Major Types Of Software

Software is only a eight letter word. Still you could talk about it for ages and you could find so much information about this vast topic that you couldn't possibly read all of it even if you spent years doing only that. There is some kind of software for almost anything in this world involving computer use.



You can find a special software to help you calculate your taxes, draw the floor plans for your future home, design your baby's clothes, operate your computer, watch movies, edit photos and what not? But all these tone of examples of software must be gathered and divided into major groups according to their main features and purposes because we don't live in a chaotic world, after all.



Well, people argue about this classification, too. Some people say there are two major types of software (operating systems and applications), others that there are three (system software,  programming software and application software) and finally some others think there are more of them which I will enumerate later on.

The first major type of software that can be found in all classifications is the operating system software. This kind of software is the basic software of a computer and it helps run the computer hardware and system. It includes: device drivers, operating systems for personal computers, servers, utilities and windowing systems. The best known operating systems are : Windows, Linux, Mac OS. You usually install this kind of software more rarely, when you need to update the whole operating system or there have been some bugs and malfunctions in the system.

The second major type of software (also found in all classifications) is the application software. These software applications have specific purposes and are designed for a certain purpose, for example play games, listen to music, write letters, etc.Examples of such software: educational software, medical software, tax software, database, military software and a lot others.This is probably the most used type of software that is used by all the people all over the world. Not all of us use the same software applications, but the fun is the fact that you have the possibility which application to use. Besides, hey are very easy to purchase, either by buying them from specialized stores or simply downloading the free version from the internet. It all depends on your tastes and preoccupations.

Another type of software, mentioned only in some classifications, is the programming software. It deals mainly with providing tools that will assist computer programmers in their attempt to write computer programs and allow them to use different programming languages in a way that is convenient for them. The tools of this software may include: compilers, debuggers, interpreters, linkers, text editors, etc.



Some other types of software can be considered: inventory management software (deals with the inventory in certain areas - shops, industry, warehouses ; it includes many other subtypes, utility software ( disk de-fragmentation, virus scanners),  data backup and recovery software  - that can also offer some advice as what to backup and where, not just copy the data from a hard drive. Anyway, the average computer user only use the first two major types of software: the operating system software and the software applications. The rest is used by professionals or people working in a specific field of activity.