I am a psych student.. I took IT class for fun and now I can\'t do anything. I w
ID: 3637027 • Letter: I
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I am a psych student.. I took IT class for fun and now I can't do anything. I was near tears trying to briefly describe those.. but I couldn't do it without directly plagarizing it from the textbook... (My technical terms and understanding of computers is very poor) .. SO I would appriciate if somebody could briefly describe them in human words :) Below I will post the info from my textbook.Software pacages and Desktop productivity tools;
- Word Processing Software
- spreadsheet software
- data management software
- preservation Graphics
- software suites
- web browsers web browsers
Info from the textbook :
Software Packages and Desktop Productivity Tools
Much of the software used in businesses today is not custom programmed but consists of
application software packages and desktop productivity tools. A software package is a
prewritten, precoded, commercially available set of programs that eliminates the need for
individuals or organizations to write their own software programs for certain functions.
There are software packages for system software, but most package software is application
software.
Software packages that run on mainframes and larger computers usually require
professional programmers for their installation and support. Desktop productivity software
packages for word processing, spreadsheets, data management, presentation graphics, and
Web browsers are the most widely used software tools among business and consumer users.
Word Processing Software If you work in an office or attend school, you probably use word
processing software every day. Word processing software stores text data electronically as a
computer file rather than on paper. The word processing software allows the user to make
changes in the document electronically, with formatting options to make changes in line
spacing, margins, character size, and column width. Microsoft Word and WordPerfect are
popular word processing packages.
Most word processing software has advanced features that automate other writing tasks:
spelling checkers, style checkers (to analyze grammar and punctuation), thesaurus programs, mail merge programs (which link letters or other text documents with names and
addresses in a mailing list), and capabilities for creating and accessing Web pages.
Businesses that need to create highly professional looking brochures, manuals, or books
will likely use desktop publishing software for this purpose. Desktop publishing software
provides more control over the placement of text, graphics, and photos in the layout of a
page than does word processing software. Adobe InDesign and QuarkXpress are two
professional publishing packages.
Spreadsheet Software Spreadsheets are valuable for applications in which numerous
calculations with pieces of data must be related to each other. Spreadsheet software organizes
data into a grid of columns and rows. When you change a value or values, all other
related values on the spreadsheet will be automatically recomputed.
You will often see spreadsheets in applications that require modeling and “what-if”
analysis. After the user has constructed a set of mathematical relationships, the spreadsheet
can be recalculated instantaneously using a different set of assumptions. Spreadsheet
packages include graphics functions to present data in the form of line graphs, bar graphs, or
pie charts, and the ability to read and create Web files. The most popular spreadsheet package
is Microsoft Excel. Figure 4-8 illustrates the output from a spreadsheet for a break-even
analysis and its accompanying graph.
Data Management Software Although spreadsheet programs are powerful tools for
manipulating quantitative data, data management software, which we defined earlier in this
chapter, is more suitable for creating and manipulating lists and for combining information
from different files. PC database management packages have programming features and
easy-to-learn menus that enable nonspecialists to build small information systems.
Data management software typically has facilities for creating files and databases and for
storing, modifying, and manipulating data for reports and queries. Popular database manage-
ment software for the personal computer includes Microsoft Access, which has been enhanced
to publish data on the Web. We discuss data management software in greater detail in Chapter 5.
Presentation Graphics Users can create professional-quality graphics presentations with
presentation graphics software. This software can convert numeric data into charts and
other types of graphics and can include multimedia displays of sound, animation, photos,
and video clips. The leading presentation graphics packages include capabilities for computer-
generated slide shows and translating content for the Web. Microsoft PowerPoint and
Lotus Freelance Graphics are popular presentation graphics packages.
Software Suites Typically, the major office productivity tools are bundled together as a software
suite. Microsoft Office is an example. There are a number of different versions of
Office for home and business users, but the core office tools include Word word processing
software, Excel spreadsheet software, Access database software, PowerPoint presentation
graphics software, and Outlook, a set of tools for e-mail, scheduling, and contact management.
Microsoft Office 2010 is the latest version of this suite. Microsoft has added a Webbased
option called Office Web Apps available to businesses and consumers on both a free
and subscription basis. Office Web Apps delivers lightweight online versions of Office tools
such as Word, Excel, PowerPoint, and One Note via standard Web browsers to PCs, mobile
phones, and other Web-enabled devices. Microsoft stores users’ data for these online applications
and allows some sharing of documents and files.
Competing with Microsoft Office are low-cost office productivity suites such as Sun
Microsystems’ OpenOffice (which can be downloaded for free over the Internet) and its
StarOffice (downloadable for $34.95). However, the real challenge to Microsoft is coming
from the cloud. Web-based versions of desktop productivity software are becoming popular
because of their convenience, flexibility, and low cost. There are over two million businesses
of all sizes using Google Apps, which we introduced in our discussion of collaboration tools
in Chapter 2. This online suite includes tools for word processing, spreadsheets, presentations,
contact management, messaging, and e-mail) and is available for free or as a more
full-featured Premier edition charging businesses $50.
Web BrowsersWeb browsers Easy-to-use software tools called web browsers are used for
displaying Web pages and for accessing the Web and other Internet resources. Browsers can
display or present graphics, audio, and video information, as well as traditional text, and
they allow you to click (or touch) on-screen buttons or highlighted words to link to related
Web sites. Web browsers have become the primary interface for accessing the Internet or for
using networked systems based on Internet technology. The leading Web browsers today are
Microsoft Internet Explorer, Mozilla Firefox, Apple Safari, and Google Chrome. Mobile
handhelds have their own specialized Web browsers.
Explanation / Answer
Ahh ok, I am a CS major so It is my pleasure translate all these to human terms for ya :) - Word Processing Software: Put simply, this is software used to type documents. Some examples are Microsoft Word for Windows or Pages for Mac. Word Processing Software is useful because it provides the user with tools to make typing things easier such as formatting, spell checking, automatic list numbering, and more. - spreadsheet software - Put simply, this is software usually used for crunching numbers. Some examples are Microsoft Excel or Numbers for Mac. Spread Sheet Software is useful because it can perform calculations on data users input such as interest and then also graph that data. - data management software - Put simply this is software that, as the name suggests, manages a ton of data. Some examples of technology that may be considered data management software is SQL or Oracle Database. Database management Software is an absolute must have for big companies that deal with a lot of data because it organizes it and allows the companies to be able to know whats where. - presentation Graphics - Put simply, this is software that is used to create media and images for presentations. Some examples could be power point for Windows or one note for Mac. It is useful because it enables users to create highly stylized images for slideshows or reports. - software suites - Software suites are just a bunch of different types of software packaged together as one. Some examples are Microsoft Office Suite, Adobe Creative Suite, or Apple iWork. These are useful because they give a user access to all types of programs (such as word processing and spreadsheet) together in 1 easy to download package. - web browsers - web browsers are the programs you access the internet and view the web through. Some examples are internet explorer, mozzila firefox, or google chrome. Without them there would be no way to view the web! Please rate life saver!!!!
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