Application software

COMPUTER CONCEPTS 4TH EDITION

Applications for Personal Use
• Manage everything: personal notes, ideas, thoughts
• Keep track of personal finance
• Prepare tax returns
• Playing games
• Designing a garden
• Create a genealogy map
• Etc.
Note-taking Applications
• Stores, organizes, searches
and shares notes of any type
• Notes entered by clicking
anywhere on the screen
• Diverse document types can
be attached to a note
• Notes are organized into
notebooks and tabs with
search tools
• Examples: OneNote,
Evernote
 Personal Finance Applications
• Keeps track of a checking
or savings account and
personal investments
• Most can import activity
downloaded from your
banking account
• For analyzing home
expenses, tracking
investments
• Examples: Quicken, Mint
 Tax Preparation Applications
• Helps complete the
complex forms required to
file your income taxes
• Estimate the tax bill using
an interview-like series of
questions
• Alert to missing info that
can help minimize tax
• Examples: TurboTax,
H&R Block
Entertainment, Education and
Reference
• Entertainment software used for playing interactive games
and videos
• Played individually or against other enthusiasts worldwide
• A study found Fortnite as top online console game
• Educational software is designed to teach children and adults
subjects s.a. math, spelling, grammar, science, etc via an
interactive reference or game format
• ScienceFlix contains interactive 4000+ objects to teach children in
grade 4-9 about science
• Reference applications use multimedia tools to present
content in encyclopedias, dictionaries, translation guides,
atlases and other reference sources
Cloud Applications
• SaaS applications are
hosted in the cloud and
accessed via a Web
browser
• Access from anywhere
with Internet connection
• Offered free or with ads
• Examples: Google Drive,
Office Online, Zoho
 Open-source Applications
• Often provided for free
• Businesses and
individuals are opting for
these to save money on
licensing fees
• Examples: Apache
OpenOffice and
LibreOffice from The
Document Foundation
Application Software Acquisition

• Application software can be purchased from a retailer or

the publisher
• Another option is to try out the software before buying
or to find free software from a download site (e.g.,
download.com)
• Most software is licensed (right to use but not owned),
requiring a license code (or Product ID or Key) for
activation and use
Distribution Models

• Shareware lets you pay to unlock after a trial period

• Freeware has no cost and no restrictions
• Subscription software comes with a monthly or
annual fee
• Perpetual licensing grants the right to use software
forever
• Be sure to check the software’s system requirements
against your hardware and software
Application Installation
• Run Installer application
• Accept software license
agreement (SLA) or end-
user license agreement
(EULA)
• Go through all installation
steps
Application Uninstallation or
Upgrade
• Uninstalling an application
frees up disk space and
memory
• Windows: Setting/Apps/App
• Mac: drag app to Trash
• Upgrading an application
installs a newer version
• Different from updates
• Free or paid
Mobile Applications

• Mobile and wearable devices have a software edition

specifically designed for mobile use called apps
• Smartphones and tablets have built-in apps
• PIM apps to keep track of appointments, contacts, to-do lists,
notes
• Other standard apps are email, messaging, maps, music and
games
• Other apps installed include a Web browser, calculator,
clock and weather
Downloading Apps
• Apps are available for any
type of task
• In 2021
• Google Play had 3.4M apps
• Apple App Store 2.2M apps
• Microsoft Store 670K apps
• To install an app, launch an
app store, search for an app
and tap the install button
Mobile Productivity Suites
• Microsoft has mobile editions
of its Office Suite for
smartphones and tablets
• Documents can be reviewed,
edited and synced to or from
OneDrive or other services
• Other mobile productivity
suites:
• Apple Pages, Keynote, Numbers
• Google Docs, Sheets, Slides
Wearable Technology

• Challenges for wearable apps developers

• Short battery life, small screens and less computing power
• Usage: quick interaction, info viz, constant movement
• Abundant fitness apps
• To measure heart rate, monitor glucose levels, issue fatigue
alerts
• Trends
• Productivity apps for wearable
• Apps for IoT to gather data from connected sensors
Collaborations Tools
• Applications provide tools
for collaboration
• Digital communications
has two modes:
• Synchronous: people
communicate in real time
(video/audio conference)
• Asynchronous: happens
with a delay in the tine of
communications, e.g.,
email
Applications for Collaboration
• Many collaboration
applications
• In-house and mass market
applications designed for
collaboration, e.g. Zoom
• Microsoft Teams w/ ability
to store and share content,
document co-authoring,
video and audio conferencing
• Others: SharePoint and
Microsoft 365
Best Practices for Collaboration
• Make communications clear
• Consider who needs the info
• Respond to requests
promptly
• Learn video-conferencing
etiquette
• Not interrupting
• Waiting to be recognized
• Being mindful of your
appearance
• Eye contact and body language