Software 2 See W:\IST\Mr Charles\software\software2.doc or Edmodo for images 10/03/11

Application Software Applications are sometimes called ‘programs’. They perform tasks such as word processing, spreadsheets and computer games. Applications can be Custom, made for a specific task, which is costly or off the shelf such as Microsoft Word which is less costly and generally available. A big problem is that data produced by one application cannot be used by another application. The is being addressed by the use of standards. XML (Extensible Markup Language) is a standard that uses internet related standards to address compatabilty. (e.g. Word.docx files use XML)

Open Source Software Open Source is where the creators of the software make the “source code” (the instructions) available to the wider community. Big companies like Microsoft keep their source code secret. Examples of Open Source Software are OpenOffice (a free version of Microsoft Office), Firefox (a replacement for Internet Explorer), Open Commons (freely available images). Because the source code is freely availble other programmers can suggest changes to improve the application

Class Task