Exercise 1.2

Give two examples with its purposes of the following types of the following categories of software.

i) General purpose applications software

Microsoft Word - A word processor is a computer application used for the production (including composition, editing, formatting, and possibly printing) of any sort of printable material.

Microsoft Powerpoint - Being widely used by businesspeople, educators, and trainers, it is among the most prevalent forms of persuasion technology. It creates and edit presentations for slide show, meetings, and web pages.

ii) Special purpose applications software

Software used in hospital - This is used to store and find patient's information, patient's medical records and also the patient's family background. It can also be used to record the date of birth's, the number of accidents, the number of doctors, the number of deaths, the date the patient is released.

Software used in police headquarters - This is used to store and find criminal's profile, criminal's records, etc. It can also be used to store civilians information so that it can help the police in certain investigation.

iii) Programming languages, compilers and interpreters

C++ - The most popular languages for developing modern Windows oriented applications are C and C++. C is a language which was developed to provide sufficient generality to allow the development of any conceivable program, including specifically Operating Systems.

Javascript - It was developed by Netscape who suggest that it be used as a scripting language, but the structure and design of the languages makes it quite suitable for larger-scale application for development as well. Javascript is often used to create dynamic HTML pages that accept user input, and store data perhaps using a relational database.

iv) Operating systems

MS-DOS - The acronym for Microsoft Disk Operating System, is an operating system with a command-line interface used on personal computers. As with other operating systems such as OS/2, it translates keyboard input by the user into operations the computer can perform, it also oversees operations such as disk input and output, video support, keyboard control, and many internal functions related to program execution and file maintenance.

Windows 2000 Professional - It is designed to appeal to small business and professional users as well as to the more technical and larger business market for which the NT was designed. Windows 2000 Professional, aimed at individuals and businesses of all sizes. It will include security and mobile use enhancements. It will be the most economical choice.

v) Utility programs

Disk Cleanup - It helps free up space on your hard drive. Disk Cleanup searches your drive, and then shows you temporary files, Internet cache files, and unnecessary program files that you can safely delete. You can direct Disk Cleanup to delete some or all of those files.

Backup - The Backup utility helps you create a copy of the information on your hard disk. In the event that the original data on your hard disk is accidentally erased or overwritten, or becomes inaccessible because of a hard disk malfunction, you can use the copy to restore your lost or damaged data.