application software

Application software is all the computer software that causes a computer to perform useful tasks (compare with computer viruses) beyond the running of the computer itself. A specific instance of such software is called a software application, program, application or app.

The term is used to contrast such software with system software, which manages and integrates a computer's capabilities but does not directly perform tasks that benefit the user. The system software serves the application, which in turn serves the user.

Examples include accounting software, enterprise software, graphics software, media players, and office suites. Many application programs deal principally with documents. Applications may be bundled with the computer and its system software or published separately, and can be coded as university projects.

Application software applies the power of a particular computing platform or system software to a particular purpose.

Some applications are available in versions for several different platforms; others have narrower requirements and are thus called, for example, a Geography application for Windows, an Android application for education, or Linux gaming. Sometimes a new and popular application arises which only runs on one platform, increasing the desirability of that platform. This is called a killer application.

In information technology, an application is a computer program designed to help people perform an activity. An application thus differs from an operating system (which runs a computer), a utility (which performs maintenance or general-purpose chores), and a programming tools (with which computer programs are created). Depending on the activity for which it was designed, an application can manipulate text, numbers, graphics, or a combination of these elements. Some application packages offer considerable computing power by focusing on a single task, such as word processing; others, called integrated software, offer somewhat less power but include several applications. User-written software tailors systems to meet the user's specific needs. User-written software includes spreadsheet templates, word processor macros, scientific simulations, graphics and animation scripts. Even email filters are a kind of user software. Users create this software themselves and often overlook how important it is.

Application software classification

Applications can also be classified by computing platform such as a particular operating system, delivery network such as in cloud computing and Web 2.0 applications, or delivery devices such as mobile apps for mobile devices.

The operating system itself can be considered application software when performing simple calculating, measuring, rendering, and word processing tasks not used to control hardware via command-line interface or graphical user interface. This does not include application software bundled within operating systems such as a software calculator or text editor.

Information worker software

• Enterprise resource planning
• Accounting software
• Task and scheduling
•  Field service management
• Data management
• Contact management
• Spreadsheet
• Personal database
• Documentation
•  Document automation/assembly
• Word processing
• Desktop publishing software
• Diagramming software
• Presentation software
• Email
• Reservation systems
• Financial software
• Day trading software
• Banking software
• Clearing systems
• Arithmetic software

 

Content access software

• Electronic media software
• Web browser
• Media players
• Hybrid editor players

Entertainment software

• Screen savers
• Video games
• Arcade games
• Video game console emulator
• Personal computer games
• Console games
• Mobile games

Educational software

• Classroom management
• Reference software
• Sales readiness software
• Survey management

Enterprise infrastructure software

• Business workflow software
• Database management system (DBMS) software
• Digital asset management (DAM) software
• Document management software
• Geographic information system (GIS) software

Simulation software

• Computer simulators
• Scientific simulators
• Social simulators
• Battlefield simulators
• Emergency simulators
• Vehicle simulators
• Flight simulators
• Driving simulators
• Simulation games
• Vehicle simulation games

 

Media development software

• Image organizer
• Media content creating/editing
• 3D computer graphics software
• Animation software
• Graphic art software
• Image editing software
• Raster graphics editor
• Vector graphics editor
• Video editing software
• Sound editing software
• Digital audio editor
• Music sequencer
• Scorewriter
• Hypermedia editing software
• Web development software
• Game development tool

 

Product engineering software

• Hardware engineering
• Computer-aided engineering
• Computer-aided design (CAD)
• Finite element analysis
• Software engineering
• Computer language editor
• Compiler software
• Integrated development environment
• Game development software
• Debuggers
• Program testing tools
• License manager

 

windows xp

Windows XP is an operating system produced by Microsoft for use on personal computers, including home and business desktops, laptops and media centers. First released to computer manufacturers on August 24, 2001, it is the second most popular version of Windows, based on installed user base. The name "XP" is short for "eXPerience", highlighting the enhanced user experience.

Windows XP, the successor to Windows 2000 and Windows ME, was the first consumer-oriented operating system produced by Microsoft to be built on the Windows NT kernel. Windows XP was released worldwide for retail sale on October 25, 2001, and over 400 million copies were in use in January 2006.It was succeeded by Windows Vista in January 2007. Direct OEM and retail sales of Windows XP ceased on June 30, 2008. Microsoft continued to sell Windows XP through their System Builders (smaller OEMs who sell assembled computers) program until January 31, 2009.On April 10, 2012, Microsoft reaffirmed that extended support for Windows XP and Office 2003 would end on April 8, 2014 and suggested that administrators begin preparing to migrate to a newer OS.

