How to use software

What Is Software?

Learn more about what software is and what it can do

Software, in broad terms, is a set of instructions (generally referred to as «code») that’s positioned between you and the device’s hardware, enabling you to use it.

What Is Computer Software?

But what is computer software, really? It’s an invisible component of a computer system that makes it possible for you to interact with the computer’s physical components. Software allows you to communicate with smartphones, tablets, game boxes, media players, and similar devices.

It’s important to note that there’s a distinct difference between hardware and software. Software is an intangible resource. You can’t hold it in your hands. Hardware consists of tangible resources such as mice, keyboards, USB ports, CPUs, memory, and printers. Phones are hardware. iPads, Kindles, and Fire TV sticks are hardware. Hardware and software work together to make a system functional.

Types of Software

While all software is software, your day-to-day use of software likely comes in two ways: one is the system software, and the other is as an application.

The Windows operating system is an example of system software and comes preinstalled on Windows computers. It’s what lets you interact with the physical computer system. Without this software, you couldn’t turn on your computer, get into Windows, and access the Desktop. All smart devices have system software, including iPhone and Android devices. Again, this type of software is what runs the device and enables you to use it.

Application software is the second type and is more about the user than the system. Application software is what you use to do work, access media, or play games. It’s often preinstalled with the operating system by computer manufacturers and may include music players, office suites, and photo editing apps. Users can also install compatible third-party software.

Examples of application software include Microsoft Word, Adobe Reader, Google Chrome, Netflix, and Spotify. There’s anti-virus software too, at least for computer systems. Finally, apps are software. Windows 8 and 10 support apps, as do all smartphones and tablets.

Stand-Alone Software

Many types of software are considered stand-alone software, meaning that the software is not part of a bundle and can run separately from other programs on your device. Some stand-alone software runs on its own using a flash or disk drive; other types don’t require internet connections and rely on the manufacturer’s disks instead. Some software, however, is dependent upon an operating system or needs access to other programs on the device to run correctly.

Who Creates Software?

The definition of software implies that someone must sit at a computer somewhere and write the computer code for it. It’s true; there are independent coding experts, teams of engineers, and large corporations creating software and vying for your attention.

Adobe makes Adobe Reader and Adobe Photoshop; Microsoft makes the Microsoft Office Suite; McAfee makes anti-virus software; Mozilla makes Firefox; Apple makes iOS. Third parties make apps for Windows, iOS, Android, and more. People are writing software all over the world right now.

How to Get Software

Operating systems come with some software already installed. In Windows 10, there’s the Microsoft Edge web browser, for instance, and applications like WordPad and Fresh Paint. In iOS, there are Photos, Weather, Calendar, and Clock apps (software). If your device doesn’t have all of the software you need, you can add more.

One way a lot of people add software is by downloading it from specific stores. On the iPhone, for example, people download apps from the App Store, and on the Android, people download apps from Google Play. Apps are software, perhaps with a friendlier name.

Another way people add software to their computers is via physical media such as a DVD.

Software

Sometimes abbreviated as SW and S/W, software is a collection of instructions that enable the user to interact with a computer, its hardware, or perform tasks. Without software, most computers would be useless. For example, without your Internet browser software, you could not surf the Internet or read this page. Without an operating system, the browser could not run on your computer. The picture shows a Microsoft Excel box, an example of a spreadsheet software program.

Examples and types of software

Below is a list of the different kinds of software a computer may have installed with examples of related programs. Click any of the links below for additional information.

Although application software is thought of as a program, it can be anything that runs on a computer. The following table also has a «Program?» column to clarify any software that’s not a program.

See our program definition for additional examples of computer programs.

How do you get software?

Software can be purchased at a retail computer store or online and come in a box containing all the disks (floppy diskette, CD, DVD, or Blu-ray), manuals, warranty, and other documentation.

Software can also be downloaded to a computer over the Internet. Once downloaded, setup files are run to start the installation process on your computer.

Free software

There are also a lot of free software programs available that are separated into the following categories.

Retail software that is copied but not purchased or does not have a software license is known as software piracy and is illegal.

See our top 10 free PC programs everyone should have, for a list of software you may want to install on your computer first.

Installing and uninstalling software

How do you use computer software?

Once the software is installed on the computer hard drive, the program can be used at any time. 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, defining how the software should operate on structured data. The program may then be interpreted, or compiled into machine code.

When I save a document, is that file also considered software?

When you create or edit a file using software — a Microsoft Word document, for instance, or a Photoshop image — that file is considered a software «resource» or «asset.» 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 credited to and written by Tom Kilburn. The program calculated the highest factor of the integer 2 18 = 262,144, and was successfully executed on June 21, 1948, at the University of Manchester, England. The computer that held that program was called the SSEM (Small Scale Experimental Machine), otherwise known as the «Manchester Baby.» This event is widely celebrated as the birth of software.

