Application Software

 Application software consists of programs

designed to make users more productive
and/or assist with personal tasks

To make business activities more efficient

To assist with graphics and multimedia projects

To support home, personal, and educational tasks

To facilitate communications

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Categories of Application Software

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 Application Software
 Available in a variety of forms:

Packaged Custom Web

software software application

Open source
Shareware Freeware
software

Public-domain
software

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 Packaged Software
 Also called commercial software
 Software that must be purchased
 Copyrighted retail software that meets the needs
of a wide variety of users, not just a single user or
company
 is an application that performs only one type of
task, such as a word processing program, a
graphics program, or an e-mail program
 might have many tools and features, but it
basically focuses on one type of task or a range of
related tasks.
 Packaged software is available in retail stores or
on the Web.
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 Custom Software
 Also called stand alone software
 Performs functions specific to a business or
industry
 Solves one type of problem
 Sometimes a company cannot find packaged
software that meets its unique requirements
 In this case, the company may use
programmers to develop tailor-made custom
software
 Usually costs more than packaged software.
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 Web Application
 A Web site that allows users to access and
interact with software from any computer or
device that is connected to the Internet
 Many Web sites provide free access to their
programs
 Some charge a fee
 Types of Web applications include e-mail, word
processing, tax preparation, and game
programs.

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 Open Source
 Programs distributed for use with source code
 Allows users to modify the software and
redistribution
 Software has no restrictions from the copyright
holder regarding modification of the software’s
internal instructions and its redistribution.
 Source code is available in editable formats, as
are the many development libraries that are
used to create applications
 Modifications and comments are welcome
 Linux and OpenOffice 7
 Shareware
 Gets its name from the fact that its developers
encourage users to share it with one another and
to try out the software before purchasing it
 Distributed free for trial period
 Try before you buy
 Typically, the user is allowed a certain number of
days to work with the software before registering
and/or paying for it
 May deactivate if not purchased
 In some cases, a scaled-down version of the
software is distributed free, and payment entitles
the user to the fully functional product.
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 Freeware
 Close cousin to shareware
 Copyrighted software provided at no cost by an
individual or a company that retains all rights to
the software.
 No obligation to purchase
 Donations often accepted
 Software may be distributed freely
 If you use shareware or freeware programs,
you must abide by the terms of a license that
prohibits you from making changes to the
software or selling it to someone else.
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 Public Domain
 Freeware with no copyright restrictions
 Donated for public use and has no copyright
restrictions. Anyone can copy or distribute
public-domain software to others at no cost
 No compensation is usually expected and the
source code is free for anyone to use for any
purpose whatever.

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 Software Suite
 A software suite is a collection of individual programs
available together as a unit
 Integrated tools that work together
 Solve many problems
 Lower cost and ease of use
 Software programs that are very commonly used—
such as word processing software, spreadsheets,
Web-authoring tools, and e-mail programs—are often
packaged together and sold as software suites.
 A software suite is a set of carefully integrated tools
that are designed to work together seamlessly
 Examples include the popular Microsoft Office family
of products—Word, Excel, Outlook, PowerPoint,
Access—as well as more special-purpose suites, like
the Corel family of graphics software
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 System Software
 System software serves as the interface
between the user, the application software, and
the computer’s hardware
 Programs that control the operations of the
computer
 Utility programs

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Application Software

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 Window
 A rectangular area of the screen that displays a
program, data, and/or information
 Title Bar, Status bar, Menu, Icon, Scroll Bar

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 Business Software
 Business software is application software that
assists people in becoming more effective and
efficient while performing business activities
Word
Spreadsheet Database Presentation
Processing

Personal Business Business

Note taking information software for software
manager phones suites

Enterprise
Project Document
Accounting computing
management management
software

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