Software OCR Cambridge Nationals in ICT Level 1/2 © Hodder & Stoughton 2013

Software Software is the program code that causes or allows the computer to carry out tasks. Operating systems Utility software Application software Configuring software Software updates OCR Cambridge Nationals in ICT Level 1/2 © Hodder & Stoughton 2013

Operating systems Operating systems allow software to be run on a computer system and manage the hardware. A graphical user interface may be provided to allow users to have windows to view the tasks, icons to represent tasks or choices, menus to provide choices and a pointer that can be moved around the screen by e.g. a mouse or a touchscreen that can be controlled with fingers. OCR Cambridge Nationals in ICT Level 1/2 © Hodder & Stoughton 2013

Utility software Utility software adds new functions to the operating system. Printer drivers, disk management utilities and anti-virus software are all utilities. Peripheral devices often come with utilities that allow users to make full use of the device on their computer system. Scanner software allows all the functions of a scanner to be used. OCR Cambridge Nationals in ICT Level 1/2 © Hodder & Stoughton 2013

Application software Application software allows users to work and carry out tasks on their computer system. Application software includes: Word processors and desktop publishing software Spreadsheet and database software Multimedia software Presentation and slideshow software Photo-editing and graphics manipulation software Video-editing software Communications software Gaming software Web browsers Apps for portable devices OCR Cambridge Nationals in ICT Level 1/2 © Hodder & Stoughton 2013

Word processors and desktop publishing software Word processors and desktop publishing software enable users to create documents such as letters, newsletters, memos, and leaflets. OCR Cambridge Nationals in ICT Level 1/2 © Hodder & Stoughton 2013

Spreadsheet and database software Spreadsheet software enables users to manipulate numbers and database software allows users to store, edit, process and retrieve data. A set of relationships between tables in a database A spreadsheet worksheet ready for data to be entered OCR Cambridge Nationals in ICT Level 1/2 © Hodder & Stoughton 2013

Multimedia software This type of application allows different media to be combined into a presentation to an audience. Text Images Combined into multimedia Sounds Video OCR Cambridge Nationals in ICT Level 1/2 © Hodder & Stoughton 2013

Presentations and slideshow software This type of application allows different media to be combined into a slideshow presentation to an audience. Text Images Combined into a slideshow Sounds Video OCR Cambridge Nationals in ICT Level 1/2 © Hodder & Stoughton 2013

Photo-editing & graphics manipulation software This type of application software enables users to manipulate images such as photographs, or to create their own graphics. The image of the truck has been converted to greyscale and has had a few modern letterings removed so it can be used in an old-style poster. OCR Cambridge Nationals in ICT Level 1/2 © Hodder & Stoughton 2013

Video editing software This type of application allows users to edit video clips, and employ text, sound or visual effects to create a finished video. OCR Cambridge Nationals in ICT Level 1/2 © Hodder & Stoughton 2013

Communications software This type of application allows users to communicate with others to share information and files, or to chat using video and audio. File transfer via FTP Video chat via Skype or Google Talk OCR Cambridge Nationals in ICT Level 1/2 © Hodder & Stoughton 2013

Gaming software This type of application allows users to create, edit and play games. Most computer games are created by a group of programmers who develop different parts of the game which are then combined into the full game. Scratch is a programming language that makes it easy to create games, animations and stories. OCR Cambridge Nationals in ICT Level 1/2 © Hodder & Stoughton 2013

Web browsers This type of application allows users to view pages of information written in html code. Some browsers are shown here. They all do the same job, which is to display web pages. Google Chrome Microsoft Internet Explorer Mozilla Firefox Apple Safari OCR Cambridge Nationals in ICT Level 1/2 © Hodder & Stoughton 2013

HTML code <!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD HTML 4.01//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/html4/strict.dtd"> <html> <head> <meta content="text/html; charset=ISO-8859-1" http-equiv="content-type"> <title>home</title> </head> <body> <table style="text-align: left; width: 850px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 204);" border="0" cellpadding="2" cellspacing="2"> <tbody> <tr align="center"> <td style="width: 840px;"><span style="font-weight: bold; font-family: Helvetica,Arial,sans-serif;"> This is the code that web pages are written in. An excerpt from a typical page is shown here. OCR Cambridge Nationals in ICT Level 1/2 © Hodder & Stoughton 2013

Apps for portable devices These are software applications that run on smart phones, tablets and other portable devices. Apps are available for navigation, email, text messaging, and many other tasks such as monitoring heart rates, accessing social networks, online banking and shopping online. Apps are started by touching the icon on the screen. Facebook app OCR Cambridge Nationals in ICT Level 1/2 © Hodder & Stoughton 2013

Configuring software Software can be configured to suit the needs of the user. People with disabilities can make the computer easier to use. Click the image below for some suggestions: Personal settings can be adjusted: OCR Cambridge Nationals in ICT Level 1/2 © Hodder & Stoughton 2013

Software updates Updating software can add new functions, fix problems or ‘bugs’ in the software, fix security problems or change to a newer version of the software. Software can be updated automatically or manually. Automatic updates are especially important for security software or anti-virus software, which need to be constantly on guard for new threats. Manual updates allow the user to choose which updates to carry out, but the user may forget or miss important updates. OCR Cambridge Nationals in ICT Level 1/2 © Hodder & Stoughton 2013