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Information and Communication Technology Applications

The system software is installed on your computer when you install your operating system. You
Notes can update the software by running programs such as “Windows Update” for Windows or “Software
Update” for Mac OS X. Unlike application programs, however, system software is not meant to be
run by the end user. For example, while you might use your Web browser every day, you probably
don’t have much use for an assembler program (unless, of course, you are a computer programmer).
Since system software runs at the most basic level of your computer, it is called “low-level” software.
It generates the user interface and allows the operating system to interact with the hardware.
Fortunately, you don’t have to worry about what the system software is doing since it just runs in
the background. It’s nice to think you are working at a “high-level” anyway.

6.2 Application Software

Application software, also known as an application or an “app”, is computer software designed to
help the user to perform specific tasks. Examples include enterprise software, accounting software,
office suites, graphics software and media players. Many application programs deal principally
with documents. Apps may be bundled with the computer and its system software, or may be
published separately. Some users are satisfied with the bundled apps and need never install one.

Application software is contrasted with system software and middleware, which
manage and integrate a computer’s capabilities, but typically do not directly apply
them in the performance of tasks that benefit the user. The system software serves
the application, which in turn serves the user.

Similar relationships apply in other fields. For example, a shopping mall does not provide the
merchandise a shopper is seeking, but provides space and services for retailers that serve the shopper.
Rail tracks similarly support trains, allowing the trains to transport passengers.
Application software applies the power of a particular computing platform or system software to a
particular purpose. Some apps such as Microsoft Office are available in versions for several different
platforms; others have narrower requirements and are thus called, for example, a Geography
application for Windows or an Android application for education or Linux gaming. Sometimes a
new and popular application arises which only runs on one platform, increasing the desirability of
that platform. This is called a killer application.
Terminology
In information technology, an application is a computer program designed to help people perform
an activity. An application thus differs from an operating system (which runs a computer), a utility
(which performs maintenance or general-purpose chores), and a programming language (with which
computer programs are created). Depending on the activity for which it was designed, an application
can manipulate text, numbers, graphics, or a combination of these elements. Some application
packages offer considerable computing power by focusing on a single task, such as word processing;
others, called integrated software, offer somewhat less power but include several applications. 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.
The delineation between system software such as operating systems and application software is not
exact, however, and is occasionally the object of controversy. For example, one of the key questions
in the United States v. Microsoft antitrust trial was whether Microsoft’s Internet Explorer web browser

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