What is software?
The software is the general term for the information stored on a kind of medium. For example, when you go to the library and rent or purchase a tape or DVD, what you are really is the software that is stored on the tape or disc. Your VCR or DVD player are devices that are capable of reading software from tape or disk and projecting onto your television screen in the form of a film.
Your computer is a device that reads both software. Most of the software on your computer is in the form of programs. A program consists of "instructions" that tell the computer what to do, how to behave. Just as there are thousands of albums, buy the CD on your stereo, and thousands of movies that you can buy to play on your VCR or DVD player, there are thousands of programs that you can buy for work on your computer.
When you buy a computer, you do not automatically all programs produced by each software company in the world. You usually get some programs. For example, when you buy a computer, it will probably be an operating system (Windows XP) already installed on it.
If you buy a specific programme, it would be to perform certain specific tasks. For example, you may use a graphics program to edit photos, or you can use a word processing program to write text. You use your Web browser program for the time to read this (assuming that you are not reading a printed copy paper). Just as there are thirty-six thousand different brands of toothpaste, there are thirty-six thousand different brands of word processing programs, computer graphics software, web browsers.
For example, all graphical programs are designed to help you work with images. But there are many programs graphics existing brands, such as Adobe Photoshop, Jasc Paint Shop Pro. Adobe Illustrator, Arcsoft PhotoStudio, Corel Draw, ULead PhotoImpact, Photo PrintShop and Macromedia Freehand, to name only a few. As for popular Web browsers brands include Microsoft Internet Explorer, MSN Explorer, Netscape Navigator, America Online and others.
When you buy software, you get the program stored on a CD, as in the example shown at left. You may not have seen any of the boxes containing the software when you bought your computer. That's because the software that came with your computer has been pre-installed on your hard drive for you. You do not need to use the CD to run a program that is already installed on your computer. You just need to keep the CD as a backup, if something goes wrong with your hard drive and you need to re-install the programs.