The NT-based versions of Windows, which are programmed in C, C++, and assembly, are known for their improved stability and efficiency over the 9x versions of Microsoft Windows. Windows XP presented a significantly redesigned graphical user interface, a change Microsoft promoted as more user-friendly than previous versions of Windows. In an attempt to further ameliorate the "DLL hell" that plagued the past versions of Windows, improved side-by-side assembly technology in Windows XP allows side-by-side installation, registration and servicing of multiple versions of globally shared software components in full isolation. It is also the first version of Windows to use product activation to combat illegal copying.

During Windows XP's development, the project was codenamed "Whistler", after Whistler, British Columbia, as many Microsoft employees skiied at the Whistler-Blackcomb ski resort.

According to web analytics data generated by Net Applications, Windows XP was the most widely used operating system until August 2012, when Windows 7 overtook it. As of August 2013, Windows XP market share is at 33.66%, having decreased almost every month since at least November 2007, the first month for which statistics are publicly available from Net Applications.

Service packs

Microsoft occasionally releases service packs for its Windows operating systems to fix problems and add features. Each service pack is a superset of all previous service packs and patches so that only the latest service pack needs to be installed, and also includes new revisions. However if you still have the earliest version of Windows XP on Retail CD (without any service packs included), you will need to install SP1 or SP2, before SP3 can be installed. Older service packs need not be manually removed before application of the most recent one. Windows Update "normally" takes care of automatically removing unnecessary files.

Windows XP was criticized by some users for security vulnerabilities, tight integration of applications such as Internet Explorer 6 and Windows Media Player, and for aspects of its default user interface. Service Pack 2, Service Pack 3, and Internet Explorer 8 addressed some of these concerns.

The service pack details below only apply to the 32-bit editions. Windows XP Professional x64 Edition was based on Windows Server 2003 with Service Pack 1 and claimed to be "SP1" in system properties from the initial release. It is updated by the same service packs and hotfixes as the x64 edition of Windows Server 2003.

System requirements

System requirements for Windows XP Professional x64 Edition are as follows:

•     Processor: x86-64 processor;
•     Memory: At least 256 MB of RAM;
•     Video adapter and monitor: Super VGA (800 x 600) or higher resolution;
•     Hard drive disk free space: At least 1.5 GB;[89]
•     Optical drive: CD-ROM drive;[94]
•     Input devices: Keyboard; Microsoft Mouse or compatible pointing device;
•     Sound: Sound card; Speakers or headphones;
•     Drivers for sound card, GPU of video card, wired LAN card, etc. must be designed for Windows XP Professional x64 Edition.

System requirements for Windows XP 64-Bit Edition are as follows:

•     Processor: Intel Itanium 733 MHz (Recommended: Intel Itanium 800 MHz or better);
•     Memory: At least 1 GB of RAM;
•     Video adapter and monitor: Super VGA (800 x 600) or higher resolution;
•     Hard drive disk free space: At least 6 GB;
•     Optical drive: CD-ROM drive;[94]
•     Input devices: Keyboard; Microsoft Mouse or compatible pointing device;
•     Sound: Sound card; Speakers or headphones;
•     Drivers for sound card, GPU of video card, wired LAN card, etc. must be designed for Windows XP 64-Bit Edition.

Windows Vista, Windows Server 2008, Windows 7 and Windows 8

 In Windows Vista, Windows Server 2008 and later, the web site is no longer used to provide a user interface for selecting and downloading updates. In its place, the Windows Update (or Automatic Updates) control panel has been expanded to provide similar functionality. Support for Microsoft Update is also built into the operating system, but is turned off by default. The revised Windows Update can also be set to automatically download and install both Important and Recommended updates. In prior versions of Windows, such updates were only available through the Windows Update web site.

In versions of Windows prior to Vista, updates requiring a reboot would pop up a dialog box every number of specified minutes requesting that users reboot their machines. This dialog box was changed to allow the user to select a longer period of time (up to 4 hours) before being prompted again. The revised dialog box also displays under other applications, instead of on top of them.

