What is software and types of software with examples?

At present, there are a plethora of high-tech technologies along with software accessible to the people which outline the certain way we all lead our lives and also houses are constantly changing as well as increasing needs and demands. This has certainly led to a massive demand for custom software development. There are endless types of software which can be overwhelming for any person, especially who doesn’t understand these different types of software as well as their users in a thorough fashion. So, what is software, and what are the types of software that exist today? Let’s have a look.

What is a Software?

A software or computer software essentially a type of programs which enable the users to perform some particular specific task or actually used to operate their computer. It essentially directs all of the peripheral devices on the entire computer system- what exactly to do and how exactly to perform a task. A software plays a key role of a mediator between the user and the computer hardware. In the absence of software, a user essentially can’t perform any task on a computer. A software product development company is the one which develops software for the users.

Detailed List of Types of Software 

Generally, there are two main classifications of software, which are namely, System Software along with the Application Software. Let’s discuss them.

1. System Software

In case of a system software, it helps the user as well as the hardware to function and even interact with each other easily. Essentially, it is a software which is used to manage the behaviour of the computer hardware in order to offer basic functionalities which are needed by the user. In simpler word, it can be said that system software is essentially an intermediator or even a middle layer between the user as well as the hardware.

These software sanction an environment or platform for the other software to easily work in. Hence, it is the reason why the system software is quite important in the management of the entire computer system. Whenever you turn on the computer first, it is this system software which gets initialized and then gets loaded in the system’s memory. A system software essentially runs in the background, and it isn’t actually utilized by the end-users. Due to this reason, the system software is also known popularly as “low-level software”. Companies usually hire the best software development company to build a system software. 

Few of the common system software examples are:

a. Operating System

Being a prominent example for system software, it is essentially a collection of software which handles resources as well as offers general services for various other application which actually run over them. There are different types of operating systems like embedded, real-time, distributed, single-user, multi-user, mobile, internet and much more. Full stack web development services develop apps to operate on a mobile operating system like Android and iOS. Some of the key examples of operating systems are as follows:

1. MS Windows
2. macOS
3. Linux
4. iOS
5. Android 
6. CentOS
7. Ubuntu
8. Unix

b. Device Drivers

This type of software controls particular hardware which is essentially attached to the system. Different hardware devices which require a driver to connect to a system easily consist of displays, printers, sound cards, hard disks, keyboard, and mice. Few of the examples of such drivers are:

1. BIOS Driver
2. Motherboard Drivers
3. Display Drivers
4. ROM Drivers
5. Printer Drivers
6. USB Drivers
7. Sound Card Driver
8. VGA Drivers

c. Firmware

It is actually a permanent software which is embedded in the system’s read-only memory. It is essentially a set of instructions which are permanently stored onto to the hardware device. It offers vital information regarding how a particular device interacts with different other hardware. Some of the examples of firmware are:

1. Computer Peripherals
2. Embedded Systems
3. UEFI
4. BIOS

d. Utility

These software are designed to assist in analysing, as well as optimizing, along with configuring and maintaining a given computer system. It provides support to the computer infrastructure. Software like disk cleanup and management tools, anti-viruses, defragmenters, compression tools etc. are all utility software. Some of its examples are:

1. Norton Antivirus
2. McAfee Antivirus
3. WinRAR
4. WinZip
5. Piriform CCleaner 
6. Windows File Explorer
7. Directory Opus
8. Razer Cortex

2. Application Software 

They are also popularly known as end-user programs or even productivity programs which assist the user in completing various tasks like conducting online research, making notes, designing graphics, maintaining accounts, carrying out calculations or even playing computer games. They essentially lie above the system software. They are actually used by the end-user as well as have specific functionality or tasks which they are designed to perform. These software are often developed through custom software development, based on the requirements of the users. There is a variety of application software. Some of them are:

a. Word Processors

Such applications are meant for documentation. It also assists in storing as well as formatting and even printing of the documents. Key examples of such software are:

1. MS Word 
2. Apple iWork-Pages
3. Corel WordPerfect
4. Google Docs 

b. Database Software

It is used to create as well as manage a database and also known as Database Management System or in short, DBMS. Such software assists in the data organization. Some of the examples of DBMS are:

1. MS Access
2. FileMaker
3. dBase
4. Clipper 
5. MySQL
6. FoxPro

c. Multimedia Software

This is a software which is able to play, create as well as record images, audio or even video files. These software are utilized for animation, video editing, graphics as well as image editing. Due to the high demand for such software, every software product development company has vast avenues in developing them. Some of the examples of such software are:

1. Adobe Photoshop
2. Picasa
3. VLC Media Player
4. Windows Media Player
5. Windows Movie Maker

d. Web Browsers

These software are utilized to browse the internet. Web browsers assist the users in locating as well as retrieving data well across the web. Some of the key examples of them are:

1. Google Chrome
2. Mozilla Firefox
3. Internet Explorer
4. Opera
5. UC Browser
6. Safari

However, there also exists another classification of the software. They can easily be classified on the basis of their availability as well as sharability.

Their classification is as below:

1. Freeware

These software are available free of cost. A user can easily download them from the internet and can easily use them without paying any charges or fees. However, they don’t provide any type of liberty to modify the entire software or charging a fixed fee for its distribution. A best software development company can develop its own freeware to reach out to more customers. Some of the examples of these software are:

1. Adobe Reader
2. Skype
3. ImgBurn
4. Audacity
5. Team Viewer
6. Yahoo Messenger

2. Shareware

This software is distributed freely to users on a fixed trial basis. It generally comes with a set time limit, and on the expiration of the time limit, the user is finally asked to pay a fixed fee for the continued services. There are different types of shareware such as Freemium, Donationware, Adware, Demoware etc. Few of the examples of shareware are:

1. Adobe Acrobat
2. PHP Debugger
3. WinZip
4. Getright

3. Open-source

Such types of software are usually available to users along with their source code which means that the user can easily modify and distribute the software as well as add additional features to them. They can either be chargeable or free. Few of the examples of such software are:

1. Mozilla Firefox
2. Thunderbird
3. GNU Compiler Collection
4. Moodle
5. Apache Web Server

Conclusion

With the increasing role of software in the daily lives of the people, full stack web development services are now offering the latest software to fulfil their demands. As we know, there are various types of software where the market of system software is already saturated with big players like Microsoft, Apple etc. while application software have stiff competition with established players and new players competing to gain the extra edge. Mentioned above is the explanation of what a software is and the types of software. A software development company can venture into the development of any of these software to earn big profits.