How expensive is software?

What is software? A guide to all of the different types of programs and applications that tell computers what to do

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Software is a set of instructions, written in computer code, that tells a computer how to behave or how to perform a specific task. Software usually comes in the form of commercial programs (like Microsoft Word and Adobe Photoshop), games, a computer operating system, or even malware like viruses and ransomware. Any program or code that runs on a computer is an example of software, and anything you do with a computer requires the use of software. Software is created by computer programmers, commonly referred to as coders.

Types of software

There are many types of software in use today. To give you a sense of the scope of the software industry, here is an overview of the major kinds of software in use today.

System software

System software is the general category of software that allows the computer hardware to function and serves as the underlying platform for applications to run. System software is particularly complex, and there are multiple «layers» associated with any computing device. For example:

Application software

This is the kind of software you are probably most familiar with — also called programs or apps, they are packages that usually have a specific purpose and you use to accomplish a certain goal.

There’s a virtually limitless variety of applications. Some of the most common include productivity software like word processors, spreadsheets, and email clients (Microsoft Word, Excel and Outlook are common examples). Database software like Microsoft Access is used to organize and manage large volumes of data.

Games are also popular applications, as well as multimedia software (the Camera app on your phone is an application, as well as Adobe Photoshop, which is used to edit graphics and photos). Web browsers are also among the most common software applications.

Programming software

It’s probably no surprise that software is created with other software. Coders rely on a number of different software tools to create programs. Here are a few examples of programs used by coders during software development:

How software is distributed

Not all programs are distributed, sold, or shared the same way, and the primary method of distribution has changed over the years. At one time, virtually all software was commercial and sold through retailers. That’s far from the case today. Here are some of the major distribution mechanisms.

software

Software is a set of instructions, data or programs used to operate computers and execute specific tasks. It is the opposite of hardware, which describes the physical aspects of a computer. Software is a generic term used to refer to applications, scripts and programs that run on a device. It can be thought of as the variable part of a computer, while hardware is the invariable part.

The two main categories of software are application software and system software. An application is software that fulfills a specific need or performs tasks. System software is designed to run a computer’s hardware and provides a platform for applications to run on top of.

Other types of software include programming software, which provides the programming tools software developers need; middleware, which sits between system software and applications; and driver software, which operates computer devices and peripherals.

Early software was written for specific computers and sold with the hardware it ran on. In the 1980s, software began to be sold on floppy disks, and later on CDs and DVDs. Today, most software is purchased and directly downloaded over the internet. Software can be found on vendor websites or application service provider websites.

Among the various categories of software, the most common types include the following:

Application software

Application software consists of many programs that perform specific functions for end users, such as writing reports and navigating websites. Applications can also perform tasks for other applications. Applications on a computer cannot run on their own; they require a computer’s OS, along with other supporting system software programs, to work.

These desktop applications are installed on a user’s computer and use the computer memory to carry out tasks. They take up space on the computer’s hard drive and do not need an internet connection to work. However, desktop applications must adhere to the requirements of the hardware devices they run on.

Web applications, on the other hand, only require internet access to work; they do not rely on the hardware and system software to run. Consequently, users can launch web applications from devices that have a web browser. Since the components responsible for the application functionality are on the server, users can launch the app from Windows, Mac, Linux or any other OS.

System software

System software sits between the computer hardware and the application software. Users do not interact directly with system software as it runs in the background, handling the basic functions of the computer. This software coordinates a system’s hardware and software so users can run high-level application software to perform specific actions. System software executes when a computer system boots up and continues running as long as the system is on.

Here are the key differences between system and application software.

The software development lifecycle is a framework that project managers use to describe the stages and tasks associated with designing software. The first steps in the design lifecycle are planning the effort and then analyzing the needs of the individuals who will use the software and creating detailed requirements. After the initial requirements analysis, the design phase aims to specify how to fulfill those user requirements.

The next is step is implementation, where development work is completed, and then software testing happens. The maintenance phase involves any tasks required to keep the system running.

The software design includes a description of the structure of the software that will be implemented, data models, interfaces between system components and potentially the algorithms the software engineer will use.

The software design process transforms user requirements into a form that computer programmers can use to do the software coding and implementation. The software engineers develop the software design iteratively, adding detail and correcting the design as they develop it.

The different types of software design include the following:

Software quality measures if the software meets both its functional and nonfunctional requirements.

Functional requirements identify what the software should do. They include technical details, data manipulation and processing, calculations or any other specific function that specifies what an application aims to accomplish.

Software testing detects and solves technical issues in the software source code and assesses the overall usability, performance, security and compatibility of the product to ensure it meets its requirements.

