operations for a specific application. Application software can be used as a productivity/business tool; to assist with graphics and multimedia projects; to support home, personal, and educational activities; and to facilitate communications. In-house developed Contract Proprietary Software In-house developed Contract Customized Package Standard Package Off-the-shellf Software Application Software Types of Application Software Proprietary Designed to solve a unique and specific problem In-house Development of application software using the companys resources Contract Developed for a particular company Off-the-shelf An existing software program that can be used without considerable changes expected Application Software gives organizations the ability to solve problems and perform specific activities and tasks. Proprietary application software solves a unique or specific problem. Proprietary application software can be In-house developed or developed by external vendors in which case is called contract software. Advantages of proprietary application software: Software usually meets the user requirements Provides flexibility in making modifications Offers more control over the results Disadvantages of proprietary application software: Can take a long time and significant resources to develop (costly) Has more risk concerning the features and performance Off-the-shelf application software may be purchased, leased, or rented from a software company. Off-the-shelf application software can be customized to better fit company specific needs. Advantages of Off-the-shelf application software: Lower initial cost Lower risk that the software will fail Higher quality usually without bugs and well tested Disadvantages Off-the-shelf application software: May pay for features never used May lack important features May not match current work processes Spreadsheets A spreadsheet is an interactive computer application program for organization, analysis and storage of data in tabular form. Spreadsheets developed as computerized simulations of paper accounting worksheets. The program operates on data represented as cells of an array, organized in rows and columns. Openoffice.org Calc Microsoft Office Excel Apple iWork Numbers A Software that converts data into a unified format by taking derived data to create new fields, merging files, summarizing and filtering data; the process of reading data from operational systems. Data Management Software is also known as data extraction software.
Microsoft Access Visual FoxPro MySQL Database Oracle
Software that allows the user to manipulate text using many writing and editing features.
Wordperfect Microsoft Word OpenOffice Writer WordPad Corel WordPerfect Software that enables microcomputers to combine photographs and graphic images with text, to produce a finished, camera- ready document.
Adobe InDesign Microsoft Publisher QuarkXPress Serif PagePlus Scribus
Software that enables the users to create, store and display or print charts, graphs, maps and drawings. Categories of graphic Software Presentation graphic software Analysis Graphic Software Computer-aided design (CAD) software Software that enables users to create graphically rich presentations by pasting graphic images into a textual presentation MS PowerPoint Slideshare IBM Lotus Freelance graphics Kpresenter Prezi Software that provides the ability to convert previously analyzed data into graphic formats. Software that allows designers to design the build production prototypes in software, test them, compile parts list, outline assembly procedures, and then transmit the final design directly to machine. Computer-aided design is used in many fields. Its use in designing electronic systems is known as electronic design automation, or EDA. In mechanical design it is known as mechanical design automation (MDA) or computer-aided drafting (CAD), which includes the process of creating a technical drawing with the use of computer software.
AutoCAD and MicroStation Software that combines spatially based media (text and images) with time- based media (sound and video) for input or output of data. Software that allows computers, wherever they are located, to exchange data via cables, telephones lines, satellite relay systems, or microwave circuits. Asynchronous Synchronous Publishing
Software that recognizes and interprets human speech, either one word at a time (Discrete speech) or in a stream (continuous speech). Siri Personal Assistant Voice Navigator
Software that facilitates communication, coordination, and collaboration among people. Collaborative software is a broad concept that greatly overlaps with Computer-supported cooperative work (CSCW). Some authors argue they are equivalent. According to Carstensen and Schmidt (1999)
groupware is part of CSCW. The authors claim that CSCW, and thereby groupware, addresses "how collaborative activities and their coordination can be supported by means of computer systems". Software products such as email, calendaring, text chat, wiki, and bookmarking belong to this category, whenever used for group work, whereas the more general term social software applies to systems used outside the workplace, for example, online dating services and social networking sites like Twitter and Facebook. It has been suggested that Metcalfe's law the more people who use something, the more valuable it becomes applies to these types of software.