1st Semester, Batch 2014CS-114: Introduction to Computer Science

LECTURE-5 & 6APPLICATION SOFTWARE

&The Components of the System Unit

What Are the Four Categories of Application Software? Application software consists of programs designed to make users more productive and/or assist them with personal tasks.

The major categories of application software are

Business software Graphics and multimedia software Home, personal, and educational software Communications software

APPLICATION SOFTWARE

What Are the Seven Forms through Which Software Is Available?

Application software is available in a variety of forms. Packaged software is mass-produced, copyrighted retail

software that meets the needs of a variety of users. Custom software performs functions specific to a business or

industry. A Web application is a Web site that allows users to access

and interact with software from any computer or device that is connected to the Internet.

Open source software is provided for use, modification, and redistribution.

Shareware is copyrighted software that is distributed free for a trial period.

Freeware is copyrighted software provided at no cost by an individual or a company that retains all rights to the software.

Public-domain software is free software donated for public use and has no copyright restrictions.

How Do the Operating System and Utility

Programs Work with Application Software? To use application software, your computer must be running

system software, specifically an operating system. The system software serves as the interface between the user, the application software, and the computer’s hardware. Each time you start a computer, the operating system is loaded (copied) from the computer’s hard disk into memory. Once loaded, it coordinates all the computer’s activities, including starting application software and transferring data among input/output devices and memory.

A utility program is a type of system software that assists users with controlling or maintaining the operations of a computer, its devices, or its software.

What Are the Characteristics of a User Interface?

Personal computer operating systems often use the concept of a desktop, which is an on-screen work area that has a graphical user interface. One way to start a program in Windows is to move the pointer to the Start button on the taskbar and click the Start button by pressing and releasing a button on the mouse.

Then, click the program name on the menu or in a list. Once loaded into memory, the program is displayed in a window on the desktop.

What Are the Key Features of Widely

Used Business Programs? Business software assists people in becoming more effective and

efficient while performing daily business activities. Business software includes the following programs.

1. Word processing software, sometimes called a word processor, allows users to create a document by entering text and inserting images, edit the document by making changes, and format the document by changing its appearance.

2. Spreadsheet software allows users to organize data in rows and columns, perform calculations, recalculate when data changes, and chart the data.

3. Database software allows users to create, access, and manage a database, which is a collection of data organized to allow access, retrieval, and use of that data.

4. Presentation software allows users to create a slide show that is displayed on a monitor or projection screen.

5. A personal information manager (PIM) includes features to help users organize personal information. In addition to PIM software, a huge variety of business and other software for phones is available.

7. software suite is a collection of individual programs available together as a unit. At a minimum, business software suites include word processing, spreadsheet, e-mail, and presentation programs.

8. Project management software allows users to plan, schedule, track, and analyze the events, resources, and costs of a project.

9. Accounting software helps companies record and report their financial transactions.

10.Document management software provides a means for sharing, distributing, and searching through documents by converting them into a format that can be viewed by any user.

What Are the Key Features of Widely Used

Graphics and Multimedia Programs? Graphics and multimedia software includes the following

programs. Computer-aided design (CAD) software assists in creating

engineering, architectural, and scientific designs. Desktop publishing (DTP) software enables professional

designers to create sophisticated documents that contain text, graphics, and colors.

Paint software, also called illustration software, lets users draw graphical images with various on-screen tools.

Image editing software provides the capabilities of paint software and includes the capability to enhance and modify existing images.

Professional photo editing software is a type of image editing software that allows high-volume digital photo users to edit and customize digital photos.

Video editing software allows professionals to modify segments of a video.

Audio editing software lets users modify audio clips, produce studio-quality soundtracks, and add audio to video clips.

Multimedia authoring software allows users to combine text, graphics, audio, video, and animation in an interactive application.

Web page authoring software helps users of all skill levels create Web pages that include graphical images, video, audio, animation, and other special effects with interactive content.

What the Key Features Are of Widely Used Home,

Personal, and Educational Programs? Software for home, personal, and educational use includes the following

programs. Personal finance software is an accounting program that helps users

balance their checkbooks, pay bills, track income and expenses, track investments, and evaluate financial plans.

Legal software assists in the preparation of legal documents. Tax preparation software guides users through filing federal taxes. Personal DTP software helps users create newsletters, brochures,

flyers, advertisements, greeting and business cards, logos, and Web pages.

Personal paint/image editing software provides an easy-to-use interface with functions tailored to meet the needs of home and small business users.

Personal photo editing software is a type of image editing software used to edit digital photos.

Photo management software helps users view, organize, sort, catalog, and share digital photos.

Application software often includes a clip art/image gallery, which is a collection of clip art and photos. Video and audio editing software is used to edit home movies, add music or other sounds, and share movies on the Web.

Home design/ landscaping software assists with the design, remodeling, or improvement of a home or landscape.

Travel and mapping software enables users to view maps, determine route directions, and locate points of interest.

Reference software provides valuable and thorough information for all individuals.

Educational software teaches a particular skill. Entertainment software includes interactive games,

videos, and other programs to support hobbies or provide amusement.

What Are the Types of Application Software Used in Communications?

