Software+(Lisa)

Software refers to the programs that we run on our computer systems Software allows the hardware to do something useful; without software, the hardware wouldn’t know what it was supposed to do. Software is made up of a series of instructions or computer code. It is these instructions which tell the hardware that it needs to print a document or save a file or display a web page
 * = Software =

Software Categories There are two main categories of computer software that you need to know about. They are:

System software – the Operating System and utility programs Application software – the everyday programs that you use such as Microsoft Office, graphics packages and web browsers. ||< Software Piracy Exposed- A Risky Business for Buyers and Sellers

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What is Software Piracy? Software piracy, otherwise known as copyright infringement, is one of several forbidden actions that may be taken by the end user of a particular piece of software.Virtually all software programs today carry an end user license agreement, or EULA.Upon installing the software, the end user must agree to the EULA,or click-through-license, before the software will install. The EULA lays out conditions under which the software may and may not be used in keeping with copyright protections. Software piracy involves breaking the EULA agreement on one or more conditions. An article on software piracy around the world: [|Software Piracy continues on Global rise] ||

Operating Systems The operating system is part of the system software. All computers have an operating system, they cannot function without one .The operating system is a program that allows applications software to communicate with the hardware. Examples of operating systems are Windows Vista, Windows XP, Unix, Linux and MacOS.

Drivers A driver is a specially written program which translates the commands from the operating system into commands that the hardware will understand. Each piece of hardware e.g. printer, monitor, scanner, keyboard etc will have its own driver. Printers from different manufacturers work in different ways, so a printer from manufacturer A will need a different driver than printer from manufacturer B. If you try to use a device without the correct driver, then it probably won’t work. If you do manage to get your new printer working without installing its driver, it will probably just print you gobbledygook!

Utility Programs Utility programs are part of the systems software. They are designed to do one or two specific but vital tasks very well. Some utility programs might be supplied as part of the operating system, others are purchased separately.Some common tasks carried out by utility programs are:
 * File compression
 * File sorting
 * File renaming
 * File conversion (e.g. convert a sound file to MP3)
 * File repair
 * Disk defragmentation (defragging)

Application Software A software application carries out tasks that the user is interested in doing such as writing a letter, creating graphs, sending an email or downloading a webpage. Application software can be classified under three main categories:
 * General purpose software
 * Specialist software
 * Tailor made or bespoke software

provides many features that the majority of users will want e.g. formatting text, creating charts, organising tables. But it does try to be ’all things to all people’ and so there will be a vast number of features that you may never use e.g. statistical functions, mail merge. This makes the storage size of these applications fairly large. || Specialist application packages are generally not available in shops and they often have to be purchased directly from the manufacturer or a specialist firm. These applications are designed to be used for specific tasks such as company payroll, stock control systems, appointment systems, ecommerce sites etc. || Although specialist software might be the answer for many companies, there will be some organisations who find that it just doesn’t do exactly what they want or it doesn’t work with their current systems. In this case, they might decide to have the software system they need designed and developed specifically for them. This is called ‘tailor-made’ or ‘bespoke’ software. ||
 * General Purpose Software || ﻿ Specialist Software﻿ || Tailor made or bespoke software ||
 * < This type of software

Interfaces A user interface is the method by which the user and the computer exchange information and instructions. There are three main types: command-line, menu driven and graphical user interface (GUI).

Command-line interfaces
A command-line interface allows the user to interact with the computer by typing in commands. The computer displays a prompt, the user keys in the command and presses enter or return.



Menu driven interfaces
Simple menu The user is offered a simple menu from which to choose an option. One menu often leads to a further menu. Part of the screen may have an instruction followed by a numbered list of options to choose from.

Full screen menu A full screen menu takes up the entire screen. Menu bar The drop-down menu when file is clicked A menu bar is the set of options at the top of the screen. When an option is chosen a drop-down menu may be offered.

Graphical user interfaces
Graphical user interface is sometimes shortened to GUI. The user chooses an option usually by pointing a mouse at an icon representing that option. When discussing user interfaces, it is important to note that Windows XP,Windows Vista, Apple OSX and Ubuntu all have graphical user interfaces.

Programming languages
A programming language is a specially written code used for writing applications.

