1. Software
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2. 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
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3. 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.
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4. 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.
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5. 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
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6. Word processors and desktop publishing software
Word processors and desktop publishing software enable users to create documents such as letters, newsletters, memos, and leaflets.
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7. 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
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8. 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
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9. 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
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10. 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.
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11. 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.
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12. 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
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13. 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.
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14. 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
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15. HTML code
<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD HTML 4.01//EN" "
<html>
<head>
<meta content="text/html; charset=ISO "
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.
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16. Apps for portable devices
These are software applications that run on smart phones, tablets and other portable devices. Apps are available for navigation, , 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
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17. 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:
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18. 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.
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