The dimensions of software quality include the following characteristics:

To maintain software quality once it is deployed, developers must constantly adapt it to meet new customer requirements and handle problems customers identify. This includes improving functionality, fixing bugs and adjusting software code to prevent issues. How long a product lasts on the market depends on developers’ ability to keep up with these maintenance requirements.

When it comes to performing maintenance, there are four types of changes developers can make, including:

Modern software development

DevOps is an organizational approach that brings together software development and IT operations teams. It promotes communication and collaboration between these two groups. The term also describes the use of iterative software development practices that use automation and programmable infrastructure. Get the full picture in our ultimate guide to DevOps.

A software license is a legally binding document that restricts the use and distribution of software.

Typically, software licenses provide users with the right to one or more copies of the software without violating copyright. The license outlines the responsibilities of the parties that enter into the agreement and may place restrictions on how the software can be used.

Software licensing terms and conditions generally include fair use of the software, the limitations of liability, warranties, disclaimers and protections if the software or its use infringes on the intellectual property rights of others.

Licenses typically are for proprietary software, which remains the property of the organization, group or individual that created it; or for free software, where users can run, study, change and distribute the software. Open source is a type of software where the software is developed collaboratively, and the source code is freely available. With open source software licenses, users can run, copy, share and change the software similar to free software.

Over the last two decades, software vendors have moved away from selling software licenses on a one-time basis to a software-as-a-service subscription model. Software vendors host the software in the cloud and make it available to customers, who pay a subscription fee and access the software over the internet.

Although copyright can prevent others from copying a developer’s code, a copyright cannot stop them from developing the same software independently without copying. A patent, on the other hand, enables a developer to prevent another person from using the functional aspects of the software a developer claims in a patent, even if that other person developed the software independently.

In general, the more technical software is, the more likely it can be patented. For example, a software product could be granted a patent if it creates a new kind of database structure or enhances the overall performance and function of a computer.

The following is a brief timeline of the history of software:

Different Types of Software with Examples

Every day, we come across different types of computer software that helps us with our tasks and increase our efficiency. From MS Windows that greets us when we switch on the system to the web browser that is used to surf the internet or the games that we play on our computer to the calorie burn counter on our smartphone, are all examples of software. In this world of technology, we even come across various software development trends that help our business to grow, we are surrounded by all these software which are determined to make our lives easier. By definition, a Software (also abbreviated as an SW or S/W) is a collection of data, programs, procedures, instructions, and documentation that perform various predefined tasks on a computer system. They enable users to interact with the computer

In the field of software engineering and computer science, the software is nothing but information processed by a computer system and programs. The software includes libraries, programs, and corresponding non-executable data, such as digital media and online documentation. Computer hardware and software need each other and neither one of them can be convincingly used on its own. The amalgamation of the hardware and the software gives control and flexibility to modern-day computing systems. Without software, computers would be of no use. For instance, without the help of your web browser software, you will not be able to surf the Internet. Similarly, without an operating system, no application can run on your computer.

Today there are abundant high-end technologies and software accessible to us that outline the way we lead our lives and house our continuously changing and increasing needs. The endless number of software types can be overwhelming for anybody, especially when one does not understand the various types of software and their users thoroughly.

Different Types of Software

Typically, there are two major classifications of software, namely System Software and Application Software.

1. System Software

A system software aids the user and the hardware to function and interact with each other. Basically, it is a software to manage computer hardware behavior so as to provide basic functionalities that are required by the user. In simple words, we can say that system software is an intermediator or a middle layer between the user and the hardware. These computer software sanction a platform or environment for the other software to work in. This is the reason why system software is very important in managing the entire computer system. When you first turn on the computer, it is the system software that gets initialized and gets loaded in the memory of the system. The system software runs in the background and is not used by the end-users. This is the reason why system software is also known as ‘low-level software’.

2. Application Software

Application Software, also known as end-user programs or productivity programs are software that helps the user in completing tasks such as doing online research, jotting down notes, setting an alarm, designing graphics, keeping an account log, doing calculations or even playing games. They lie above the system software. Unlike system software, they are used by the end-user and are specific in their functionality or tasks and do the job that they are designed to do. For example, a browser is an application designed specifically for browsing the internet or MS Powerpoint is an application used specifically for making presentations. Application Software or simply apps can also be referred to as non-essential software as their requirement is highly subjective and their absence does not affect the functioning of the system. All the apps that we see on our mobile phones are also examples of Application Software. There is certain software that is exclusively made for app development like Meteor and Flutter. These are examples of Application software too.

Other than these, all the software that serves a specific purpose fall under the category of Application Software.

However, there exists one more classification of the software. The software can also be classified based on their availability and sharability.

This classification is as given below:

1. Freeware

2. Shareware

3. Open-source

4. Software

They are also known as Closed-source software. These types of applications are usually paid and have intellectual property rights or patents over the source code. The use of these is very restricted and usually, the source code is preserved and kept as a secret.