Different Types of Software

Here are some common types of software. Click on More » to see more information about
each type of software.

Type Operating systems

Examples Microsoft Windows. Linux. Macintosh OS X.

Purpose Control your computer.

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When you turn on a computer, the

operating system is usually the first piece
of software you see. It lets you install
software, organize your files, and tell your
hardware what to do. The operating
system keeps all your software and
hardware (such as your mouse or printer)
working together.

An operating system

Type Word processors

Examples Word. Corel WordPerfect. AbiWord.

Purpose Write essays, novels, reports, or other types of text.

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Word-processing software lets you fix
mistakes in your writing or rearrange text.
You can check your spelling or count how
many words you have entered. You can
decorate your text by making it bold,
changing its size, or using a different font.

A word processor

Type Spreadsheets

Examples Excel. Lotus 1-2-3. VisiCalc.

Purpose Track budgets or investments, or make other calculations.

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Spreadsheets have rows and columns, like an

accountant’s ledger. Calculations such as totals or
averages can be done automatically.

A spreadsheet

Type Presentation software

Examples PowerPoint.
Purpose Create slideshows for meetings.

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Presentations feature short notes,

pictures, and charts for an audience to
see. You can add sounds or animation to
make presentations more interesting.

Presentation software

Type Database management systems

Examples Access. Oracle. Sybase. 4th Dimension.

Purpose Organize and filter lists of data, such as addresses or inventories.

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A database contains information about groups

of things, such as people or books or sales. The
information is broken down into categories. For
example, a table of books might have
categories like title, author, publication date,
and number of pages.

A database management system helps you

search all the tables in a database to locate
specific data, summarize this data, or find
trends.
A database

Type Photo editors

Examples Photoshop. Fireworks. PhotoPaint. Gimp.

Purpose Change digital photos and other images.

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Photo editors allow you to make your

pictures brighter, emphasize a particular
colour, or add artistic effects, such as
blurs. You can fix common photography
problems, such as overexposure or red-
eye. You can also combine two or more
photos or erase unwanted parts of photos.

Photo editing software

Type Games

Examples The Sims. PacMan. Minesweeper.

Purpose Have fun playing or experiencing challenges.

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With the different games available you

can take the role of a race-car driver,
starship pilot, or army commander, or you
can play electronic versions of old
favourites, such as chess or solitaire.

A computer game

Type Desktop publishing

Examples PageMaker. InDesign. QuarkXPress.

Purpose Make a magazine, a poster, or an advertisement.

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Desktop publishing software lets you arrange

words and photos together, making layouts
that are ready for professional printing.

Desktop publishing software

Type Computer-aided design (CAD) software

Examples AutoCAD. SolidWorks. MicroStation.

Purpose Create blueprints or designs.

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With CAD software you can draw plans for

bridges, buildings, gardens, engines, bicycles,
or other objects and see what your design
might look like in the real world.

CAD software

Type Web browsers

Examples Internet Explorer. Netscape. Mozilla Firefox. Opera. Safari.

 Purpose View pages on the World Wide Web.

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You need a Web browser to visit Web

pages like the Amazon.com bookstore or
the CBC.ca news site. Web browsers store
the addresses of your favourite pages so
you can visit them again.

Firefox Web browser

Type E-mail clients

Examples Outlook. Eudora. Entourage.

Purpose Send letters and files to other people.

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E-mail clients also keep and organize the

messages you have sent or received. They
store the e-mail addresses of your friends
and colleagues.

An e-mail client

And these categories are just the beginning.

Programmers have also created software to do the following tasks:

 Organize employee schedules

 Encode messages to protect bank transactions and other private information
 Change speech into type
 Format screenplays
 Determine how to get the most lumber from a log
 Count down seconds, like an egg timer
 Create music CDs
 Block unwanted advertisements on the World Wide Web or in e-mail
 Keep track of airplane traffic
 Design Web sites
 Edit sound recordings
 Help create more software

You have probably thought of examples not mentioned yet.

The same computer could be used for thousands of different tasks, depending on what
software it runs.

Software components of a computer system have no physical presence, they are stored in digital
form within computer memory. There are different categories of software, including system
software, utilities and applications software. Software can also be described as being
either generic or bespoke.
System software is the software used to manage and control the hardware components and which
allow interaction between the hardware and the other types of software. The most obvious type of
system software is the computer's operating system but device drivers are also included within this
category.

Fig 1: a screenshot from a software application

Utility software is software such as anti-virus software, firewalls, disk defragmenters and so on
which helps to maintain and protect the computer system but does not directly interface with the
hardware.
Applications software (also known as 'apps') are designed to allow the user of the system
complete a specific task or set of tasks. They include programs such as web browsers, office
software, games and so on. They are usually the reason you bought the computer system in the first
place and aren't concerned with the management or maintenance of the system itself.
Any individual software package, whichever of the above types it falls into, can be either generic (or
'off-the-shelf') or it can be bespoke(custom-built). Generic software is mass produced with the
intention that it will be used by a wide variety of different users in a range of different situations.
Bespoke software is created for a specific purpose which will be used in a known environment.
Often generic software is used when there is a package available that meets the needs of the user.
Because it is used by many more people the cost of creating it is spread over a greater number of
people or organisations and so the cost to the individual is much lower. It also has the advantage
that it is available immediately there's no waiting time involved while the software package is
designed, created and tested. Bespoke software has the advantage that it can be tailor made to
exact specifications but it significantly more expensive and will take time to create.

ASCII - Binary
Character Table
Letter ASCII Code Binary Letter ASCII Code Binary

a 097 01100001 A 065 01000001

b 098 01100010 B 066 01000010

c 099 01100011 C 067 01000011

d 100 01100100 D 068 01000100

e 101 01100101 E 069 01000101

f 102 01100110 F 070 01000110

g 103 01100111 G 071 01000111

h 104 01101000 H 072 01001000

i 105 01101001 I 073 01001001

j 106 01101010 J 074 01001010

k 107 01101011 K 075 01001011

l 108 01101100 L 076 01001100

m 109 01101101 M 077 01001101

n 110 01101110 N 078 01001110

o 111 01101111 O 079 01001111

 p 112 01110000 P 080 01010000

q 113 01110001 Q 081 01010001

r 114 01110010 R 082 01010010

s 115 01110011 S 083 01010011

t 116 01110100 T 084 01010100

u 117 01110101 U 085 01010101

v 118 01110110 V 086 01010110

w 119 01110111 W 087 01010111

x 120 01111000 X 088 01011000

y 121 01111001 Y 089 01011001

z 122 01111010 Z 090 01011010

01011010

128 64 32 16 8 4 2 1