Application+Software

application software

what is application software? application software is a type of computer software that enables the ability for a computer to perform a specific task. some examples of application software is microsoft word, windows media player,

//this information is from// [|//wikipedia//] A simple, if imperfect [|analogy] in the world of hardware would be the relationship of an electric light as an example of an application to an electric power generation plant as an example of a system. The power plant merely generates electricity, not itself of any real use until harnessed to an application like the electric light that performs a service that the user desires. The exact delineation between the [|operating system] and application software is not precise, however, and is occasionally subject to controversy. For example, one of the key questions in the [|United States v. Microsoft] [|antitrust] trial was whether Microsoft's [|Internet Explorer] [|web browser] was part of its [|Windows] operating system or a separable piece of application software. As another example, the [|GNU/Linux naming controversy] is, in part, due to disagreement about the relationship between the [|Linux kernel] and the [|Linux] operating system. Typical examples of **software applications** are [|word processors], [|spreadsheets], and [|media players]. Multiple applications bundled together as a package are sometimes referred to as an **application suite**. [|Microsoft Office] and [|OpenOffice.org], which bundle together a word processor, a spreadsheet, and several other discrete applications, are typical examples. The separate applications in a suite usually have a [|user interface] that has some commonality making it easier for the user to learn and use each application. And often they may have some capability to interact with each other in ways beneficial to the user. For example, a spreadsheet might be able to be embedded in a word processor document even though it had been created in the separate spreadsheet application. [|User-written software] tailors systems to meet the user's specific needs. User-written software include spreadsheet templates, word processor macros, scientific simulations, graphics and animation scripts. Even email filters are a kind of user software. Users create this software themselves and often overlook how important it is. In some types of [|embedded systems], the application software and the operating system software may be indistinguishable to the user, as in the case of software used to control a [|VCR], [|DVD] player or [|Microwave Oven].
 * Application software** is a subclass of [|computer software] that employs the capabilities of a computer directly and thouroghly to a task that the user wishes to perform. This should be contrasted with [|system software] which is involved in integrating a computer's various capabilities, but typically does not directly apply them in the performance of tasks that benefit the user. In this context the term [|application] refers to both the //application software// and its implementation.