Some Thoughts on Application Software

Introduction

Application software is that which is designed to perform a specific task, or specific tasks – such as word processing, graphic design, database management, etc. – for the end user of a computer. This is in contrast to operating system software, such as Microsoft Windows XP, or Windows Vista, for example, and other so-called "system" software – compilers, utilities, and the like – which operate "behind the scenes", as it were, to regulate the operation of hardware, and network, systems, at a fairly low level. Application software can typically be installed from CD, or DVD, supplied by the manufacturer, or possibly downloaded from the Internet.

Types of Application Software

Application software – or "applications", as individual software titles are sometimes known – can be broadly categorised by the functionality that it provides, and there is, understandably, a wide range of categories to choose from. Business application software – Microsoft Office, in its various "flavours", for example – typically includes a selection of productivity tools, such as word processors, spreadsheets, and presentation tools, whereas "entertainment" application software may include applications for games, media players, CD, or DVD, burning, and the organisation and manipulation of digital photographs.

The copying of DVD media for personal use, for example, is perfectly legal, provided that no copy protection mechanisms are circumvented, and a range of application software is available to perform common DVD tasks. These include the copying – a.k.a. "ripping" – data from DVD, including data in formats popular in digital camcorders, and other portable, digital devices, DVD games, format conversion, and DVD burning. This can be a useful addition to the functionality of standard DVD players, and recorders.

The category known as "media development" software includes applications that allow multimedia – in print, or electronically, and including graphic design, digital video, and digital audio, amongst other forms – to be created, and distributed. Digital video composition software, for example, may be employed for the analysis of video data, and video production, including so-called "streaming", or "pseudo streaming", video, which is suitable for use on the Internet, because viewing can begin without waiting for the entire video file to download. Windows Movie Maker – bundled, free of charge, with Windows XP, and Windows XP, and allowing basic layout and editing functions – is one of the more popular applications of this type, but there are many others. Digital audio composition software, similarly, may be used in tandem with video composition software, but also for the conversion of audio data from, say, MIDI, to WAV, or MP3, format, and the transfer of the resulting file(s) to CD media. Digital composition software can be used to create a powerful home recording studio, based entirely on computer, in the software, itself..