Software applications work through the operating system to gain access to the hardware.

A software application carries out tasks that the user is interested in doing such as writing a letter, creating graphs, sending an email or downloading a webpage.

Application software can be classified under three main categories:

• General purpose software
• Specialist software
• Tailor made or bespoke software

This type of software tries to be a 'jack-of-all-trades'. It provides many features that the majority of users will want e.g. formatting text, creating charts, organizing tables. But it does try to be' all things to all people' and so there will be a vast number of features that you may never use e.g. statistical functions, mail merge. This makes the storage size of these applications fairly large.

There are several good reasons for using general purpose software:

• It is relatively cheap
• It is easily available from most computer shops
• It will have been thoroughly tested so there won't be any serious problems or bugs
• There will be lots of user support i.e. books, user guides, online help and discussion forums on the Internet

These applications are designed to be used for specific tasks such as company payroll, stock control systems, appointment systems, ecommerce sites etc.

The applications have not been written for a specific company. They have been developed by a manufacturer to try to provide all of the features that they anticipate a company might need.

Like general purpose software, there may be many features that the company does not need, or the features which are available may not work exactly as they would like in their business.

It is possible for developers to adapt this specialist software somewhat and make it more specific for the company needs. However, they are limited in what can be changed. 3. Bespoke SoftwareAlthough specialist software might be the answer for many companies, there will be some organizations who find that it just doesn't do exactly what they want or it doesn't work with their current systems.

In this case, they might decide to have the software system they need designed and developed specifically for them. This is called 'tailor-made' or 'bespoke' software.

The main advantages are:

• the company will get the exact software/system that they need
• the software will work exactly how they want it to work
• the software will only have the features that they specifically need in their business.

The main disadvantages of this approach are:

• it takes a long time to develop such a system, between a few months to years
• it costs a great deal of money to develop such a system.
• the company may need to employ a team of people such as business analysts, programmers, testers etc
• there will be little in the way of user support and online help

One option would be to use Pretty Good Privacy (PGP) to encrypt the text of your message. I don't believe that PGP will integrate with GMail but you should be able to encrypt the text for the message and past it into the message.

If what you mean is to encrypt the transfer of your email from your computer to Google's servers, you can use the https protocol instead of http. You do that by manually writing "https" instead of "http" in front of the gmail address, in your browser's address bar.

This will only insure a minimal protection against eavesdropping only. Do not take this route if you need strong encryption.

- It is possible to integrate PGP with Gmail. All you need to do is install Firefox and the FireGPG addon. Then you can go to Tools > FireGPG and you can encrypt any data you wish.

Proper internet security can help protect you from fraud. Stay safer with the given below tips to help protect you online.

1. Use strong passwords for all your accounts.

2. Don't use any part of your Social Security number

3.Be wary of email attachments and free software from unknown sources.

4. Be mindful of how much personal information you share on social networking sites.

5.Be careful about what and where you click online

6. Keep your computer operating system, your internet browser and software up to date with the latest security patches.

3 things you can do to ensure safety on the Internet are:

1. Make sure you have a anti virus and never click on ads or popups.

2. Only go to websites that are secure.

3. Never give out personal information

( Safety on the Internet could mean protecting you computer or protecting your identity so i did a combination of both)

Parts are, but by definition, they are different things.

Application software can be defined as:

• Designed to help the user to perform a singular or multiple related specific tasks.
• A set of computer programs which work together to solve a particular problem or to be used for a particular user-defined application

System software can be defined as:

• Designed to operate the computer hardware and to provide and maintain a platform for running application software.
• A term for a complicated set of programs that act together to allow a computer & other programs to function.

Hi, they are different.

System software usually manages the computer systems of various independent hardware, enabling them to coordinate their work. It makes both users and software consider PC as a whole instead of different hardware. System software includes operating system and a series of basic tools.

Software application is developed for specific purpose. Sometimes, it is released as a specific program while sometimes it is a collection of programs.

From OpenSourceSoftwarevsProprietarySoftware.htm and Wikipeadia

Since the dawn of the computing era, manufacturers and consumers of technology have strived to make things smaller. And though it may have seemed a pipe dream to the early pioneers, it's amazing to look back and see how far we've come.

From the immense complexity and size of Charles Babbage's Difference Engine in the 19th century and Alan Turing's Bombe code breaking machine in World War II, our computers have progressed beyond recognition. Cogs and gears gave way to vacuum tubes and then transistors took over. Finally, the silicon chip arrived and enabled computers to become more powerful and far smaller than anyone had ever imagined.

