4. Software

A computer needs to be told what to do, otherwise it will just sit on your desk collecting dust and taking up space.

Software are the applications and programming instructions that tell your computer what to do and enable you to use it for things such as playing games, writing an essay or listening to music.

There are two main types of software which you will learn about in detail later on. They are 'system software' that controls the way the computer works and tells it what to do. Examples include:

• Operating System
• Utilities
• User Interface

The other type of software is called ' application software' and it is this type of software that you use to do your work and have fun. Some examples include:

• Word processors such as Word or Open Office
• Spreadsheets such as Excel
• Databases such as Access or Oracle
• Games applications such as Half Life, Call of Duty etc

So software depends on hardware and hardware depends on software. Together they form a computer system.