Applications Software

This is the term given to the programs that the user uses to solve various problems or assist in various applications. Traditionally special purpose applications software have been applications such as payroll systems, stock control, etc which solve one specific task. It will not have features that you do not need.

General purpose spplications software are the “normal” ones now found on Personal Computers are now our Word-Processing, Database and Spreadsheet packages. These applications are sometimes termed “Generic” since they are found on all systems and everyone understands what a word processor is without it being given a name like Word or Ami Pro. This type of software is appropriate to several different tasks or problems and, because of this, it will have a larger customer base and be cheaper.

Other “specific” packages may be written to solve a specific problem for an organization. These specially written programs are often given the name “bespoke”. For instance a chemical plant might require signals from various sensors sending back to a computer and then displaying in a graphical form. If, say, the temperature sensor got over a specific value the computer would send back a signal closing the process down. There is no way this software could be bought of the shelf – it is too specific but the program would “exactly” match the needs of the user. Other problems could include the lack of support/training/manuals and be more expensive.

If you have a situation that requires a great deal of text processing a word processor would probably be the best application; numbers and calculations (and the graphs that can be produced) lend themselves to spreadsheets and for searching and recalling of information a database would probably be used.

For the average user most applications packages have become bloated with extra features they do not normally require. This has led to the development of “Integrated Packages” (such as Works) which combine cut down features of all of the above applications. This has the advantage of being able to run on less powerful hardware, it costs less and, generally, it is far easier to link the various sections together eg mailmerging data from a database into a word-processed document. The down side of this is that sometimes you do need the more advanced features. For instance the statistical functions within a spreadsheet. If you do buy the separate applications from the same software house then there should be some built-in links.

These days most “power” users need the full packages but also with the ability to program or customize them. This involves either Macros (see Macro notes) or a programming language that runs in the background. For large organizations data portability is important. If you already have your data stored in one form and it cannot easily be transferred to a new application then this would be one argument against the new application. The ability to alter data or data structures, particular in databases, is important. The software house you are buying from is another consideration. Is it going to survive in a rapidly changing market? Are there up-grade paths to new software? What is the support like? There is a common quote in the computer industry that "no-one ever got sacked by buying IBM" - implying that IBM will continue to support your system. The same could be said for buying Microsoft even though there might be better, cheaper or even free alternatives.