The fascinating world of mobile computing has only been around since the 1990s. Since then, devices that have been developed for mobile computing have taken over the wireless industry. This new type of communication is a very powerful tool for both businesses and personal use. Mobile computing is defined as the ability to use technology that is not physically connected to any static network. This actually used to mean radio transmitters that operated on a stable base, usually with the help of large antennas. 2 way radios used by police officers were also considered mobile technology but now, it means people can connect wirelessly to the internet or to a private network almost anywhere. As long as a person has one of the devices capable of wirelessly accessing the internet, they are participating in mobile computing. Chances are, you have done it with a laptop computer or a personal digital assistant or PDA.

These days, most laptops and personal digital assistants all have wireless cards or Bluetooth interfaces built into them for convenient mobile internet access. Mobile solutions are right under everyone's nose these days, and connectivity has never been easier. Other common tools for mobile computing include devices like global positioning systems and smart phones like the Cingular Blackberry. Tons of PDA software development has been going on in the past five years simply because companies have been trying hard to make PDA technology more available to the general public. These days, software companies almost make more software for PDAs and smart phones than for actual desktops.

Pocket PCs are another way to conveniently access the internet on the fly. Everyone has probably heard of the Palm Pilot. While they were the pioneers of the pocket pc, many other companies such as Dell, HP, and Toshiba have all delved into the market. Pocket PC software has also become much easier to use. Most Palms use the familiar Windows interface, allowing the general public to access the internet via the usual Internet Explorer or other ISPs. Also, people can easily download useful software, including games, Media editing tools, organization tools, and even electronic books.

Mobile computing has evolved from two-way radios that use large antennas to communicate simple messages to three inch personal computers that can do almost everything a regular computer does. People can't go to their local Starbucks and not see a laptop linked up to a hotspot these days, and mobile computing is still in its baby phase.

Compare and Contrast Proprietary and Open Source Software?

Open source software has become mainstream. Applications such as the Firefox Web browser and Linux operating system are available to aid in all areas of operation, including teaching and learning. Open source software has become a strong contender in online training and e-learning sectors. As technology continues to evolve, more open source offerings will continue to emerge in the area of e-learning, continuously changing the landscape of online teaching and learning both in academia and business fields. Open source software has grown to include: Learning management systems (LMS) Learning content management systems (LCMS) Course authoring tools Tools to create media elements such as animations, audio, and video Browsers and players to present content Courseware libraries

These resources have some important benefits: Open source software is free to download therefore lower in cost. Flexibility and customizability, Extensive active builder and user communities that forms a good technical support base. Many open source applications run on multiple platforms including Windows and Linux. Adherence to established standards, which is a high priority for open source software development. Ability to use and link to other open source software.Most proprietary software comes without the source code, which is the code originally written by the programmer. Without this code you do not have right to change the way the software is developed. When you buy proprietary software you are essentially buying the right to use the software in a specific way, and in many cases the company that developed it owns the software, and you just purchase rights to use it.

The main difference between commercial support for proprietary software and commercial support for open source software is that the proprietary software is obligatory and the open source software is optional. If you opt out of paying for support for proprietary software, you lose the right to use it in most cases. The costs incidentally tend to be quite high for proprietary software.

Perceived advantages of proprietary software include: 1) Reliable, professional support and training available;

2) Packaged, comprehensive, modular formats;

3) Regularly and easily updated.

The downside however is that it is: 1) Costly,

2) Has closed standards that hinder further development.

Open sources software has the advantage of: 1) Low cost and no license fees

2) Open standards that facilitate integration with other . Systems

3) It is easily customizable

The down side is: 1) Lack of professional support;

2) Evolving developer communities;

3) Lack of release co-ordination

4) Erratic updates

However, with such a large development and user-base, many discussion forums and help sites are available for users.

Generally, for smaller organizations and projects, Open source solutions seem to suffice. The difference in cost more than makes up for the perceived disadvantages mentioned above. Larger organizations seem to require more robust, high-quality product with high levels of service and support. They want responsibility, reliable assistance, and support from their suppliers. With rapid developments in technology, chances are you can find tools to meet your training needs in either the open source or commercial sector. But open source provides unique advantages which include filling the low-cost high-control niche that are difficult, if not impossible, to achieve through commercial, proprietary avenues.

Examples for Proprietary and Open Source Software.

Proprietary Software

Microsoft Windows, Adobe Flash Player, PS3 OS, iTunes, Adobe Photoshop, Google Earth, Mac OS X, Skype, WinZip and some versions of Unix.( such as BIND, Sendmail, X Window System, DHCP)

Open Source Software

Apache HTTPServer, the e-commerce platform osCommerce and the internet browser Mozilla Firefox. One of the most successful open source products is the GNU/Linux operating system, an open source Unix-like operating system