GRADE 8-UNIT 2

UNIT 1

SOFTWARE

1.1 Type of Software

Software - A set of instructions, stored digitally within the computer's memory, which tells the computer system what to do.

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.

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.

1.2 More Key Terms to Understanding Software

·         Hardware: refers to objects that you can actually touch, like disks, disk drives, display screens, keyboards, printers, boards and chips.

·         Software: computer instructions or data. Anything that can be stored electronically is software.

·         Operating system: the most important program that runs on a computer. Every general-purpose computer must have an operating system to run other programs.

·         Malware: short for malicious software, software designed specifically to damage or disrupt a system, such as a virus or a Trojan horse.

How do you get software?

There are also millions of free software programs available that are separated into different categories.

·         Shareware or trial software is software that gives you a few days to try the software before you have to buy the program. After the trial time expires, you'll be asked to enter a code or to register the product before you can continue to use it.

·         Freeware is completely free software that never requires payment, as long as it is not modified.

·         Open source software is similar to freeware. Not only is the program given away for free, but the source code used to make the program is as well, allowing anyone to modify the program or view how it was created.

How do you use computer software?

Once the software is installed on the computer hard drive, the program can be used anytime by finding the program on the computer. On a Windows computer, a program icon is added to the Start Menu or Start Screen, depending on your version of Windows.

How to maintain software

After the software is installed on your computer, it may need to be updated to fix any found errors. Updating a program can be done using software patches. Once updates are installed any problems that may have been experienced in the program will no longer occur.

How is software created and how does it work?

A computer programmer (or several computer programmers) write the instructions using a programming language that tell the software how to function and what to do. Once the program has been completed, it is compiled into a language that the computer can understand.

When I save a document using my program, is that file also considered "software"?

When you create or edit a file using your software — a Microsoft Word document, for instance, or a Photoshop image — that file is considered a "resource" or "asset" used by the software. However, the file itself is not considered "software", even though it is an essential part of what your software is doing.

What was the first piece of computer software?

The first software program that was held in electronic memory was written by Tom Kilburn. The program calculated the highest factor of the integer 2^18 = 262,144 and was successfully executed on June 21st of 1948 at the University of Manchester. The computer that held that program was called the Small Scale Experimental Machine, otherwise known as the "Baby" computer. This "Manchester Baby" is widely celebrated as the birth of software.

1.3 Applicatiaons Sofwarte

Word Processor

A word processor is an electronic device or computer software application, that performs the task of composing, editing, formatting, and printing of documents.

The word processor was a stand-alone office machine in the 1960s, combining the keyboard text-entry and printing functions of an electric typewriter, with a recording unit, either tape or floppy disk (as used by the Wang machine) with a simple dedicated computer processor for the editing of text.^[1] Although features and designs varied among manufacturers and models, and new features were added as technology advanced, word processors typically featured a monochrome display and the ability to save documents on memory cards or diskettes. Later models introduced innovations such as spell-checking programs, and improved formatting options.

Microsoft Word is the most widely used word processing software according to a user tracking system built into the software. Microsoft estimates that roughly half a billion people use the Microsoft Office suite, which includes Word. Many other word processing applications exist, including WordPerfect (which dominated the market from the mid-1980s to early-1990s on computers running Microsoft's MS-DOS operating system, and still (2014) is favored for legal applications) and open source applications OpenOffice.org Writer, LibreOffice Writer, AbiWord, KWord, and LyX. Web-based word processors, such as Office Online or Google Docs are a relatively new category.

Spread Sheet

A spreadsheet is an interactive computer application for organization, analysis and storage of data in tabular form.^[1][2][3] Spreadsheets are developed as computerized simulations of paper accounting worksheets.^[4] The program operates on data entered in cells of a table. Each cell may contain either numeric or text data, or the results of formulas that automatically calculate and display a value based on the contents of other cells. A spreadsheet may also refer to one such electronic document.^[5][6][7]

LANPAR, available in 1969,^[8] was the first electronic spreadsheet on mainframe and time sharing computers. LANPAR was an acronym: LANguage for Programming Arrays at Random.^[8] VisiCalc was the first electronic spreadsheet on a microcomputer, and it helped turn the Apple II computer into a popular and widely used system. Lotus 1-2-3 was the leading spreadsheet when DOS was the dominant operating system. Excel now has the largest market share on the Windows and Macintosh platforms. A spreadsheet program is a standard feature of an office productivity suite; since the advent of web apps, office suites now also exist in web app form.

Desktop Publishing

Desktop publishing software is a tool for graphic designers and non-designers to create visual communications such as brochures, business cards, greeting cards, web pages, posters and more for professional or desktop printing as well as for online or on-screen electronic publishing.

Programs such as Adobe InDesign, Microsoft Publisher, QuarkXPress, Serif PagePlus and Scribus are examples of desktop publishing software.

Some of these are used by professional graphic designers and commercial printing technicians. Others are used  by office workers, teachers, students, small business owners and non-designers.

Grapichs Design

In computer graphics, graphics software refers to a program or collection of programs that enable a person to manipulate images or models visually on a computer.

Computer graphics can be classified into distinct categories: raster graphics and vector graphics, with further 2D and 3d variants. Many graphics programs focus exclusively on either vector or raster graphics, but there are a few that combine them in interesting ways. It is simple to convert from vector graphics to raster graphics, but going the other way is harder. Some software attempts to do this.

In addition to static graphics, there are animation and video editing software. Different types of software are often designed to edit different types of graphics such as video, photos, and drawings. The exact sources of graphics may vary for different tasks, but most can read and write files.

Most graphics programs have the ability to import and export one or more graphics file formats, including those formats written for a particular computer graphics program. Examples of such programs include GIMP, Adobe Photoshop, Pizap, Microsoft Publisher, Picasa, etc.