This document provides information on different types of computer software, including system software, utility programs, and application programs. It describes various utility programs like backup, file defragmentation, and antivirus software. It also discusses types of application software such as entertainment, home/personal, educational reference, productivity, and specialty software. Productivity software includes word processing, spreadsheet, database, and financial programs. The document concludes with descriptions of public domain software, freeware, and shareware.

1. Lesson 2
Computer Software

2. COMPUTER SOFTWARES
UTILITY PROGRAMS/SOFTWARE
APPLICATION PROGRAMS/SOFTWARE
SYSTEM SOFTWARE

3. UTILITY PROGRAMS
Utility programs are special programs that
either enhance existing functions or provide
services not provided by other system software
programs.

4. UTILITY PROGRAMS
Backup: - It makes a duplicate of every file on your
hard disk, diskettes or any other removable storage
medium.
File Defragmentation: - Fragmentation is the
scattering of portions of files about the disk in non
adjacent areas, thus greatly slowing access to the
files. Defragmentation utilities (defragger) finds all
the scattered files on your hard disk and reorganize
them as contiguous files.

5. Disk repair:- It will check your hard disk for defects
and make repairs on the spot or mark the bad areas.
Virus Protection/Antivirus programs : - A virus
consists of hidden programming instructions that are
buried within an application or system program. They
copy themselves to other programs causing problems.
Antivirus software is a utility program that scans
hard disks, diskettes, and memory to delete viruses,
examples include, Norton Antivirus, McAfee
VirusScan, Webscan etc.
UTILITY PROGRAMS

6. UTILITY PROGRAMS
Uninstaller : - It removes applications from the hard
disk your computer
File/data compression : - They remove redundant
element, gaps and unnecessary data from the
computer storage space so less space is required to
store or transmit data e.g. WINZIP
Disk scanner : - It maintains integrity of your hard disk
and improves performance.
Data recovery:- It is used to resurrect or undo or
undelete a file or information that has been
accidentally deleted.

7. APPLICATION SOFTWARE
This is software that has been developed to perform
useful work on specific tasks or to solve a particular
problem. Application software maybe either custom
or packaged.

8. APPLICATION SOFTWARE
Custom : - This is software designed and developed for
a particular customer. This is a kind of software that
you could hire a computer programmer or software
creator to develop for you. Such software would not
be readily done with the standard off the shelf
packaged software available from a computer store.
Packaged : - This is the kind of off-the shelf program
designed for sale to the general public; examples
include word processing programs, spreadsheets,
game software etc.

9. APPLICATION SOFTWARE
There are five types of application software
• Entertainment software
• Home/Personal software
• Educational reference software
• Productivity software
• Specialty software

10. APPLICATION SOFTWARE
a)Entertainment Software : - These are software
mainly used for entertainment purposes e.g. games,
music, video etc.
b) Home/Personal Software : - They are software used
for home use they include home repair software,
Home decoration software, cookery software,
gardening, travel planning etc. The Jenny Craig
Cookbook, Completely interactive Cookbook are
examples of software cookbooks. Visual Home
software lets you design a floor plan, create three
dimensional rooms of various shapes, and choose the
wallpaper and the furnishings.

11. APPLICATION SOFTWARE
c) Educational or Reference Software : - These are the software
that supplements learning examples include encyclopedias,
phone books, mailing lists, maps and reproductions of
famous art, tutorial CDs.
d) Productivity software : - The productivity software are used
to make users more productive at performing particular
tasks. They consist of programs found in most offices,
many houses, campuses, personal computers and on large
computers etc.
The most common kinds of productivity tools include:
• Word processing software
• Spreadsheet software
• Database software
• Financial software
• Software for cyberspace
• Integrated software and suites

12. Productivity software
Word processing software : - It allows you to use computers to
create, edit, format print, and store text among other
things. Examples are MS Word, word and WordPerfect for
Macintosh computers.
Spreadsheets : - It allows users to create tables and financial
schedules by entering data into rows and columns arranged
as a grid on a display screen. It also allows users to create
analytical graphical charts to present data e.g. MS excel
Lotus-1-2-3 and Quattro Pro.
Database software : - A database is a computer based collection
of interrelated files. Database software is a program that
controls the structure of a database and access to the data
The principal features of a database include; organization
of a database, data retrieval and display, sort, calculate and
format etc. They include MS Access, Oracle, and MySQL
etc.

