SOFTWARE
• REFERS TO A COLLECTION OF INSTRUCTION, DATA OR PROGRAM THAT TELLS A COMPUTER HOW
TO PERFORM SPECIFIC TASK. UNLIKE HARDWARE, SOFTWARE IS INTANGIBLE AND EXIST AS CODE
OR PROGRAMS THAT ENABLE USERS TO INTERACT WITH THE HARDWARE AND PERFORM VARIOUS
OPERATION.
TYPES OF SOFTWARE
• SYSTEM SOFTWARE
• APPLICATIONS SOFTWARE
• DEVELOPMENT SOFTWARE
SYSTEM SOFTWARE
• IS A KIND OF SOFTWARE THAT MANAGES AND CONTROLS
COMPUTER HARDWARE, ENABLING OTHER SOFTWARES OR
APPLICATIONS TO RUN.
OPERATING SYSTEM (OS) – THE CORE SOFTWARE THAT MANAGE HARDWARE RESOURCES AND PROVIDES AN
INTERFACE FOR USERS AND OTHER SOFTWARES TO INTERACT WITH THE HARDWARE.
DEVICE DRIVERS – THESE PROGRAM ENABLE THE OS TO COMMUNICATE WITH HARDWARE DEVICES LIKE
PRINTER, GPU OR NETWORK CARDS.
UTILITIES – TOOLS THAT HELP MANAGE, MAINTAIN AND OPTIMIZE COMPUTER PERFORMANCE.
APPLICATION SOFTWARES
• REFERS TO A PROGRAM OR APPLICATIONS DESIGNED TO HELP
USERS PERFORM TASK OR ACTIVITIES ON A COMPUTER OR DEVICE.
PRODUCTIVITY SOFTWARE – APPLICATIONS HELP USERS CREATE AND MANAGE DOCUMENTS,
SPREADSHEETS, PRESENTATIONS AND OTHER CONTENT.
EXAMPLES : MICROSOFT EXCEL, WORD,POWERPOINT, GOOGLE DOCS, ETC.
MEDIA AND GRAPHIC SOFTWARE – PROGRAMS ARE USED FOR CREATING, EDITING AND
MANAGING MULTIMEDIA CONTENT LIKE IMAGE, AUDIO AND VIDEO.
EXAMPLES : ADOBE PHOTOSHOP, LIGHTROOM, PREMIERE PRO, CANVA,DAVINCI RESOLVE,
ETC.
WEB BROWSERS – PROGRAMS USED TO ACCESS AND NAVIGATE THE INTERNET, ALLOWING USERS
TO VIEW WEBSITES AND INTERACT WITH WEB CONTENT.
EXAMPLES: GOOGLE CHROME, MOZILLA FIREFOX, BRAVE , MICROSOFT EDGE, SAFARI, ETC.
APPLICATION SOFTWARES
ENTERTAINMENT AND GAMING SOFTWARES – SOFTWARE DESIGNED FOR
ENTERTAINMENT INCLUDING GAMES, MUSIC PLAYERS AND OTHER FORMS OF
INTERACTIVE MEDIA.
EXAMPLES: STEAM, SPOTIFY, EPIC GAMES STORE, NETFLEX, ETC.
COMMUNICATION SOFTWARES – APPLICATION ALLOWS USER TO SEND MESSAGES, MAKE
VIDEO CALLS AND COMMUNICATE WITH OTHERS OVER INTERNET.
EXAMPLES : WHATS APP, MESSENGER, SLACK, ZOOM, SKYPE, ETC.
FINANCIAL AND ACCOUTING SOFTWARES – APPLICATIONS USE TO MANAGE FINANCES,
ACCOUNTING AND OTHER BUSINESS-RELATED TASK.
EXAMPLES: QUICKBOOKS, XERO, MINT. ETC.
DEVELOPMENT SOFTWARE
• TOOLS AND PROGRAMS USED BY THE SOFTWARE DEVELOPERS TO
CREATE, TEST, DEBUG AND MAINTAIN SOFTWARE APPLICATIONS.
PROGRAMMING LANGUGAGES AND INTEGRATED DEVELOPMENT ENVIROMENTS – TOOLS THAT
ALLOWS DEVELOPER TO WRITE AND COMPILE CODE FOR CREATING OTHER SOFTWARES OR
APPLICATIONS.
EXAMPLES: PHYTON, JAVA, VISUAL STUDIO, C, C++, ETC.
DATABASE MANAGEMENT SYSTEM – SOFTWARE USED TO STORE, ORGANIZE AND RETRIEVE DATA.
EXAMPLES: MSQL, ORACLE, MICROSOFT SQL SERVER, ETC.
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