Technology

in Action
Alan Evans • Kendall Martin
Mary Anne Poatsy

Eleventh Edition

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 Technology in Action

Chapter 4
Application Software:
Programs That Let You Work and Play

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 Chapter Topics
• The Nuts and Bolts of Software
• Productivity and Business Software
• Multimedia and Entertainment Software
• Managing Your Software

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 Programs That Let You Work

• The Nuts and Bolts of Software

• Productivity and Business
Software

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 The Nuts and Bolts of Software
• Software: Instructions that tell the
computer what to do
• Two basic types of software
– Application Software
– System Software

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 The Nuts and Bolts of Software
• Preinstalled software
• Installed software
– Proprietary (or commercial) software
– Open source software

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 The Nuts and Bolts of Software
• Software as a Service (SaaS)
– Web-based applications
– Collaborate online

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Productivity and Business Software

• Productivity software
– Word processing
– Spreadsheet
– Presentation
– Database
– Personal information manager

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 Productivity and Business Software:
Buying Productivity Software
• Software suite
– Microsoft Office
– Apple iWork
– Apache OpenOffice

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 Productivity and Business Software:
Buying Productivity Software
• Web-based productivity suites
– Microsoft Office Online
– Google Docs
– Share common features, toolbars, and menus

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 Productivity and Business Software:
Word Processing Software
• Create and edit documents
– Research papers
– Class notes
– Résumés
• Examples
– Microsoft Word
– Writer

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 Productivity and Business Software:
Word Processing

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 Productivity and Business Software:
Spreadsheet Software
• Performs
calculations and
numerical analyses
• Examples
– Microsoft Excel
– OpenOffice Calc

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 Productivity and Business Software:
Spreadsheet Software

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 Productivity and Business Software:
Spreadsheet Software
• Create charts

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 Productivity and Business Software
Spreadsheet Software
• Sparklines

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 Productivity and Business Software
Presentation Software

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 Productivity and Business Software:
Presentation Software
• Tips for designing good presentations
– Be careful with color
– Use bullets for key points
– Use images
– Consider font size and style
– Keep animation and background audio to a
minimum

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 Productivity and Business Software:
Database Software
• Store and organize data
• Fields > Records>Tables

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 Productivity and Business Software:
Note-taking Software

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 Productivity and Business Software:
Personal Information Manager Software

• Manage e-mail, contacts, calendars, and

tasks

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 Productivity and Business Software:
Personal Information Manager Software

• Web-based PIMs
– Yahoo!
– Google
• Other options
– Toodledo
– OmniFocus

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 Productivity and Business Software:
Microsoft Office Productivity Software Features

• Tools to increase efficiency

– Wizards
– Templates
– Macros

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 Productivity and Business Software:
Personal Financial Software
• Financial planning – Examples
software • Quicken
• Mint:
– Manage daily
finances
– Electronic
checkbook
registers
– Automatic bill
payment tools

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 Productivity and Business Software:
Personal Financial Software
• Tax preparation software
– Intuit TurboTax
– H&R Block at Home

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 Productivity and Business Software:
Small Business Software
• Accounting software
– Track accounts receivable and accounts
payable
– Inventory management, payroll, and billing
– Examples
• Intuit QuickBooks
• Sage Peachtree

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 Productivity and Business Software:
Small Business Software
• Desktop publishing (DTP) software
– Design books and publications
– Examples
• Microsoft Publisher
• QuarkXPress
• Adobe InDesign

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 Productivity and Business Software:
Small Business Software
• Web page-Authoring software
– Design web pages
– Examples
• Microsoft Expression Web
• Adobe Dreamweaver

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 Productivity and Business Software:
Software for Large and Specialized Businesses

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 Check Your Understanding
1. What’s the difference between application
software and system software?
• The term software refers to a set of instructions that tells the computer
what to do.
• Application software is the software you use to do everyday tasks at
home, school, and work. Application software includes the following:
• System software is the software that helps run the computer and
coordinates instructions between application software and the
computer’s hardware devices. System software includes the operating
system and utility programs.

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 Check Your Understanding
2. What are the different ways I can access
and use software?
• There are two types of software that you can install on your
computer:
• Proprietary (or commercial) software is software you buy.
• Open source software is program code that is free and publicly
available with few licensing and copyright restrictions. The code
can be copied, distributed, or changed without the stringent
copyright protections of software products you purchase.
• Web-based applications are those that are hosted online by the
vendor and made available to the customer over the Internet. This
web-based distribution model is also referred to as Software as a
Service (SaaS). Web-based applications are accessed via an Internet
connection to the site that hosts the software.
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 Check Your Understanding
3. What kinds of applications are included in
productivity software?
Productivity software programs include the following:
• Word processing: to create and edit written documents
• Spreadsheet: to do calculations and numerical and what-if analyses easily
• Presentation: to create slide presentations
• Database: to store and organize data
• Note-taking: to take notes and easily organize and search them
• Personal information manager (PIM): to keep you organized by putting a
calendar, address book, notepad, and to-do lists within your computer
Individuals can also use productivity software to help with business-like tasks
such as managing personal finances and preparing taxes.

