Before starting the software concepts, let us take a brief look into the components of computer.
Components of Computer:
A computer system has 3 components namely: Hardware, Software, and Users. These are explained as following below.
1. Hardware:
Hardware consists of the physical devices. Basically, hardware is the interconnection of devices and study related to how to deal and operate it.
2. Software:
Software is a collection of set of computer programs and related data that provides the instructions for operating the computer. In other words, software can be defined as the set of programs, algorithms, procedures, and documents related to the operation of a computer is called software. Software itself is divided into two types namely: System software, and Application software.
1. System Software:
System software’s are those which comes along with the PC. The main objective of system software is to efficiently perform the functions which are necessary for the computer for the good functioning of the system. These software’s are generally written in machine level language using instructions for addressing the registers in CPU (central processing unit). In simple words we can define system software as a collection of programs related to system to perform regular tasks.
2. Application Software:
Application software consists user requirement software which are not available in the system as system software. Examples of application software is Microsoft word, Microsoft PowerPoint, notepad, AutoCAD are some examples of application software. The system software is further classified in three ways and is enumerated: Utilities, Operating System, and Language Translators.Utilities are the software’s which assist the computer in performing some useful functions. These useful functions include scanning and isolating viruses, burning disc, backing up files and folders. Utility software is generally called as application- oriented system programs.
3. Operating System is a set of program modules which provides the interface between the user and the computer. It is the basic system software without which the computer system is just a hardware. It controls and coordinates the system sources with the user. Examples: MS DOS, Windows, Macintosh and some more. The operating system is classified as two types based on the type of interface which are:
- Command User Interface (CUI):
In this type of operating system the user interface is completely based on commands and the concept of selecting pre-installed commands is not used. the examples of CUI are MS DOS, UNIX and some more. - Graphical User Interface (GUI):
In this type of operating system the user interface is completely based on ICON (image on console). Here the concept of commands is not used because we already have pre-installed commands in the for of icons. This type of user interface or operating system is now widely used because It saves time, avoids the confusion in using commands, and it is easy to use. These features have made GUI interfaces a widely used operating system. The examples of GUI are windows, Macintosh etc.