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System Software and Application Software

TYPES OF SOFTWARE

Software can be broadly classified in two categories:

1. System Software, and
2. Application Software.

System software provides the basic functions that are performed by the computer. It is necessary for the functioning of a computer. Application software is used by the users to perform specific tasks. The user may choose the appropriate application software, for performing a specific task, which provides the desired functionality. The system software interacts with hardware at one end and with application software at the other end. The application software interacts with the system software and the users of the computer. Figure below shows the hierarchy of software, hardware and users.

System software provides basic functionality to the computer. System software is required for the working of computer itself ( operating system). The system software would also include different device drivers. When you request for using any of the devices, the corresponding device driver software interacts with the hardware device to perform the specified request. If the appropriate device driver for any device, say a particular model of a printer, is installed on the computer, the user can use the printer.

The purposes of the system software are:
  • To provide basic functionality to computer,
  • To control computer hardware, and
  • To act as an interface between user, application software and computer hardware.
On the basis of their functionality, system software may be broadly divided into two categories


Operating system, device drivers, and system utilities constitute the system software for management of computer and its resources.System software is required for managing the operations performed by the components of computer and the devices attached to the computer. It provides support for various services, as requested by the application software


System software for the development of application software provides services required for the development and execution of application software. System software provides the software tools required for the development of application software. The programming language software, translator software, loader, and linker are also categorized as system software, and are required for the application software development.

Operating System
Operating System (OS) is an important part of a computer. OS intermediates between the user of a computer and the computer hardware. Different kinds of application software use specific hardware resources of a computer like CPU, I/O devices and memory, as needed by the application software. OS controls and coordinates the use of hardware among the different application software and the users. It provides an interface that is convenient for the user to use, and facilitates efficient operations of the
computer system resources. The key functions of OS are—
  • It provides an environment in which users and application software can do work.
  • It manages different resources of the computer like the CPU time, memory space, file storage, I/O devices etc. During the use of computer by other programs or users, operating system manages various resources and allocates them whenever required, efficiently.
  • It controls the execution of different programs.
  • It provides a convenient interface to the user in the form of commands and graphical interface, which facilitates the use of computer.
  • Some available operating systems are Microsoft Disk Operating System (MS-DOS), Windows XP, Windows 7/8/10, Linux, UNIX, and Mac OS.
Device Driver
A device driver acts as a translator between the hardware and the software that uses the devices. In other words, it intermediates between the device and the software, in order to use the device.
Some devices that are commonly connected to the computer are—keyboard, mouse, hard disk, printer, speakers, microphone, joystick, webcam, scanner, digital camera, and monitor. For proper working of a device, its corresponding device driver must be installed on the computer.
Nowadays, the operating system comes preloaded with some commonly used device drivers, like the device driver for mouse, webcam, and keyboard. The device drivers of these devices are pre- installed on the computer, such that the operating system can automatically detect the device when it is connected to the computer. Such devices are called plug and play devices.

System Utilities
System utility software is required for the maintenance of computer. System utilities are used for supporting and enhancing the programs and the data in computer. Some system utilities may come embedded with OS and others may be added later on. 

Some examples of system utilities are:
  • Anti-virus utility to scan computer for viruses.
  • Data Compression utility to compress the files.
  • Cryptographic utility to encrypt and decrypt files.
  • Disk Compression utility to compress contents of a disk for increasing the capacity of a disk.
  • Disk Partitioning to divide a single drive into multiple logical drives. Each drive is then treated as an individual drive and has its own file system.
  • Disk Cleaners to find files that have not been used for a long time. It helps the user to decide what to delete when the hard disk is full.
  • Backup Utility to make a copy of all information stored on the disk. It also restores the backed up contents in case of disk failure.
  • System Profiling Utility provides detailed information about the software installed on the computer and the hardware attached to it.
  • Network Managers to check the computer network and to log events.


APPLICATION SOFTWARE
The software that a user uses for accomplishing a specific task is the application software. Application software may be a single program or a set of programs. A set of programs that are written for a specific purpose and provide the required functionality is called software package. Application software is written for different kinds of applications—graphics, word processors, media players, database applications, telecommunication, accounting purposes etc.

Some examples of application software packages are as follows:
  • Word Processing Software: For writing letter, reports, documents etc. (e.g. MS-WORD).
  • Image Processing Software: For assisting in drawing and manipulating graphics (e.g. Adobe Photoshop).
  • Spreadsheet Software: Used for creating budget, tables etc. (e.g. MS-Excel).
  • Presentation Software: To make presentations, slide shows (e.g. MS-PowerPoint)
  • CAD/CAM Software: To assist in architectural design. (e.g. AutoCAD, Autodesk)
  • Geographic Information Systems: It captures, stores, analyzes, manages, and presents data, images and maps that are linked to different locations. (e.g. ArcGIS)
  • Web Browser Software: To access the World Wide Web to search documents,  images etc. (e.g. Internet Explorer,  Chrome,  Firefox,opera etc..).
Conclusion
System software and application software together make a system useful to the end user. A system cannot run without system software. In other words, it is compulsory for making the system run. Application software is essential to perform specific tasks. They help achieve versatile kinds of functions on a system thus helping to customize a system for the specific requirements and situations of the user.

SYSTEM SOFTWARE

APPLICATION SOFTWARE
Closely related to hardware and need hardware knowledge to develop system software( complex) Special purpose software designed for a particular application(comparatively easy)
Machine dependent Machine Independent
Low level languages are needed for the development High level languages are used for the development
System software is needed to run the computer system. Also serve as a platform for running application software. Used for a specified application and run on user request.
Operating system, Compiler, Interpreter etc MS office, Photoshop, Google Chrome etc.

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