Software Architecture

The computer industry has been making waves since the last four decades. The way it has grown north is completely fascinating. The Personal Computer has reinvented itself in so many different forms that we have hardly been able to keep trace with what it started of with.

However, a computer must rise from the mere existence of a machine to that which can perform tasks given by the user. A computer without an operating system, software and the utilities is nothing but a piece of junk. So let’s read and find out what are the special features of application software.

Application software cannot alone all by itself make the computer run. Nobody goes to the shop and just buys application software. Application software requires operating system, system software, utilities and hardware to make it work, otherwise on its own it has no capacity to perform.

Application software is just a set of instructions given by the user to the computer to perform certain tasks. The tasks could be anything from printing a page, to sending an email or to calculate a difficult formula. In that sense application software is much closer to the user than to the computer because it performs only when the user requests for the task, unlike an operating system which performs for the computer. Hence it is said that application software is a user’s delight and an operating system is a computer’s delight.

The most famous application software that has gained popularity like no other software has is Microsoft Office. This form of application software is called an application suite, because one single Microsoft office has lot of other applications like MS Word, Excel, Access, FrontPage, Outlook etc.

Though the functionality may be similar for these applications but the tasks they perform are very different from each other. MS Word is processor, excel is for calculations. Microsoft Outlooks primarily look after emails communications ; FrontPage is used for publication and Access is the database used for storing heavy data. So there are barely any body who has worked on computer has never toyed with Microsoft office applications.

Application is used in lot of fields like training, research and development, manipulation of text and numbers, Desktop publishing, multimedia, in the fields of entertainment, for sound and video composition. The reach of application software is far beyond comprehension.

Application software is more understandable to the layman than the operating system because application software is closer to the user.

There are different types of application software and some of them are application suite, enterprise software, information worker software, content access software, simulation software, Media development software, product engineering software and enterprise infrastructure software. All these categories of application software have touched millions of people in one way or another.

Application software, as said is a set of tasks which has been assigned by the user. However the output of this comes to the hardware part of it. So in short the output to application software comes through hardware.

These are some of the application software that has changes how we use to do things thus far, hope by the end of it you are more enlightened about application software.

By now, most of us know the meaning of application software and where it has being used and we also know the importance of it. Let’s take the most famous application software to be ever made and discuss a bit on it. Yes, we are talking of Microsoft office as the best available computer application software.

From writing mails, to sending mails, to manipulating words and numbers, to add graphics, to make presentations, to draw your project plan and many more we have the Microsoft office Suite – the most famous application software which has been used by one and all in the world.
Details for Microsoft Office Suite as Application Software

Computer Software means some kind of written programs, codes, or rules with related documentation about the operation of the computer system that gets stored in the read or writes memory. The term software refers to many technologies and products developed by individuals or team using various methods such as the scripting or the programming languages ( for example, Java Script, CGI..etc ).

The software is a wider term can also includes different kinds of devices which also include the operational systems of the modern day consumer electronic devices like the smartphone, computer and laptop, microwave, television, automobiles, etc.

Basically the computer software is like a job description of what and how a computer needs to perform. You cannot physically touch it and without the software the computer hardware becomes useless. Presently many companies are offering their own operating systems to their consumers.

So, the consumers get a package deal of the hardware and software. The software is either preinstalled or given in the form of CD. To use the CD all you have to do is insert the Compact disk in the hard disk drive and follow the instructions given and finish the installation process.

Nowadays even the downloadable software in easily available in many internet websites. For example, the Microsoft Computer Software instructs or commands your computer to perform specific tasks. Even the Microsoft Word which is widely used is computer software. The Web page technologies include HTML, ASP.NET, PHP and XML are different types of computer software.

Basically computer software is of three main types:
1. Operating System
The Operating System (OS) deals with all the basic functioning and the same is performed by the machines. For instance, showing the movement of the mouse on the screen when a person hovers the mouse. There are lots of Operating Systems available recently. The most popular and latest ones include the Windows XP, Mac, UNIX, Linux, Windows Vista, etc.

2. Application Software
The application software helps the computer in performance of the job. Basically, the application software is widely used for accomplishment of specific and precise tasks which is a step ahead than the basic operations or running of the computer system. The Application Software includes things like recording or playing music, viewing videos, voice changing software, playing computer games, teleconferencing facilities and so on, as you could think of.

The application software also includes printing documents, and permitting access to internet for web and video conferencing activities. The Application software indirectly does the interaction with the machine to perform all these functions.

3. System Software
This kind of software directly interacts with computer hardware. Some of the examples are the CPU, Motherboard, Mouse, Printer, Keyboard, etc. The system software takes the responsibility of control, integration and managing individual hardware machine of the computer.

The Computer Software comprises of the machine language that is a combination of binary coding system giving the computer processor specific instructions. They are written in a high level programming language and the same is interpreted in the machine language code. One can also write the software in the assembly language that is like the mnemonic representation of machine language by using the regular language alphabets.

The computer software developed from the theories and formulas of computer and this job was initiated by the expert mathematicians. With the software technology reaching its peak, there are rapid advancements in the computer technology in the recent times.