13. Productivity software
Financial software : - It includes personal-finance managers, to
entry level accounting programs to business financial-
management packages.
Personal finance:- They are used to keep track of income and
expenses, write checks, do online banking and plan financial
goals. They include Quicken and Microsoft Money. They
include a calendar and a calculator.
Business Financial-management
They include tax programs e.g. TaxCut and TurboTax which make
complex c calculations and check for mistakes etc. Some
programs go beyond financial management, tax and accounting
management e.g. Business Plan Pro, Management pro,
Performance Now can help you set up your business from
scratch.
Lastly we have the investment packages such as StreetMart and
Online Xpress.

14. Productivity software
Software for Cyberspace: Communication, Email, Web
Browsers
Communication Software : - Transmission software
manages the transmission of data between computers. The
sending and receiving of data is through a MODEM and
telephone line.
A Modem is an electronic device that allows computers to
communicate between each other over telephone lines. It
translates the digital signals of the computer to analog
signals that can travel over a telephone lines to another
modem that converts the analog signals into Digital signals
which the computer can understand. The programs for
communication include Crosstalk, QuickLink and ProComm
Plus

15. Productivity software
Communications software offers the following:
i) Online connections:
You can connect to online services e.g. American Online,
Microsoft Network, and to networks that that are used locally
(within an office).
ii) File transfer
You can download files from the other end of the
communication line into your computer’s hard disk or upload
files from your computer and transfer it elsewhere.
iii) Fax Support
You can send and receive faxes from one system to another.
iv) Remote Access
You can access your files at home from anywhere via a
modem using your portable computer.

16. Productivity software
v) Automatic dialing services
You can set your software to answer for you if someone tries
to call your computer, or to dial some numbers automatically
and redial after a certain time if the a line is busy.
vi) Use of financial services
You can lookup for airline schedules and make reservations,
follow and engage in stock trading and even o some home
banking and bill paying
Electronic Mail Software
Electronic mail software enables users to send letters and files
from one computer to another. They include Eudora,
Microsoft Outlook, and Lotus CC: Mail, and Pegasus Mail.

17. Productivity software
Web Browsers
A web browser enables you to go through and view websites.
They are software used to access the web after you are online
with an internet service provider. You can move from page to
page by clicking on or using a mouse to select an icon or by
typing in the correct address. They include Microsoft’s
Internet explorer, and Netscape’s Navigator/communicator.
Web Search Tools
i) Directories
They are indexes classified by topic Directory information is
collected and ranked by people.
ii) Search engines
They allow you to find specific documents through keyword
searches, eg www.google.com, www.altavista.com, etc.

18. Productivity software
e) Specialty Software
They are software designed to assist the user in performing a
particular task. They include:
– Desktop Publishing
– Presentation graphics
– Project management
– Computer Aided Design
– Drawing and painting
– Groupware and
– Multimedia authoring

19. Specialty Software
1. Desktop publishing :- It involves using a microcomputer and mouse,
scanner, laser or inkjet printer, and DTP software for mixing text and
graphics to produce high quality output for commercial printing.
Professional DTP programs include QuarkXpress and PageMaker.
Some word processing programs e.g. Word and WordPerfect have
some qualities of DTP.
DTP has the following features:
* Mix of text with graphics
* Varied type and layout styles (font, type styles)
* Use of files from other programs: DTP Program integrates files from
Word, CorelDraw/Adobe illustrator and photographs.
2. Presentation Graphics Software: - They are part of presentation software,
which uses graphics and data/information from other software tools to
communicate or make presentation of data to others. They include
Microsoft PowerPoint, WordPerfect presentation etc. They are
electronically displayed output as 35-millimeter slides. They
(programs) often come with slide sorters, which group together a
dozen or so slides in miniature.

20. Specialty Software
3. Project Management Software:- It is a program that is used to plan,
schedule, and control people, costs and resources required to complete a
project on time. They include Harvard Project Manager, Microsoft Project,
suretrack Project Manager, and ManagerPro.
Two important tools are used
• Gantt Chart- It uses lines and bars to indicate the duration of a series of
tasks. The time scale may range from minutes to years. The chart shows
you if the tasks are completed as scheduled
• PERT Chart- It stands for Program evaluation review Technique. It
shows not only timing but also relationships among the tasks of a project.
The relationships are represented by lines that connect boxes describing the
tasks.
4. Computer Aided Design:- They are software for the design of products,
structures, civil engineering drawings and maps. They help architects to
design buildings, engineers design cars, planes, roadways, and bridges etc,
examples of CAD programs for beginners are Autosketch and Corel CAD.

