1. What is application software?

In computing , application software, application programs or in some cases

applications, is understood as the set of computer programs generally
installed on the system by the user , and designed to carry out a specific
and specific objective, of a recreational nature, instrumental, communicative,
informative, etc.

In other words: all those programs that have nothing to do with the
operation of the computer , but rather that we install on it to give it certain
functions as a work tool ( spreadsheet , word processor, graphic design
programs, etc.), leisure (video games, audio or video players, etc.) or
information (digital encyclopedias, Internet browser , etc.), among others.

The application software is normally designed and marketed separately from

the system software that is built into the computer at the factory, and its
selection and installation on the system is at the user's complete free will. It is
not, however, impossible that many programs of this type come pre-installed –
due to business agreements and specific promotions – on the hard drive of a
newly purchased computer.

Some popular examples of Application Software are:

 Google Chrome . This is the name given to this Internet browser

designed and published by Google Inc. , and distributed completely free
of charge on the Internet. It revolutionized the industry by being one of
the lightest and fastest explorers of the time.
 OpenOffice . An office software package, freely distributed over the
Internet, to compete with popular paid versions, such as Microsoft
Office. OpenOffice operates with open source and has both a word
processor (Writer), a spreadsheet (Calc), presentation and slide software
(Impress), a database (Base) and a mathematical formula editor
(Math). , as a graphics and visual effects editor (Draw).
 Call Of Duty . Title of a range of war video games, characterized by
their first-person narrative and programmed by the company Infinity
Ward (although distributed by Activision). It was one of the most popular
video games in its branch and has often been criticized for its violence
and political content.
 Skype . Software designed to establish telephone communications or
video conferences using Internet data transmission. It allows the user to
establish their contact list, manage various accounts and emit and
receive both audio and video signals in real time. It is currently owned
by the Microsoft company.
  MediaMonkey . It is a multimedia player program: for audio and video
files, developed by Ventis Media Inc. It allows you to organize, tag and
play files, and it operates on various operating systems.
 Adobe Illustrator . Designed for the editing of graphics and in virtual
representation of an art workshop, this program operates based on a
drawing board called a “work table”, on which the artistic and creative
design work is carried out, helped by various digital tools. It is owned by
Adobe Systems and is in the Adobe Creative Cloud package.

app software

The functions of an application depend on its purpose, according to

which they can be classified into two categories:

Basic (or utility) programs

They are applications whose purpose is to improve, in some way, the

performance of the computer.

Productivity programs

They are applications whose purpose is to facilitate, streamline and

improve the execution of certain tasks for the user.

Some productivity programs

Word processors: Applications designed to edit and/or process text,

achieving high quality documents.

Spreadsheets: Applications specially designed to enter, calculate,

manipulate and analyze sets of numbers.

Automated presentations: Applications that allow the user to

create and edit attractive presentations, including images and
sounds.

Internet Browsers: Applications designed to provide access to the

Internet, its services and its resources.

Database administrators: Applications designed to access, store

and process large collections of data in an efficient way.

Website developers: Applications that provide the user with the

necessary tools to design, create, edit and publish pages and
websites.

What is application software

Application software or a program application is called a type of computer

software which is designed to carry out a group of functions, activities or tasks,
which are coordinated by the user and executed for their benefit. Applications
are normally developed for a particular operating system, be it Windows , Mac
or Linux , among others. In many cases, this term is abbreviated as app or
application .

What is application software for?

Taking into account that application software is a program that the user
manipulates in order to obtain a certain benefit, the range of possibilities in
terms of its usefulness is wide, so you can find application software such as: a
word processor, a spreadsheet, a web browser, a multimedia content player, an
accounting application, a photo editor , among many other options.