In Windows 7 and Vista, once automatic updates have finished, the computer will be shut down after a countdown, sometimes causing the countdown to finish and the system to reboot while the user is in the middle of using the computer (or away from the computer and not wanting it to reboot for various reasons), possibly losing data, gameplay advancement, etc.

In Windows 8, the user will have 3 days (72 hours) before the computer reboots automatically after installing automatic updates that require a reboot. Windows 8 will also consolidate the restart requests for non-critical updates into just one per month.

Windows Update makes use of Transactional NTFS, a file system feature introduced with Windows Vista, when performing updates to Windows system files. This feature helps Windows recover cleanly in the event of an unexpected shut-down during an update, as the transactioning system will ensure that changes are committed to the file system (in particular, to the persistent files of the registry) in an atomic fashion.

uses of pc

PC at Home

Common uses for the computer within the home.

• Computer games
• Working from Home
• Banking from Home
•  Connecting to the Web  
• 
  

  Health and Medicine :

  Computer technology is radically changing the tools of medicine. All medical information can now be digitized. Software is now able to computer the risk of a disease. Mental health researchers are using computers to screen troubled teenagers in need of psychotherapy. A patient paralyzed by a stroke has received an implant that allows communication between his brain and a computer; as a result, he can move a cursor across a screen by brainpower and convey simple messages.
•  

 Computers in Education

Getting the right kind of information is a major challenge as is getting information to make sense. College students spend an average of 5-6 hours a week on the internet.Research shows that computers can significantly enhance performance in learning. Students exposed to the internet say they think the web has helped them improve the quality of their academic research and of their written work. One revolution in education is the advent of distance learning. This offers a variety of internet and video-based online courses. 

 CBT (Computer Based Training)

• Computer Based Training (CBT) offers a low cost solution to training needs where you need to train a large amount of people on a single subject.

• These programs are normally supplied on CD-ROM and combine text, graphics and sound.

• Packages range from general encyclopaedias right through to learning a foreign language.

 

Science

Scientists have long been users of it. A new adventure among scientists is the idea of a “collaboratory”, an internet based collaborative laboratory, in which researchers all over the world can work easily together even at a distance. An example is space physics where space physicists are allowed to band together to measure the earth’s ionosphere from instruments on four parts of the world.

Automated Production Systems

• Many car factories are almost completely automated and the cars are assembled by computer-controlled robots.  This automation is becoming increasingly common throughout industry.

Design Systems

• Many products are designed using CAD (Computer Aided Design) programs to produce exact specifications and detailed drawings on the computer before producing models of new products.  

 

 

Business

Business clearly see the interest as a way to enhance productivity and competitiveness. Some areas of business that are undergoing rapid changes are sales and marketing, retailing, banking, stock trading, etc. Sales representatives not only need to be better educated and more knowledgeable about their customer’s businesses, but also must be comfortable with computer technology. The internet has become a popular marketing tool. The world of cybercash has come to banking – not only smart cards but internet banking, electronic deposit, bill paying, online stock and bond trading, etc.

Office Applications

 Stock Control

•  Stock control is ideal for automation and in many companies
  it is now completely computerized.

•   The stock control system keeps track of the number of items in stock and can automatically order replacement items when required.

Accounts / Payroll

• In most large organizations the accounts are maintained by a computerized system.

• Due to the repetitive nature of accounts a computer system
  is ideally suited to this task and accuracy is guaranteed.   

 

 

 

Recreation and Entertainment:

Our entertainment and pleasure-time have also been affected by computerization. For example:

i) In movies, computer generated graphics give freedom to designers so that special effects and even imaginary characters can play a part in making movies, videos, and commercials.

ii) In sports, computers compile statistics, sell tickets, create training programs and diets for athletes, and suggest game plan strategies based on the competitor’s past performance.

iii) In restaurants, almost every one has eaten food where the clerk enters an order by indicating choices on a rather unusual looking cash register; the device directly enters the actual data into a computer, and calculates the cost and then prints a receipt.

Government:

Various departments of the Government use computer for their planning, control and law enforcement activities. To name a few – Traffic, Tourism, Information & Broadcasting, Education, Aviation and many others.

Defence:

There are many uses computers in Defence such as:

1) Controlling UAV or unmanned air-crafts an example is Predator. If you have cable I would recommend watching the shows “Future Weapons" and “Modern Marvels". The show future weapon gives an entire hour to the predator.

