Word processing software
create, edit and print documents such as letters, reports or memos
• delete and re-enter text, copy or cut (move) text and then insert it in other areas
• use a wide variety of fonts, character styles and type sizes
• incorporate basic design elements such as shading, colours
• insert images or tables, and use the software to carry out desktop publishing.
Spreadsheet software
Spreadsheet software offers the tools for working with tasks such as keeping a budget for a small business, preparing a tax return or analysing sets of data for university work. You can use spreadsheets not only for recording numbers but also for carrying out complex calculations.
Databases
Databases are another kind of application software. They are used to store large sets of complex information. For example, a library might have all of its books in one database. As part of the same database it might have records of all its borrowers. The library could use the database to keep track of its books, where they are or who borrowed them.
Databases allow you to cross-reference between several tables containing related data and to reorganise that data into different categories. You can query databases about the information they contain and print out that information as reports. This is done by extracting only the required data from the tables of information.
Email application software
Email is short for electronic mail. People can exchange electronic documents with one another over networks and the Internet. Just as in neighbourhoods, users have an address that directs the mail server to deliver the electronic message to the correct recipient.
Most email software alerts the user the instant new mail is received and keeps records of what was sent and when. Email is delivered in seconds to anywhere in the world and has become a major communication method for businesses in the new millennium.
Logging on
When you start up your
computer,
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