Software
What Is It?
It's just another name for programs. The executable data files that are installed on your computer's hardware and enable you to do stuff. They're loosely divided into categories: Operating Systems, Applications, Utilities, Applets, Games, and Office Suites are the main ones.
On this page you'll find a basic outline of some of these categories. More information about the programs is in the following pages. Follow the hyperlink at the bottom of the page.
Operating
Systems
This is the program (actually an operating system plus a whole bundle of inter-related programs, large and small) which runs your computer and provides some basic tools for carrying out your computing tasks. You can't run the other types of programs without having an operating system installed first.
If you're looking at this page, you have an operating system and it's probably Windows. More about Windows here. Other common operating systems are Linux and Apple's Mac. Windows is used on the majority of PCs, Apple's Mac OS is used in many schools and by most computer graphics professionals.
The free system Linux is used by many experienced users, but you need a very good knowledge of computing before you can successfully install, set up and maintain a Linux operating system without some difficulty.
mistywindow.com is about Windows.
So far, at least. Apple Mac and Linux for beginners coming soon!
Applications
This is a loosely defined term for the major programs that you use to carry out tasks on your PC. They include the Word Processor, Spreadsheet, Database, Web Browser, Personal Information Manager, Graphic Creation, Photo Editing, Programming, Publishing, and Project Management amongst many others.
Utilities
A program, or a suite of programs, which provides tools that the Operating System doesn't provide or improvements on those that it does: data backup, disk backup, disk optimization, Anti-Virus, file recovery, registry management, graphic conversion, graphic editing and many others.
Applets
Small application programs. Some come with Windows — Calculator, Notepad, WordPad and the like.
On the Web, an applet is a small program which can be sent along with a Web page to your browser. These perform animations, interactive feedback and other tasks.
Office Suites
For business users, and anyone using their PC for writing and publishing
or accounting, bookkeeping, inventories, budgeting and the like, an Office
Suite is very useful. It's very much a case of “horses for courses”.
OpenOffice.org is a free suite
with good word processor, spreadsheet, graphics, and presentation programs.
The next step up financially is Microsoft Works Suite. This includes a good spreadsheet, a basic but useful version of Encarta encyclopaedia, and a full version of Microsoft Word – still the best word processor available.
If you’re buying your suite with a new PC you should be able to purchase a full version of Microsoft Office, arguably the best suite available, for a reasonable price. If you’re a student (interpreted liberally) or a teacher and you’re not using the software commercially, you can pruchase an academic version very cheaply.
Office comes in various manifestations, but the minimum includes the unbeatable MS Word word processor, the MS Excel spreadsheet, PowerPoint presentation software, and the excellent email and time manager MS Outlook. Other versions include MS Publisher and the powerful database - MS Access.
Full coverage here: Office Suites
Anti-Virus
Don’t leave home without it!
If you use the Internet for "surfing" or just for email, you must have an up-to-date antivirus program.
The supplier of your PC should help you with this. AVG is a very good program: free for non-commercial use. Norton AntiVirus,McAfee VirusScan and a number of others are good commercial programs. Norton is sometimes supplied free for a trial period with new computers, but after 3 months you need to subscribe at $35 a year for updates.
Annual subscription is required for all commercial AV programs.
Keep your anti-virus software definitions updated at least once a week and run the program at least once a week. Both of these tasks can usually be carried out automatically.
This is Very Important. As is AntiSpyware.
Much more on this subject of security here:Protecting your PC from Virus & Spyware attack.
Next: The Operating System — Windows ?