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 Check Your Understanding
4. What kinds of software do small and
large businesses use?
Businesses use software to help them with the following tasks:
• Finances and accounting
• Desktop publishing
• Web page authoring
• Project management
• Customer relationship management (CRM)
• Enterprise resource planning (ERP)
• E-commerce
Businesses may use specialized business software (or vertical market
software) that is designed for their specific industry. Some businesses also
use specialized drawing software to create technical drawings and
computer-aided design (CAD) software to create 3-D models.

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 Programs That Let You Play

• Multimedia and Entertainment

Software
• Managing Your Software

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 Multimedia and Entertainment
Software

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 Multimedia and Entertainment Software:
Digital Image- and Video-Editing Software

• Image-editing software
• Edit photographs and other images
• Online photo-sharing and photo-storing
sites

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 Multimedia and Entertainment Software:
Digital Image- and Video-Editing Software
• Examples
– Adobe Photoshop Elements
– Google Picasa

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 Multimedia and Entertainment Software:
Digital Image- and Video-Editing Software

• Professional image editors might use:

– Adobe Photoshop
– Corel PaintShop Photo Pro
– GIMP

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 Multimedia and Entertainment Software:
Digital Image- and Video-Editing Software

• Video-editing
software
• Examples
– Adobe Premiere
Pro and Apple’s
Final Cut Pro
– Windows Movie
Maker and
iMovie

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 Multimedia and Entertainment Software:
Digital Audio Software
• Digital audio files
• Downloaded music files, audiobooks, or
podcasts
– Compressed: MP3, ACC, WMA
– Uncompressed: WAV, AIFF
• Create and record audio files
• Audio-editing software

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 Multimedia and Entertainment Software:
Gaming Software
• Create characters to extend a game
– EverQuest
– Oblivion
– Unreal Tournament
• Create your own games
– Unity
– Adobe Flash
– RPG Maker VK
– GameMaker

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 Multimedia and Entertainment Software:
Educational and Reference Software

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 Multimedia and Entertainment Software:
Educational and Reference Software

• Tutorials for computer applications

• Simulation programs

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 Multimedia and Entertainment Software:
Educational and Reference Software

• Course management software

• Online classes
• Examples
– Blackboard
– Moodle
– Angel

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 Multimedia and Entertainment Software:
Educational and Reference Software

• Collaboration tools
• Virtual office hours
• Examples
– Whiteboards
– Desktop sharing

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 Multimedia and Entertainment Software:
Drawing Software
• Create:
– Two-dimensional, line-based drawings
– Technical diagrams
– Animations
• Professional-level
– Adobe Illustrator
• Home and landscape planning

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 Managing Your Software:
Getting Software
• Students
– Educational discount
• Campus computer stores
• College bookstores
• Online software suppliers

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 Managing Your Software:
Getting Software
• Open source
– Freeware: FileHippo; MajorGeeks
• Beta versions
– Programs still under development

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 Managing Your Software:
Software Licenses
• End User License Agreement (EULA)
• States the following:
– Ultimate owner of
software
– Whether copies can
be made
– Number of installations allowed
– Warranties

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 Managing Your Software:
Software Licenses
• Single License
• Multiuser licenses might be available
• Open source software
• Free software license
– GNU
– Copyleft

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 Managing Your Software:
Getting the Right Software for Your System

• Software programs have sets of system

requirements
• Upgrade
• Update
• Backward-compatible

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 Managing Your Software:
Installing and Uninstalling Software
• DVD or downloading from the Internet
• Full installation
• Custom installation

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 Managing Your Software:
Installing and Uninstalling Software

• Uninstalling software in Windows 8

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 Managing Your Software:
Installing and Uninstalling Software

• Recovering from a computer crash

– Create a system repair disc
– Recovery utility

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 Check Your Understanding
5. What types of multimedia and
entertainment software are available?
• Multimedia software is software for playing, copying, recording, editing, and
organizing multimedia files. Multimedia software includes the following:
• Digital image- and video-editing software
• Digital audio software
• Specialty software to produce computer games
• Educational and reference software is available to help you master, study,
design, create, or plan.
• Simulation (training) programs let users experience or control the software as if
it were the actual software or an actual event.
• Course management software provides traditional classroom tools such as
discussion areas, assignment features, and grade books over the Internet.
• Drawing software helps you create and edit simple line-based drawings or
create more-complex designs for both imaginative and technical illustrations.

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 Check Your Understanding
6. What’s important to know when buying
software?
• You must purchase software unless it is freeware or open source.
• You’re actually purchasing the license to use it and therefore must abide by
the terms of the licensing agreement you accept when installing the
program.
• Before installing software on your computer, ensure that your system setup
meets the system requirements that specify the minimum recommended
standards for the operating system, processor, primary memory (RAM), and
hard drive capacity. Sometimes, there are other specifications for the video
card, monitor, optical drive, and other peripherals.

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 Check Your Understanding
7. How do I install and uninstall software?
Installing:
• A full installation copies all the files and programs from the distribution disc to your
computer’s hard drive.
• A custom installation lets you decide which features you want installed on your hard
drive.
Uninstalling:
• It’s best to use the uninstall feature that comes with the operating system.
• Using the uninstall feature of the operating system when uninstalling a program will
help you ensure that all additional program files are removed from your computer.

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All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a
retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic,
mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without the prior written
permission of the publisher. Printed in the United States of America.

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