C++ and Java are examples of programming languages. These are known as high level languages because they have been developed to be a little like a human language. High level languages are much easier to use than a low level language such asMachine Code, or Assembly Language. The advantage of a low level language is that it runs very fast on the computer.

A short explanation of how operating systems and software programs work together to make computers useful and customizable. :- Computer Software in Plain English

Problems with software- Viruses


 * What is a Virus?

Computer viruses are small software programs that are designed to spread from one computer to another and to interfere with computer operation. A virus might corrupt or delete data on your computer, use your e-mail program to spread itself to other computers, or even erase everything on your hard disk. Computer viruses are often spread by attachments in e-mail messages or instant messaging messages. That is why it is essential that you never open e-mail attachments unless you know who it's from and you are expecting it.

Viruses can be disguised as attachments of funny images, greeting cards, or audio and video files. || TOP 5 DEADLIEST COMPUTER VIRUSES

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Articles on Viruses: [|Are Viruses Unstoppable?] [|Why write computer viruses?] ||

Antivirus Software Antivirus software is a computer program that detects, prevents, and takes action to disarm or remove malicious software programs, such as viruses and worms.

Examples of antivirus software could be Norton, AVG or McAfee. However, no matter how useful antivirus software is, it can sometimes have drawbacks. Antivirus software can degrade computer performance. Inexperienced users may have trouble understanding the prompts and decisions that antivirus software presents them with.


 * > Word Processor ||> [[image:file:///C:/DOCUME%7E1/mc/LOCALS%7E1/Temp/moz-screenshot.png]] ||
 * > Desktop Publisher ||>  ||
 * > Presentations ||>  ||
 * > Photo & Video Editing ||>  ||
 * > Music and Sound Development ||>  ||
 * > Website Development ||>  ||

My Video: media type="custom" key="9332360" [|Software Video]

From the Syllabus:-

3.2 Software Introduction The software topic deals with the software associated with a typical computer system. ITGS students are required to understand the meaning of the terms and concepts listed here and, where appropriate, briefly describe how they work or their relevance to the user. The development of software can have social impacts such as increased access for disabled people, and ethical issues, for example, only producing packages in a limited number of languages, effectively making English the global language. Students are expected to examine the effects of these developments on stakeholders.

Possible scenario A computer user is planning to update the software on their current computer system to the most recent versions and must use their knowledge to: • select a suitable operating system based on information such as price and ease of installation • select suitable software for the computer and decide which source to obtain the software from • ensure that the software is installed legally, is registered and that user support is available • select the appropriate software to prevent viruses or malicious software from damaging the contents of the home computer.

IT concepts to address in this topic __Fundamentals__ • [|Applications]: [|word processing], [|desktop publishing], [|presentations], [|photo and video editing], music and sound development, [|website development] • [|System software]: [|operating systems] and [|utilities] [|Interfaces]: [|graphical user interface] (GUI),[| command line interface] (CLI), [|menu-driven interface] (MDI), [| voice] • [|Licensing]: [|shareware], [|public domain], [|freeware], [|proprietary] and [|open source software] • Licensing authorities: [|Business Software Alliance] (BSA) • [|Commercial and custom-built (bespoke) software] • [|Registration], [|serial number], [|warranty], [|copyright agreement] • [|Web-based software] • User support: [|manuals], assistants,[| tutorials], [|help systems], [|“Read Me” files] •[| Macros], [|templates], [|wizards] • [|File formats], for example, [|RTF](rich text format), [|TXT] (text), [|PDF] (portable document format), [|XLS] (Excel spreadsheet), [|SWF] (small web format),[| ZIP] (zipped file), [|JPG/JPEG] (Joint Photographic Experts Group bitmap), [|PNG] (portable network graphics bitmap), [|CSV] (comma-separated values), HTM/HTML (hypertext markup language) • Data transfer: [|ASCII] (American Standard Code for Information Interchange), [|tab-delimited text file], zipped file System utilities • [|Defragmentation/optimization] and disk utility software • [|Backup],[| file management], account and accessibility management • Monitor and keyboard settings, for example, international settings, disability settings • [|Virus scan], [|malware] detectors and removers • [|Compression]/decompression (lossless, lossy) • Colour synchronization

More details about software can be found on [|Teach-ICT]teach-ICT.com