There are many types of application software , but they are generally
classified as follows:

 Application Suite – Consists of multiple applications that have been

grouped together. Normally each of them has functions, features or a
related user interface, so they can interact with each other. It is quite
common for commercial applications to come in suites. Examples of this
type of applications are: Apps to join two photos or to remove red eyes
 Business software – It is software that addresses the needs, processes
and type of information flow to serve an organization. It is usually divided
into several departments.
 Departmental Software – This is actually a subtype of business
management software, but in this case with a focus on organizations that
are smaller or on small groups within an organization.
 Enterprise Infrastructure Software – Provides common capabilities
necessary to support enterprise software systems.
 Software for information workers – Allows users to create and
manage information, almost always for individual projects in the same
department, which was a contrast for business administration
 Content access software – Most often used to access raw content, but
may sometimes include software with which content can be edited.
 Educational software – Similar to content access software, but whose
features have been adapted for educational or student use. A good
example of this is the use of ebooks in education and you can read
about it here .
 Simulation software – This is what is responsible for simulating physical
or abstract systems, usually used for research, training or entertainment
purposes.
  Media development software – With it it is possible to generate printed
and electronic media to be consumed by other people, almost always
within a commercial or educational environment.
 Product engineering software – Used for the development of
hardware and software products. It may include computer-aided design
or computer-aided engineering.

EXAMPLES OF APPLICATION SOFTWARE

 Application suites – Microsoft Office, LibreOffice and iWork. In all three

cases, a word processor, a spreadsheet, etc. are grouped together. Of
course application suites can also include programs for other purposes,
such as music or design.
 Business software – Microsoft Dynamics NAV. Enterprise resource
planning systems or customer relationship management (CRM) systems.
 Enterprise infrastructure software – MySQL, SQL Server. They are
generally databases , email servers and systems for network
administration and security such as computer antivirus.
 Software for information workers – Word , Excel, Power Point. They
are tools that can be used individually, but that in the end can be used in
a global or collaborative sense.
 Content access software – Windows Media Player, Google Chrome,
Windows Explorer.
 Educational software – Encarta, Applet Descartes, GeoGebra, EToys.
 Simulation software – HYSYS, AspenPlus, CHEMCAD, Microsoft Flight
Simulator
 Media development software – Adobe Flash Builder, Notepad++, Sony
Vegas Studio, Adobe Premiere.
 Product engineering software – AutoCAD, Visual Studio 2017 RC,
TextWrangler, TextMate, Kompozer.

Features of application software

There are thousands of applications that we can find today to carry out different
daily tasks. Because there are so many, the truth is that the features of the
application software are difficult to list. Despite the above, it can be
highlighted that:

 The applications are developed by companies or independent developers with

the purpose of being used by users or corporations.
 Broadly speaking, developers aim to make applications that are easy to
understand and they achieve this through correct design.
 One of the distinctive features of application software is that it is very interactive
in order to improve the user experience.
 In most cases the application software is written in a high-level language .
 They are very easy to manipulate and use programs, so the user does not have
to be a computer expert to get the most out of them.
l Applications can be packaged with the computer and
its system software or published separately under wp ,
and can also be coded as proprietary, open source, or
university projects. Applications created for mobile
platforms are called mobile applications.
An application program or application software (often
abbreviated as app or application) is a type of computer
software designed to perform a group of coordinated
functions, tasks, or activities for the benefit of the user.
As an example, the application may include a word
processor, a spreadsheet, an accounting application, a
web browser, a multimedia player, an aeronautical flight
simulator, a game console or a photo editor. . The
collective name application software refers collectively
to all applications. This is in contrast to system software,
which is primarily related to running the computer.

In information technology, an application is a computer

program designed to help people perform an activity.
Therefore, an application differs from an operating
system (which runs a computer), a utility (which
performs maintenance or general tasks), and a
programming tool (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 focus on a single task, such as
word processing; Others, called integrated software,
package or suite, include several applications.

The “custom” written software system meets the specific

needs of the user. Such user-written software includes
spreadsheet templates, word processing 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.

However, the delineation between system software,

such as operating systems and application software, is
not exact and is sometimes the subject of controversy.4
For example, one of the key questions in the United
States antitrust trial United v. Microsoft Corp. was
whether Microsoft's Internet Explorer web browser was
part of its Windows operating system or a separable
piece of application software. Citing another example,
the GNU/Linux naming controversy is, in part, due to
disagreement over the relationship between the Linux
kernel and operating systems built on top of this kernel.
In some types of embedded systems, the distinction
between application software and operating system
software may be indistinguishable to the user, as is the
case with software used to control a VCR, DVD player,
or oven. microwave. The above definitions may exclude
some applications that may exist on a few computers in
large organizations.