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WHAT IS THE SOFTWARE?

The term software derives from the union of the two English terms soft, that is soft, and ware, that is component. But what is the software? The software, in practice, indicates nothing more than the various programs belonging to a very specific platform, which in turn are nothing more than a certain sequence of instructions put together to perform a certain task. It is therefore thanks to the software that the hardware used "comes to life", in fact without software it would never be possible to use a computer, but not even a smartphone, a tablet, a smart TV, and, in general, any other type of device technological.

On the market, however, there are different types of programs but usually the most commonly used for a computer are more or less:

word processors, which make it possible to "transform" the computer into a sort of typewriter through which it is possible to create even very complex texts;

electronic sheet processors, which through the computer allow to carry out any type of calculation, representing the results also by means of graphs or simple diagrams;

programs that allow you to create more or less complicated presentations;

programs that allow you to create and manage large amounts of data;

programs that allow you to browse the Internet, called browsers in jargon;

programs that, via the Internet, allow you to send and receive e-mail messages, usually known as an email client;

programs that allow you to watch videos or films, listen to the radio and / or your favorite music, but also to create, edit or manage images and photographs, all usually called multimedia programs;

programs that allow you to have fun interacting with your computer, simply called video games;

and, finally, the programs that allow you to protect your PC from dangerous computer viruses, called, precisely, antivirus programs.

HOW MANY TYPES OF SOFTWARE ARE THERE?

In general, software can be classified according to their function, according to the type of license with which they are distributed which can normally be free or paid, according to the operating system on which they must be installed, according to the type of interface with which to interact in order to use them, based on whether or not they must be installed on the PC, and also based on whether they can be run on a single computer or if they can also be run through a computer network.

If, on the other hand, we look at the degree of usability and proximity to the user, software can generally be classified according to four distinct types:

the first, called firmware, which essentially allows the hardware of a device to communicate with the software of that device;

the second, called basic software or system software, which represents that particular type of software that allows you to use the hardware present on any PC;

the third, called driver, which allows a specific operating system to communicate with a specific hardware device;

the fourth, called application software or more simply program, which by means of an appropriate operating system allows you to use a specific computer just as you normally do every day.

As for the fourth type, usually on the market it is still possible to find freeware-type programs, i.e. programs that can be installed on the PC completely free of charge, shareware-type programs, sometimes also called trials, i.e. programs that once installed on the PCs expire after a certain period of time, and demo-type programs (from the English term demonstration), ie programs with reduced functionality which, however, can be installed on the PC completely free of charge.

Regardless of the type of software chosen, it must also be added that each program on the market is normally distributed with certain hardware requirements.

These hardware requirements represent nothing more than the characteristics that your computer must possess so that that particular software can be at least installed, respecting at least the minimum requirements, or even better executed in a more than optimal way, respecting in addition to the minimum requirements also those recommended. However, as time passes, these hardware requirements have the habit of becoming more and more expensive, especially with regard to video games.