 System Software
• A program that is especially designed to control different
operations of computer system is called system software.
• The system also enables the other application programs to
execute properly
• Operating systems, utility programs, and device drivers are
the examples of system software.
• Operating system is the main and most popular type of
system software.
 Application Software
• A program or set of programs that are especially designed to
solve the specific problems of users, are called application
software. It is also known as software package
• Example: scientific software, financial packages, Games,
multimedia software.
Categories of Application software
• The Application software is divided into two
main categories

1- Custom-built software
2- Packaged software
 Custom-built software
• The software that is developed for a particular
customer or organization is called custom-built
software.
• It is also known as customized software.
• example: software developed to maintain the
records of students of a particular collage
 Packaged Software
• The software that is developed for sale to the general public is
called packaged software.
• Packaged software is used to solve some common problem of
many people or users
• Some examples of packaged software are ;
1- Word processor such as MS-Word
2- Spreadsheet such as MS-Excel
3- Database software such as MS-Access
4- Graphic software such as Adobe Photoshop
 What is an operating system?
• An operating system is the most important software that
runs on a computer.
• It manages the computer's memory, processes, and all of its
software and hardware.
• It also allows you to communicate with the computer without
knowing how to speak the computer's language.
• Without an operating system, a computer is useless.
 The operating system's job
• Your computer's operating system (OS) manages all of
the software and hardware on the computer.
• Most of the time, there are many different computer
programs running at the same time, and they all need to
access your CPU,
memory, and storage.
• The operating system
coordinates all of this
to make sure each
program gets what it
needs.
 EXAMPLES
• The three most common operating systems
for personal computers are Microsoft
Windows, Apple Mac OS X, and Linux.
• Modern operating systems use a graphical user
interface(GUI) .
• A GUI lets you use your mouse to click icons, buttons,
and menus, and everything is clearly displayed on the screen
using a combination of graphics and text.
• Before GUIs, computers had a command-line interface(CLI),
which meant users had to type every single command to the
computer and the computer would only display text.
 Microsoft Windows
• Microsoft created the Windows operating system in the mid-
1980s.
• The most recent ones are Windows 8 (released in
2012), Windows 7 (2009), and Windows Vista (2007).
• Different editions of Windows, such as Home
Premium, Professional, and Ultimate.