21. Specialty Software
5. Drawing and Painting:-
• Drawing: A drawing program is graphics software that allows
users to design and illustrate objects and products; they
include CorelDraw, adobe Illustrator, and Macromedia
Freehand.
• Painting: They are graphics programs that allow users to
simulate painting on screen. They include MetaCreations’
Painter, Adobe Photoshop, Corel Photoshop, and JASC’s
PaintShop Pro.
6. Groupware :- Also known as collaboration software is used
on a network and allows users in the same building or even
continents away working on the same project to share ideas
and update documents. It improves productivity by keeping
you continually notified about what your colleagues are
thinking and doing and they about you. E.g. Lotus Notes,
Microsoft Exchange, Novell’s GroupWise, and Netscape’s
communicator

22. Specialty Software
7. Multimedia Authoring software :- It enables users to create
multimedia applications that integrate text, images, sound,
motion, and animation. The authoring tools allow you to
sequence and time the occurrence of events, determining
which graphics, sound, text and video files shall come into
action at what point. They include Macromedia Authorware,
Macromedia Director, and Asymetrix IconAuthor, Asymetrix
Toolbook etc
DRAWBACKS OF NEW SOFTWARE
• Bloatware or featuritis:-It means software that has a lot of
features that computer users don’t understand how to use them
/It is software that is crowded with features. E.g. when Ms
Office 1997 came in the market, Supplanting office 1995, it
contained 4500 commands, far more than the few dozen or
even few hundred that most people use.

23. ETHICS AND INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY
- Intellectual property consists of the products of the
human mind. Such property must be protected by
copyright; exclusive legal right that prohibits
copying it without permission of the copyright
holder. There are three ways of protecting
intellectual property;
• patents:-e.g. an invention
• copyrights:-e.g. a song or book
• trade secrets:-formula/method of doing business
- Plagiarism, piracy &ownership of Images And sounds

24. Software and network Piracy
Software Piracy:- It is the unauthorized copying of
copyrighted software. E.g. to copy a program from
one diskette to another
Network Piracy:- It is using electronic networks for
unauthorized distribution of copyrighted materials in
digital form.
Plagiarism:- It is the expropriation of another writer’s
text, findings, or interpretations and presenting it as
one’s own
Public Domain Software, Freeware, and Shareware

25. Public Domain software:- It is software that is
not protected by copyright and thus may be
duplicated by anyone at will.
Freeware:- It is a software that is available free
of charge. It is distributed free of charge
usually through the internet or computer users
group.
Shareware:- It is a copyrighted software that is
distributed free of charge but requires that
users to make contributions in order to
continue using i.e. the WinZip.
Software and network Piracy

26. Entertainment software
Home/Personal software
Productivity software
Educational reference software
Specialty software
SYSTEM
SOFTWARE
APPLICATIONPROGRAMS/
SOFTWARE
UTILITYPROGRAMS/
SOFTWARE
Word processing software
Spreadsheet software
Database software
Financial software
Software for cyberspace
Integrated software and suites
Personal finance.
Business Financial-management
Communication
Email
Web Browsers
Online connections
File transfer
Fax Support
Remote Access
Automatic dialing services
Use of financial services
Directories
Search engines
Computer Aided Design
Presentation graphics
Project management
Desktop Publishing
Drawing and painting
Groupware & Multimedia authoring
Gantt Chart
PERT Chart
Drawing
Painting
Backup
Data recovery
File Defragmentation
Disk repair
Virus Protection/Antivirus programs
Uninstaller
File/data compression
Disk scanner
(customorpackaged)
COMPUTERSOFTWARES
Adobe Frame Maker
Adobe InDesign
Adobe PageMaker
Corel Ventura
iStudio Publisher
Microsoft Office Publisher
PageStream (used to be "Publishing Partner")
QuarkXPress
Ready,Set,Go
Scribus
Serif PagePlus
Fatpaint
Operating System
Language processors
Assembler
Interpreters
Compiler
GUI- Graphical user interface. E.g. windows
CUI- Character user interface E.g. DOS