Contents
- Introduction to software:
- Types of Software:
- System Software
- Programming tools
- Application software
- System Software
- Operating System
- System Utilities
- Device Drivers
- Application Software
- General Purpose Software
- Customised Software
- Programming tools
- Proprietary Software
- Free and Open Source Software
Def: Software comprises of set of instructions which on execution deliver the desired outcome.
Need for Software:- Software makes computer hardware useful and operational.
- With software we can give instruction to the hardware
- Software helps in abstracting hardware complexity
- A Software is a collection of programs
- A program is a collection of instruction
Types of software: Based on the job performed by the software, the software are basicall grouped in 3 categories:
System Sotware: These type of software interact directly with the hardware and provides the basic functionality. It provides services directly to the end user or to other software.Examples of System Software- Operating System:
- System Utilities:
- Device Drivers:
The Operating System(OS) is the basic software that has to present on the system and gets loaded first before any other software. The OS acts as a resource manager.The operating system manages other application programs and provides access and security to the users of the system. Some of the popular operating systems are Windows, Linux, Macintosh, Ubuntu, Fedora, Android, iOS, etc.
Software used for maintenance and configuration of the computer system is called system utility. Some system utilities are shipped with the operating system, for example disk defragmentation tool, formatting utility, system restore utility, etc. Another set of utilities are those which are not shipped with the operating system but are required to improve the performance of the system, for example, anti-virus software, disk cleaner tool, disk compression software, etc.
the purpose of a device driver is to ensure proper functioning of a particular device(Graphics Card, Sound Card, NIC etc).The device driver acts as an interface between the device and the operating system. It provides required services by hiding the details of operations performed at the hardware level of the device.
These are the class of the software that makes the computer system productive. Application software works on top of system software. Example of application software are VLC, Microsoft Office, firefox etc.
Application software are classified into two broad categories
- General Purpose Software:
- Customized Application Software:
General Purpose Software:
The application software developed for generic applications, to cater to a bigger audience in general are called general purpose software. Such ready-made application software can be used by end users as per their requirements. Example- VLC media player, Google Chrome, WPS Office package etc
Customized Application Software:
These are custom or tailor-made application software, that are developed to meet the requirements of a specific organisation or an individual.Example: websites, school management software, accounting software, etc.
Proprietary software, also known as non-free software, or closed-source software, is computer software for which the software's publisher or another person retains intellectual property rights—usually copyright of the source code, but sometimes patent rights. These software have to purchased. Example: Microsoft office, abode photoshop etc
Free and Open Source Software(FOSS):
Developers of some software allow public to freely use their software along with source code with an aim to improve further with each other’s help. Such software is known as Free and Open Source Software (FOSS).These software are FREE to use and does not require any payment.Examples of FOSS include Python, Libreoffice, Openoffice, Mozilla Firefox, etc
- References:
- NCERT for class 11