interact. It does not necessarily need to used by and end-user, they mostly
run ‘in the background’ without the user knowing, these include anti-virus
software and communications software.
Application software (sometimes called end-user programs), these run
on top of the systems software, they are designed to be used by an end-
user, and these include such things as games, word processing software and
web browsers.
Systems Software
There are 5 different types of systems software; I will explain each
one below and give examples.
The Operating System is by far the biggest and most important
software for your computer. This piece of software is necessary if you want
to use your computer. The main purpose is that it brings the hardware and
software together and enables them to work together. Nowadays, they
have many more features such as a text editors, clock, and small games.
You will probably be most familiar with the operating system Microsoft
Windows. It is the most common operating system. There are other
operating systems that you could look at, another popular one is Linux, its
main advantage is that it’s free to download from the internet but operating
system lacks desktop applications such as presentation graphical software.
There are far too many operating Systems to mention, these are just the
two most commonly used operating systems. Whichever operating system
you decide to get will determine what applications can run on it. Windows has
the most available software to use so I would recommend this operating
system.
Utility programs help manage, maintain and control computer
resources. These programs are available to help you with the day-to-day
chores associated with personal computing and to keep your system running
at peak performance. Some utility programs come together with certain
operating system. Some examples of utility programs include:
* Virus scanning software
* Backup software
* Scandisk
* Disk defragmenter
* Deleting, renaming and copying of files
Compilers and Interpreters are types of software used to translate
the statements from a programming language to machine language.
Computers only understand one language, and that is a series of 1’s and 0’s.
It is very difficult to program software in machine language so programming
languages that are easier to understand and more like English we’re
introduced along with interpreters/compilers. Compilers differ from
Interpreters in that once a program has been compiled, it is saved in the
machine language and then that file can be run over and over without
needing to be compiled again. Interpreters do the same job however; it does
not save the file in its compiled format – if it ever needs to be run again it
must be interpreted (compiled) again.
Performance Monitoring Software is used to monitor the computer
components such as the processor, Hard Drive and the computers RAM.
These programs are useful to use if the computer is malfunctioning.
Performance monitoring software is used a lot on servers or mainframe
computers to fix any problems before it crashes.
Communications software is a special type of software that controls
and passes data from one computer to another. Types are called Point-to-
point protocol (PPP) and Serial Line IP (SLIP) these are commonly used with
the Internet and network connections.
Applications Software
Here are three different types of Applications software; below, I will
explain each one.
General Purpose Software or Generic Software is used a lot in the
day to day running of a business. There are five most commonly used, they
are; Word Processing, Spreadsheets, Database management systems, email
software and presentation graphical software. A lot of manufacturer’s offer
software suites, this is bought in one package and contains the 5 main
General Purpose Software. This is popular as you don’t need to buy the
individual software and it costs less.
An Integrated package incorporates the main general purpose
software into one package. When it is installed it is one software package, it
still has word processing software and spreadsheets etc. but they have less
functionality than the software suite; however, it is quite adequate for most
jobs. An example is Microsoft Works – this integrates spreadsheets and word
processing.
Specific Applications Software only does a specific job but it is well
suited to the task. Some examples are; payroll packages, these only are
used for payroll activities; software for hospital appointments, this is only
useful in a hospital – it would be useless in any other business.
If a business wanted a program to do a specific job they could do two
things:
One way is to get a programmer or companies that specialize in
designing software to make you specific application software. Once the
software has been designed and developed it is then sold to your business.
This is called Bespoke Software. This is an application or utility that is
designed or tailored for a business or person’s specific needs. The benefits of
this are that it is designed specifically for you, which should help improve
efficiency in your business. However, it is expensive.
The Second is to buy the product ‘Off the Shelf’ this is where the
product has already been made and you just buy from a shop ready made.
This is cheaper than bespoke software and you can be sure it has been
tested by many people but it might not be what you are looking for in a
software package.
I hope you found my report on the ‘Categories of Software’ useful in
explaining and choosing the right software for your business. There is,
however, far more information on the internet on types of software,
especially for operating systems.
Resources used:
‘Information and Communication Technology for AS level’ by Julian
Mott and Anne Leeming.
‘A Level Computing’ by P.M Heathcote
www.webopedia.com
www.getnetwise.org
