29. Software

Software is the general term for information that's recorded onto some kind of medium. For example, when you go to the video store and rent or buy a tape or DVD, what you're really getting is the software that's stored on that tape or disk. You’re VCR or DVD player are hardware devices that are capable of reading the software from a tape or disk and projecting it onto your TV screen, in the form of a movie.

Software is the non-tangible aspect of a computer that is necessary for it to perform any function. Software includes the programs that instruct the computer what to do, the configuration files where important system information is stored, and user files which hold the end result of the computers' functions. Often, many different layers of software are combined to perform computing tasks, examples of which include the transfer of HTML files via TCP/IP or the operation of a media player running in an operating system.

Your computer is a hardware device that reads software too. Most of the software on your computer comes in the form of programs. A program consists of "instructions" that tell the computer what to do, how to behave. Just as there are thousands of albums you can buy on CD for your stereo, and thousands of movies you can buy to play on your VCR or DVD player, there are thousands of programs that you can buy to run on your computer. When you buy a computer, you don't automatically get every program produced by every software company in the world. You usually get some programs. For example, when you buy a computer it will probably have an operating system (like Windows XP) already installed on it.

Examples of common computer software include the Microsoft Windows operating system, the Firefox web browser, email filters, and mp3 audio files. Each of these represent a different type of software, that are often used together to perform a particular function or task. The operating system renders an interface to the computer's hardware and provides a platform for which developers can code other software without concerning themselves with the details of the hardware. If the operating system is the only software installed on the computer, then the computer can be powered on yet nothing can be done with it. This type of software is called system software. Application software, such as Firefox, are the programs that actually do anything useful to the end user. In the case of Firefox, the program fetches and displays web pages. Other types of application software include the programs familiar to home computer users including Outlook, Thunderbird, Open Office, and Photoshop.