Computer Software || Types of Software || Operating System Software || Application Software

Computer Software || Types of Software || Operating System Software || Application Software

Computer Software:

As we all know that computer system consists of Hardware and Software. Computer hardware is useless without software. 

Software are the logical parts of computer system, that you cannot touch. A computer cannot perform any task without instructions. A computer needs instructions to do any task. A set of instructions that perform specific task in the computer is called a computer program. A computer performs tasks by following the instructions given in the program.

Computer software is non touchable part of the computer system. It makes the computer hardware to perform tasks. It tells computer hardware what to do and how to do. Software is the invisible part of a computer that you cannot touch. Microsoft Windows XP, Windows 7, Windows 8, Microsoft word, VLC media player, etc are some examples of computer software.

Types of Computer Software:

Computer software can be broadly categorized into two types. They are;

i)                   System Software

ii)                Application Software

System Software:

System Software is the special type of software that controls and manages the operation of computer. It helps all parts of a computer to work together. It controls all internal operation like reading data from input devices, transmitting information to output devices, checking the components of a computer, etc.

System software is specially designed to control and manage the operation of the computer system. The operating system software such as Windows is a type of system software.

The system software can be further categorized into two types;

a)     Operating System Software

b)    Language Processor

Operating System Software:

The operating system software is a basic requirement of computer. It is not possible to operate computer without operating system software. It is the software that controls the overall activities of the computer system. Operating system software is the system software that controls the overall activities of a computer just like a traffic policeman controls the traffic on the road.

It manages the functions of all the hardware and other application software used in the computer. It provides an interface between the user and computer. Windows, DOS, LINUX, UNIX etc are some examples of Operating System Software.

Utility Software:

Utility software is the helpful software that performs specific tasks related to the maintenance of computer hardware and data. It helps to keep a computer in the smooth functioning condition. It provides facilities for performing tasks like transferring data and file, recovering lost data and file, searching and removing computer viruses, etc. Download Accelerator (DAP), Anti viruses, WinZip, WinRaR, Registry Cleaner, History Cleaner, etc are utility software.

Language Processor:

The computer programs are developed using different programming language. But the computer understands only machine language i.e., 0 and 1 s format. So, the program written in any programming language needs to be converted into machine language. The language processor is software that converts the program written in any programming language into machine language. Assembler, compiler and interpreter are the most commonly used language processor software.