Computer Software and Their Types
Software is a series of instructions that tell a particular computer how to perform a certain task. The computer uses these instructions in order to perform the task. This is opposed to physical hardware, whereby the machine actually does the work and is assembled.
In this main article we are looking at end-user software. It is the software that end users use, such as word processing applications, entertainment or productivity tools, or games. Most of the time the application software is included with the computer, whereas the user software is sold by the manufacturer or third-party.
There are two main categories of computer system application software. The first is known as “hardware” and consists of various hardware components. The second type of application software is known as “software” and consists of non-hardware components. The hardware components of software include various microprocessors such as Intel, Motorola, Apple, ARM, MIPS, CISCO etc, random access memory (RAM), graphics card, hard disk, optical drive, input devices (joysticks, mouse, keyboards), output devices (heads, scanners, printers, USB’s) and many more.
On the other hand, there are three main categories of computer system software. The first is “hardware Embedded Systems”. This includes computer system applications that are loaded into an embedded system on a personal computer such as a PDA, smart phone or laptop. Examples of embedded systems are Bluetooth, WiFi etc. The second type of software is “software SaaS”. This includes software development applications that are hosted on the internet for a royalty fee, which can be accessed by anyone.
The third category is “operating systems”. This includes computer programs such as Windows, Linux etc that operate on the operating system. The operating systems provide the platform and applications developers use to develop computer programs and device drivers. So far, the three main operating systems are Windows 98, MacOS and UNIX.
These three categories of software differ in terms of how they get their functionality established and what they can do. But, all three have one thing in common. They allow for freedom in application development and provide a platform where a developer can explore different possibilities. The biggest advantage of free software is that it is available for any computer system. For example, you can download a particular type of free software to run on your Mac. So, if you wish to start your own software development company or just make better use of your computer, you can learn about these three major types of computer software and get started.