Application Software: Essentials for knowledge workers Lesson 6 What You Will Learn The differences between horizontal and vertical applications The most popular types of horizontal applications Differences between commercial software, shareware, freeware, and public domain software The concept of software versions The advantages and disadvantages of standalone programs, integrated programs, and suites The concepts and skills of using application software The advantages of the Web integration

What is application software? Software programs that enable the user to be productive when using the computer Two categories of application programs: Horizontal applications Vertical applications

What’s the difference between horizontal and vertical applications? Horizontal applications- Used across the divisions of a company Word processors Spreadsheets Databases Vertical applications- Used for a particular line of business Billing Tracking inventory Point of Sale

Horizontal Applications

Vertical Application

What are the types of application software? Personal productivity Multimedia/Graphics Word Processing Spreadsheets Address Books Desktop Publishing Photo Editing 3D Rendering Home/Education Internet Web Browsers E-Mail Personal Finance Tax Preparation Desktop Publishing Reference Games

What are system requirements? The minimum performance capabilities of a computer system needed to run a program Platform- PC or MAC Microprocessor Drive- 3.5 Floppy or CD-ROM Ram Available hard disk space Minimum System Requirements IBM Compatible PC with a 486 PC processor or better (Pentium® recommended) Microsoft Windows® 95 12 MB RAM (16MB recommended) Hard disk space (standard installation approx. 100MB) CD-ROM drive (2x or better) Mouse or other pointing device

What is copyrighted software? Software programs that an individual can not copy, alter or use on more than one computer Types of copyrighted software: Commercial- Buy before using it Shareware- Try it before you buy it Freeware- Free software but can’t be copied and sold Non-copyrighted software- Public domain software- No restrictions for using, copying, altering and selling

What is a software license? A copyrighted program gives the user the right to install and use the program on one computer Installing a program on more than one computer requires a site license

Using Applications

Using an application program Install it on the hard drive- Installation utilities guide you through the process; Installation changes the registry of the OS Register it- This enables the software producer to notify you of bugs and updates (maintenance releases) Read the documentation or help screens- This informs you on how to use the program Use an uninstall utility to remove a program from the hard drive- Do not just delete it from your files

What is a software version? Software producers include a version number with their products Version numbers are used to identify the release of the program being used Recent releases have numbers greater than earlier releases (Recent Ver. 6.0; Earlier Ver. 1.0) Whole numbers are major revisions (1.0, 2.0, 3.0, etc.) Decimal numbers refer to maintenance releases or updates and fixes (1.1, 1.2, 1.3, etc)

What’s the difference between standalone programs, integrated programs and software suites? Standalone programs are individual applications that are designed for a single purpose; Examples: photo editing, encyclopedias and games Integrated programs are several individual programs combined into one program. Examples: accounting software (databases & spreadsheets), publishing software (word processing & graphics editing) Software suites are two or more individual programs that are integrated with each other, that is, data entered in one program can be inserted in the others. Example office suites (word processor, database, spreadsheet, and presentation)

What is a software suite? Integrated programs that include two or more individual programs Integrated by using a management tool to enable access to any of the components Popular office suites offer a word processor, spreadsheet, database, presentation and other programs Uses object linking and embedding (OLE) to insert data from one program to another

Understanding Windows TITLE Click to view features _________ DESKTOP B I ____________ MY DOCUMENTS TOOLBAR _________ C ____________ MY COMPUTER A SHORT CUT ICONS _______________ __________________ OPEN PROGRAMS D TASKBAR _________ SYSTEM TRAY ___________ START BUTTON ____________ F G H E QUICKLAUNCH ____________

Understanding Windows Click to view features TITLE START MENU ____________ A ____________ USER NAME B G PINNED ITEMS LIST _______________ _______________ SYSTEM AREA FOLDERS, SETTINGS, HELP MOST FREQUENTLY USED LIST _______________ C ALL PROGRAMS BUTTON ______________ D SHUT DOWN/RESTART _______________ E F _____________ USER LOG OFF

Understanding Windows Click to view features TITLE WINDOW ____________ TITLE BAR __________ CONTROL ICON _______________ J I SIZING BUTTONS _______________ A B __________ MENU BAR TOOL BAR __________ C D ADDRESS BAR ______________ H ICONS _______ G ____________ SCROLL BAR ____________ STATUS BAR E F RE-SIZING TAB _____________

Understanding Windows Click to view features TITLE PULL DOWN MENU ___________________ _________________ TOGGLE SWITCH A C _________________ SUB MENUS B RADIO BUTTON ______________ D ELLIPSIS ________

Understanding Windows Click to view features TITLE ____________ DIALOG BOX WHAT’S THIS ____________ G ____ TAB A CHECK BOX __________ B F SPINNER ________ E ________ LIST BOX TEXT BOX __________ C DIMMED ________ D

Working with documents Creating new documents- Start a new blank document or choose a template (formatted model) Opening an existing document- Loads an already created document into memory; Enables updating or editing the document Saving the document- Transfers the document from computer memory to a storage device; Enter a filename for the document Exiting the application program- Closes the program and gives reminder to save work Shutting down system- Turns computer off properly; Do not turn power off without going through the shutdown process

What is web integration? Applications that enable the user to create documents that are compatible with the formats used on the Internet Most common format is Hyper Text Markup Language (HTML) Users can create websites, personal web pages or e-mail using a word processor or publishing program

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