2) They are also used on Intercontinental Ballistic Missiles (ICBMs) that uses GPS and Computers to help the missile get to the target.

3) Computers are used to track incoming missiles and help slew weapons systems onto the incoming target to destroy them.

4) Computers are used in helping the military find out where all their assets are (Situational Awareness) and in Communications/Battle Management Systems.

5) Computers are used in the logistic and ordering functions of getting equipments to and around the battlefield.

6) Computers are used in tanks and planes and ships to target enemy forces, help run the platform and more recently to help diagnose any problems with the platforms.

7) Computers help design and test new systems.

Sports:

In today's technologically growing society, computers are being used in nearly every activity. 

Recording Information

Official statistics keepers and some scouts use computers to record statistics, take notes and chat online while attending and working at a sports event.

Analyzing Movements

The best athletes pay close attention to detail. Computers can slow recorded video and allow people to study their specific movements to try to improve their tendencies and repair poor habits.

Writers

Many sportswriters attend several sporting events a week, and they take their computers with them to write during the game or shortly after while their thoughts are fresh in their mind.

Scoreboard

While some scoreboards are manually updated, most professional sports venues have very modern scoreboards that are programmed to update statistics and information immediately after the information is entered into the computer.

Safety

Computers have aided in the design of safety equipment in sports such as football helmets to shoes to mouth guards.

Frequent breaks away from the computer

• Appropriate positioning of screens, chairs and keyboards

• Provision of adequate lighting and ventilation.

 Health & Safety Precautions

• Make sure that cables are safely secured

• Make sure that power points are not overloaded

 Also be aware of:

• Repetitive Strain Injury (RSI)

• Glare from screens

• Bad posture 

 

 

Value of Backup

• The most important thing that you store
  on your computer is information.

• Often the contents of a hard disk can represent years of work.

• If the hard disk stops working one day you could lose all those years of work.

• For this reason it is VITAL that you take regular backups of the information that is stored on the computer.

• Organize your computer for more efficient  backups

• Complete vs. incremental backups
•   Use 'off-site' storage  

• Use passwords

• Understand the Importance of shutting down your computer properly

• Use a UPS (Un-interruptible Power Supply)

 

 

Likes & Dislikes of Computer

Things computer like:

• Good ventilation

• Clean environment

• Stable, vibration free surface

Things computer don’t like:

• Dust

• Drinking and eating over the keyboard

• Heat, Cold or Moisture

• Don’t place objects on top of monitors.

• Don’t place floppy disks near monitors. 

 

 

Software Copyright 

Be aware on software copyright issues

• Freeware

• Shareware

• What about software that you find on the Internet?

• Software site licenses

•  If your computer system holds
  information about individuals then you
  have a moral and legal duty to treat
  that information with respect.

• In a free society you have a right to ensure that information held about you is not abused.

• In many countries this right is enshrined under data protection laws

 

 

output devices

An output device is any piece of computer hardware equipment used to communicate the results of data processing carried out by an information processing system (such as a computer) which converts the electronically generated information into human-readable form.

Types Of  Devices

Some types of output are text, graphics, tactile, audio, and video. Text consists of characters (letters, numbers, punctuation marks, or any other symbol requiring one byte of computer storage space) that are used to create words, sentences, and paragraphs. Graphics are digital  representations of nontext information such as drawings, charts, photographs, and animation (a series of still images in rapid sequence that gives the illusion of motion). Tactile output such as raised line drawings may be useful for some individuals who are blind. Audio is music, speech, or any other sound. Video consists of images played back at speeds to provide the appearance of full motion

Monitors

Monitor commonly called as Visual Display Unit (VDU) is the main output device of a computer. It forms images from tiny dots, called pixels, that are arranged in a rectangular form. The sharpness of the image depends upon the number of the pixels.

There are two kinds of viewing screen used for monitors:

• Cathode-Ray Tube (CRT)
• Flat-Panel Display

 

Cathode-Ray Tube (CRT) Monitor

In the CRT, display is made up of small picture elements called pixels for short. The smaller the pixels, the better the image clarity or resolution. It takes more than one illuminated pixel to form whole character, such as the letter 'e' in the word help.

A finite number of characters can be displayed on a screen at once. The screen can be divided into a series of character boxes - fixed location on the screen where a standard character can be placed.

