Types of Software
(Primary Computer Studies)
ASSESSMENT ZONE
1. Tick (✓) the correct answer.
a. Which of the following is not an example of Operating System?
i. MS Windows [ ]
ii. MS Paint. [ ]
iii. Linux. [✓]
b. Which software will you use to prepare an invitation?
i. Spreadsheet. [ ]
ii. Database. [ ]
iii. Word Processing. [✓]
c. Which of the following would be the best software for creating a phone directory?
i. Word Processing. [ ]
ii. Power Point. [ ]
iii. Spreadsheet. [✓]
d. This runs on computer hardware and serves as a platform for other software to run on.
i. Operating System. [✓]
ii. System Software. [ ]
iii. Compiler. [ ]
e. Which of the following is not an application software?
i. MS Word. [ ]
ii. MS Paint. [ ]
iii. Operating System. [✓]
2. Which type of general purpose software will you use in the following situations?
a. You want to listen to songs.
= Multimedia Software.
b. You want to write a letter.
= Word Processing Software.
c. You want to present a topic in front of your entire class.
= Presentation Software.
d. You want to keep records (like name, age, roll no., etc.) of your entire class.
= Spreadsheet Software.
3. Answer the following questions.
a. What is System software and Application software? List three examples for each of them.
= System software is a set of one or more programs that control the functioning of a computer. It acts as an interface between the user and the computer. It controls the internal operations of a computer and the devices attached to the computer.
Examples :- Operating Software, Device Driver, and Language Processor.
Application Software were designed for end-users. It consist of a set of programs used to solve a particular problem of the user through a computer.
Examples :- Word Processing Software, Presentation Software, and Spreadsheet.
b. Discuss the main categories of software.
= Computer software is classified into two main categories - System software and Application software.
System software is a set of one or more programs that control the functioning of a computer. It acts as an interface between the user and the computer. It controls the internal operations of a computer and the devices attached to the computer. Without it the computer cannot understand any command or instruction given by the user.
Application Software were designed for end-users. It consist of a set of programs used to solve a particular problem of the user through a computer. Application software packages are widely used in educational, business and medical fields. Computer games are the most popular form of application software.
c. Discuss in brief the different types of system software.
= System software can be classified in four categories - Operating System, Operation Support System, Language Processor, Device Driver and Utility Software.
Operating System :- In simple words, it is a link or interface between the user and the computer. Operating system is a software that manages and controls all the operations related with hardware and software.
Operating Support System :- An operating support system (OSS) is a group of computer programs or an IT system used by communications service providers for monitoring, controlling, analyzing and managing a computer or telephone network system. It is specifically dedicated to telecommunications service providers and mainly used for supporting network processes to maintain network inventory, configure network components, provision services and manage faults.
Language Processor :- Language Processor or translators is a software that is responsible for converting programs written in a programming language to machine language.
Device Driver :- A device driver is a program that controls a particular type of device attached to your computer. There are device drivers for printers, displays, CD-ROM readers and so on.
Utility Software :- Utility software helps the user to solve specific problems related to hardware or software. There are also called service programs.
d. What are Application softwares? Write in brief about any four Application softwares.
= Application Software were designed for end-users. It consist of a set of programs used to solve a particular problem of the user through a computer.
The following are the four Application softwares -
Word Processing Software :- A word processing software is used to create and edit documents using text data and includes data formatting tools. It is generally used to create content like a poem, invitation letter or a report.
Presentation Software ;- The main purpose of this software is that it facilitates in the creation of presentations. It allows to add slides and use various formatting features like adding different types of background, different fonts, animation, audio, video, clipart and other graphics.
Database Software ;- Database is a collection of data. The purpose of this software is to organise and manage data. The advantage of this software is that you can change the way data is stored and displayed. MS Access and Oracle are some of the examples of database software.
Spreadsheet Software :- It is used to enter data in a tabular form, specify formula and manipulate large amount of data in various ways. Some examples of Spreadsheet software are OpenOffice.org Calc, Ms Excel, Lotusl-2-3 and Quattro Pro.
e. What are language processors? Write in brief about different language processors.
= Language Processor :- Language Processor or translators is a software that is responsible for converting programs written in a programming language to machine language.
Generally there are three types of translators. There are :-
Assembler :- Assembler converts a program written in assembly level language into machine level language, i.e. assembly code into machine code.
Compiler :- Compiler translates the whole program completely in a single operation. A program written in high-level language is converted directly into machine-level language.
Interpreter :- Interpreter translates a program in a step-by-step process. This is a slow process and consumes high memory as the interpreter also executes the correct code along with reporting the errors.
ACTIVITY ZONE
Fill in the missing software categories:
