What is Software?

A description for the new computer user

 

Software is the computer instructions or data that does real work for users. Without software, computers are useless.

 

Software can be divided into two groups: applications software and systems software.

 

• Applications software is designed for the computer user. Applications are large programs that perform a variety of functions for the user that are not directly related to managing the computer’s resources. Applications software includes
• Word processors
• Spreadsheet programs
• Database management programs.
• Systems software communicates with the computer hardware at a very basic level. Systems software includes
• The operating system (such as Windows or Mac OS). It is the master control program that coordinates the operations of the hardware and software so that they perform quickly and efficiently. The operating system provides the user interface (display on the computer monitor), shares the hardware among programs, and enables the computer to access input and output devices such as keyboards, joysticks, monitors, printers, and modems.
• Utilities (such as disk drivers, video drivers, or printer drivers). Utilities are programs that perform very specific tasks in managing the computer’s resources. Utilities differ from applications in terms of size, complexity and function.

 

 

What is the difference between

Software and Hardware?

A description for the new computer user

 

The difference between software and hardware is sometimes confusing. Software is the computer instructions or data. Software exists as ideas, concepts, and symbols, but it has no substance. In contrast, hardware refers to objects that you can touch, like disks, disk drives, keyboards, monitors, and printers.  When you purchase a program, you are buying software. But to buy the software, you need to buy the disk (hardware) on which the software is recorded.

 

Webopedia.com <http://www.pcwebopedia.com> explains the difference this way:

 

Books provide a useful analogy. The pages and the ink are the hardware, while the words, sentences, paragraphs, and the overall meaning are the software. A computer without software is like a book full of blank pages -- you need software to make the computer useful just as you need words to make a book meaningful.