Most screens are capable of displaying 80 characters of data horizontally and 25 lines vertically. There are some disadvantages of CRT:

• Large in Size
• High power consumption

 

Flat-Panel Display Monitor

The flat-panel display refers to a class of video devices that have reduced volume, weight and power requirement compared to the CRT. You can hang them on walls or wear them on your wrists. Current uses for flat-panel displays include calculators, video games, monitors, laptop computer, graphics display.

The flat-panel display are divided into two categories:

• Emissive Displays - The emissive displays are devices that convert electrical energy into light. Example are plasma panel and LED (Light-Emitting Diodes).
• Non-Emissive Displays - The Non-emissive displays use optical effects to convert sunlight or light from some other source into graphics patterns. Example is LCD (Liquid-Crystal Device)

 

Printers

Printer is the most important output device, which is used to print information on paper.

There are two types of printers:

• Impact Printers
• Non-Impact Printers

 

Impact Printers

The printers that print the characters by striking against the ribbon and onto the paper, are called impact printers.

Characteristics of Impact Printers are the following:

• Very low consumable costs
• Impact printers are very noisy
• Useful for bulk printing due to low cost
• There is physical contact with the paper to produce an image

These printers are of two types:

• Character printers
• Line printers

 

Character Printers:

Character Printers are printers, which print one character at a time.

These are of further two types:

• Dot Matrix Printer (DMP)
• Daisy Wheel

 

Dot Matrix Printer

In the market, one of the most popular printer is Dot Matrix Printer because of their ease of printing features and economical price. Each character printed is in form of pattern of Dot's and head consists of a Matrix of Pins of size(5*7, 7*9, 9*7 or 9*9) which comes out to form a character that is why it is called Dot Matrix Printer.

Advantages

• Inexpensive
• Widely Used
• Other language characters can be printed

Disadvantages

• Slow Speed
• Poor Quality

 

Daisy Wheel

Head is lying on a wheel and Pins corresponding to characters are like petals of Daisy (flower name) that is why it is called Daisy Wheel Printer. These printers are generally used for word-processing in offices which require a few letters to be send here and there with very nice quality representation.

Advantages

• More reliable than DMP's
• Better quality
• The fonts of character can be easily changed.

Disadvantages

• Slower than DMP's
• Noisy
• More expensive than DMP's

 

Line Printers

Line printers are printers, which print one line at a time.

These are of further two types:

• Drum Printer
• Chain Printer

 

Drum Printer

This printer is like a drum in shape so it called drum printer. The surface of drum is divided into number of tracks. Total tracks are equal to size of paper, i.e., for a paper width of 132 characters, Drum will have 132 tracks. A character set is embossed on track. The different character sets available in market are 48 character set, 64 and 96 characters set. One rotation of drum prints one line. Drum Printers are fast in speed and prints between 300 to 2000 lines per minute.

Advantages

• Very high speed

Disadvantages

• Very expensive
• Characters fonts can not be changed

 

Chain Printer

In this printer, chain of character sets are used so it called Chain Printers. A standard character set may have 48, 64, 96 characters.

Advantages

• Character fonts can easily be changed.
• Different languages can be used with the same printer.

Disadvantages

• Noisy
• Do not have the ability to print any shape of characters.

 

Non-impact Printers

The printers that print the characters without striking against the ribbon and onto the paper are called Non-impact Printers. These printers print a complete page at a time, also called as Page Printers.

These printers are of two types:

• Laser Printers
• Inkjet Printers

Characteristics of Non-impact Printers:

• Faster than impact printers.
• They are not noisy.
• High quality.
• Support many fonts and different character size.

 

Laser Printers

These are non-impact page printers. They use laser lights to produce the dots needed to form the characters to be printed on a page.

Advantages

• Very high speed.
• Very high quality output.
• Gives good graphics quality.
• Supports many fonts and different character sizes.

Disadvantage

• Expensive.
• Cannot be used to produce multiple copies of a document in a single printing.

 

Inkjet Printers

Inkjet printers are non-impact character printers based on a relatively new technology. They print characters by spraying small drops of ink onto paper. Inkjet printers produce high quality output with presentable features.

They make less noise because no hammering is done and these have many styles of printing modes available. Colour printing is also possible. Some models of Inkjet printers can produce multiple copies of printing also.

Advantages

• High quality printing
• More reliable

Disadvantages

• Expensive as cost per page is high
• Slow as compared to laser printer