Lecture 2: Basic Concepts of Information Technology: Software PDF

Lecture 2 Basic Concepts of Information Technology: Software Dr. Ali Alnoman Spring 2025 Software ▪ The software or computer program is the set of instructions that make the computer do a desired task or application ▪ Software stored on the com...

Lecture 2 Basic Concepts of Information Technology: Software Dr. Ali Alnoman Spring 2025 Software ▪ The software or computer program is the set of instructions that make the computer do a desired task or application ▪ Software stored on the computer’s hard disk, CD/DVD, etc. is loaded into the computer’s RAM when running Types of Software ▪ Operating System Software ▪ Application Software 2 Operating systems (OS) ▪ Is a special type of software that is used to control and operate the computer ▪ Loaded automatically when the computer starts up ▪ The OS is a link between hardware and application software ▪ Handles input/output instructions and allocates necessary processing and memory resources ▪ The OS is regularly updated because new versions and Service Packs are released by the software developers after removing problems/bugs Types of Operating System ▪ MS Windows ▪ Unix ▪ Apple Mac ▪ Linux 3 Operating systems (OS) The Operating system: ▪ manages the computer resources (memory and CPU) that are shared among the programs ▪ provides an interface through which a human can interact with the computer ▪ allows an application program to interact with the computer resources ▪ The various roles of an operating system generally revolve around the idea of “sharing nicely” 4 Operating systems (OS) 5 Application software ▪ Helps to solve specific problems, makes life easier ▪ Application software can be used after the operating system is loaded ▪ Application Software must be compatible with the operating system Types of Application Software ▪ Word Processing ▪ Presentation ▪ Photo Editing ▪ Spreadsheets ▪ Web Browsing ▪ Databases ▪ Email 6 Graphical User Interface (GUI) ▪ A Graphical User Interface (GUI) allows users to visually interact with computers using windows, menus, icons, etc. ▪ The GUI allows users and programmers to easily use and develop applications 7 Word Processing ▪ In these applications, we can type text and create documents ▪ Examples are MS Word, Word pad, LaTeX editors, notepad Spreadsheet ▪ Allows text, numbers, and calculations to be entered in the form of tables ▪ Common example is MS Excel Database ▪ These applications store large amount of data that can be managed, changed, searched, and extracted as needed ▪ Common examples are MS Access, MS SQL server 8 Desktop Publishing ▪ These applications enable users to create drawings, graphics and text in posters, newsletters, Ads, etc. ▪ Examples: MS Publisher, Adobe InDesign Presentation ▪ Allow to create exciting presentations using slides and animations ▪ Example: MS PowerPoint Photo editing ▪ Enables to edit photos ▪ Example: Adobe Photoshop 9 Web Browsers ▪ Allow to access, download, and search information on the Internet ▪ Common examples are Internet Explorer, Google Chrome, Mozilla Firefox, Safari, etc. E-mail ▪ E-mail applications allow users to send and receive email messages ▪ Example: MS Outlook Compiler (programming languages): ▪ Translates high-level languages such as C++ into a low-level language that can be executed by the hardware such as the assembly language 10 High-level language vs. low-level language 11 Accessibility Features (Windows) Accessibility features can be found in the start Menu → Windows Ease of Access Voice Recognition/ voice command ▪ In the start menu search box type: recognition, select windows speech recognition ▪ Text Reader ▪ In the start menu search box type: narrator ▪ Screen Magnifier ▪ In the start menu search box type: magnifier ▪ On-screen keyboard ▪ In the start menu search box type: on-screen keyboard 12