Computers Tools for an Information Age Software Systems and Applications

Software Systems and Applications

Application Software Application software refers to programs that enable the user to be productive when using the computer. Two categories of application programs: Horizontal applications Vertical applications

Horizontal Applications Horizontal applications– Are used across the divisions of a company and are popular with consumers. Internet Personal Productivity Web Browsers E-Mail Word Processing Spreadsheets Address Books Home/Education Personal Finance Tax Preparation Desktop Publishing Reference Games Multimedia/Graphics Desktop Publishing Photo Editing 3D Rendering

Horizontal Applications Word Processor Spreadsheet Database

Vertical Applications Vertical applications– Are used for a particular line of business. Types of vertical applications: Billing programs Inventory tracking programs Point of Sale software Custom software

Commercial Software, Shareware, and Freeware Most computer software is copyrighted, which means that an individual can not copy, alter, or use software on more than one computer. Types of copyrighted software: Commercial– Buy before using it Shareware– Try it before you buy it Freeware– Free software, but it can’t be copied and sold

Commercial Software, Shareware, and Freeware Public domain software– Is not copyrighted. No restrictions for using, copying, altering, and selling the software. Time-limited trial version– Program that can be installed for free but will expire when the trial period ends. Beta version– A preliminary version of a program that is being tested. Copy protected– A program with a protective measure that prohibits unauthorized copies.

Software Licenses A software license gives the user the right to install and use the program on one computer. Installing a program on more than one computer requires a site license.

Software Version Software producers include a version number with their products. Version numbers are used to identify the release of the program being used. Recent releases have numbers greater than earlier releases (Recent Ver. 6.0; Earlier Ver. 1.0). Whole numbers are major revisions (1.0, 2.0, 3.0, etc.). Decimal numbers refer to maintenance releases or updates and fixes (1.1, 1.2, 1.3, etc.).

Using Application Software Installing Applications: Install the software on the hard drive. Installation utilities guide you through the process. Installation changes the registry of the OS. Use an uninstall utility to remove a program from the hard drive. Do not just delete a program from your files.

Help Menu The help menu provides options available for using the program.

Using Wizards A wizard is a series of dialog boxes that guides you through a step-by-step procedure.