Application software for communications includes: Web browsers to access and view Web pages; e-mail

programs to transmit messages via a network. Instant messaging software for real-time exchange of

messages or files; Chatting software to have real-time, online typed

conversations; text, picture, and video messaging software. RSS aggregator program to keep track of changes made to

Web sites. Blog software, or blogware, to create and maintain a blog;

newsgroup/message board programs that allow online written discussions.

FTP programs to upload and download files on the Internet. VoIP (Internet telephony) which allows users to speak to

other users over the Internet. Video conferencing software is used for meetings on a

network.

What Learning Aids Are Available for Application Software? To assist in the learning process, many

programs offer Help features. Online Help is the electronic equivalent of a

user manual. Most online Help links to Web-based Help, which provides updates and more comprehensive resources.

Web-based training (WBT) is a type of computer-based training that uses Internet technology and consists of application software on the Web.

THE COMPONENTS OF THE SYSTEM UNIT What Are Chips, Adapter Cards, and Other Components

of the Motherboard? The motherboard, sometimes called a system board, is the

main circuit board of the system unit. The motherboard contains many electronic components including a processor chip, memory chips, expansion slots, and adapter cards. A computer chip is a small piece of semiconducting material, usually silicon, on which integrated circuits are etched. Expansion slots hold adapter cards that provide connections and functions not built into the motherboard.

What Are the Control Unit and Arithmetic Logic Unit Components of a Processor?

The processor, also called the central processing unit (CPU), interprets and carries out the basic instructions that operate a computer.

BASIC DIAGRAM OF CPU

What Are the Four Steps in a Machine Cycle? Processors contain a control unit that directs and

coordinates most of the operations in the computer and an arithmetic logic unit (ALU) that performs arithmetic, comparison, and other operations. The machine cycle is a set of four basic operations — fetching, decoding, executing, and storing — that the processor repeats for every instruction.

What Is a Bit, and How Does a Series of Bits Represent Data?

Most computers are digital and recognize only two discrete states: off and on. To represent these states, computers use the binary system, which is a number system that has just two unique digits — 0 (for off) and 1 (for on) — called bits.

A bit (short for binary digit), is the smallest unit of data a computer can process. Grouped together as a unit, 8 bits form a byte, which provides enough different combinations of 0s and 1s to represent 256 individual characters. The combinations are defined by patterns, called coding schemes, such as ASCII and Unicode.

How Do Program Instructions Transfer in and out of Memory?

When a program starts, the program’s instructions and data are transferred to memory from storage devices.

The program and operating system instructions are in memory, and the program’s window appears on the screen. When you quit the program, the program instructions are removed from memory, and the program no longer is displayed on the screen.

What Are the Various Types of Memory? Memory usually consists of one or more chips on the

motherboard or some other circuit board in the computer. The system unit contains volatile and nonvolatile memory. Volatile memory loses its contents when the computer’s power is

turned off. Nonvolatile memory does not lose its contents when the computer’s

power is turned off. RAM is the most common type of volatile memory. ROM, flash memory, and CMOS are examples of nonvolatile memory.

RAM (random access memory), also called main memory, consists of memory chips that can be read from and written to by the processor and other devices.

ROM (readonly memory) refers to memory chips storing permanent data and instructions that usually cannot be modified.

Flash memory can be erased electronically and rewritten. CMOS (complementary metal-oxide semiconductor)

technology uses battery power to retain information even when the power to the computer is turned off.

What Are the Purpose and Types of Expansion Slots and Adapter Cards?

An expansion slot is a socket on the motherboard that can hold an adapter card.

An adapter card, sometimes called an expansion card, is a circuit board that enhances functions of a component of the system unit and/or provides a connection to a peripheral.

A sound card enhances the sound-generating capabilities of a personal computer.

A video card, also called a graphics card, converts computer output into a video signal that displays an image on the screen.

A memory card is a removable flash memory device that you insert and remove from a slot in a personal computer, a game console, a mobile device, or card reader/writer. A USB flash drive plugs in a USB port on a computer or mobile device.

A PC Card slot or an Express Card slot holds a PC Card or Express Card module.

What Is the Difference between a Port and a Connector?

A port is the point at which a peripheral attaches a system unit so that it can send data to or receive information from the computer.

A connector joins a cable to a port. A USB port, short for universal serial bus port, can connect up to 127 different peripherals together with a single connector.

What Are the Differences among the Various Types of Ports?

A FireWire port can connect multiple types of devices that require faster data transmission speeds.

Bluetooth technology uses radio waves to transfer data between two devices.

A SCSI port attaches the system unit to SCSI peripherals, such as disk drives and printers.

An eSATA port connects an external SATA hard disk to a computer. An IrDA port allows wireless devices to transmit signals to a computer

via infrared light waves. A serial port transmits data one bit at a time. A MIDI port connects the system unit to a musical instrument.

What Are the Types of Buses in a Computer?

A bus is an electrical channel along which bits transfer within the circuitry of a computer, allowing devices both inside and attached to the system unit to communicate.

The data bus transfers actual data, and the Address bus transfers information about where the

data should reside in memory. The size of a bus, called the bus width, determines the number of bits that the computer can transmit at one time. The larger the bus width, the faster the computer transfers data.

A computer has a system bus, or front side bus (FSB); possibly a backside bus (BSB); and an expansion bus.

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