Answer:
In the early days of computers, everyone just paid for PC application software. Users brought it as part of a computer or in a software store, or download it online with a credit card charge. There are following types of application softwares are available in market :
(i) Commercial Software:
It is also known as proprietary software or packaged software. It is the software that is offered for sale, such as MS-ward or Office 2000. Generally, we pay for it as part of the purchase of a new PC We pay for a new game or other commercial program which are generally copyrighted. A copyright is the exclusive legal right that prohibits copying of intellectual property without the permission of the copyright holder. Software manufacturers don’t sell us their software but provide us a license to become an authorized user of it. In paying for a software license, we sign a contract in which we agree not to make copies of the software to give away or for resale. That is we have only the permission to use the software and not the software itself.
(ii) Public – domain Software:
It is not protected by copyright and thus may be duplicated by everyone at will. These are oftenly available through sites on the Internet. We can duplicate public domain software without fear of legal prosecution.
(iii) Freeware:
It is copyrighted software that is distributed free of charge, today most often over the internet. It is due to the wish of some developers to see the response of the users, so that they can make modifications in a later version. Linux is an example of such a program. In its most recent form, freeware is made available by companies trying to get money some other way -actually, by attracting viewers to their advertising. The web browsers Internet Explorer and Netscape Navigator are examples of this type. The copyrights of freeware are generally retained by its developers.
(iv) Rental Ware:
It is software that users lease for a fee. This is the concept behind Application Service Providers (ASPs), firms that lease software on the Internet. Users download programs whenever they require it.
(v) Printed Software:
It is an illegal copy of a software For example a commercial video game. In doing so the original copyright owners are not paid for their creative work. A risk of picking up a virus is always there. Occasionally, companies or individuals require software written specifically, to meet their unique needs. This software is known as custom software, and it is developed by software engineers and programmers.
Some of the most commonly used application softwares are
- Word Processing Software: It helps us to use the computer system for document preparation, text file manipulation like edit, create, view, format, store, retrieval and print documents / files. It is useful for writing books, letters and other documents.
- Education Software: It helps us to use the computer as a teaching and learning tool. NCERT has effectively used educational software for providing quality education to the students of different classes in India.
- Graphics Software: It helps us to use computer system for creating, editing, viewing, storing, retrieving and printing designs, pictures, graphics, drawings and everything that can be drawn manually.
- Entertainment Software: These softwares are used in computer systems as tools for developing and playing video games.
- Spreadsheet Software: It is used in computer system for numeric data analysis. This software maintains computerized ledger for financial, educational organizations, eg. MS-Excel.
- Database Software: A database software helps us to use computer system for creation, maintenance (add, delete, and update the records), organization and retrieval of data information from the database. A database is a collection of files for storage and retrieval of data
- Personal Help software: It helps us to use computer for storage and retrieval our personal information. For example, planning and managing students personal schedules, such as study, play, entertainment etc.
