Differences Between System Software And Application Software
System software and application software have a lot in common. They both do things that regular human beings don’t have the time, energy, or desire to do.
But they also have some key differences that make one more suited to certain tasks than the other.
If you are thinking of working with system or application software, or are just curious if these programs are right for you, be sure to familiarize yourself with the above differences between the two software.
Application software is the type of software that allows a user to accomplish specific tasks e.g. generating reports, surfing the internet, editing videos, etc. while system software serves to maintain the hardware and enhance its performance to provide a better user experience.
The table below shows the major differences between system software and application software;
| System Software | Application Software |
|---|---|
| It controls the hardware and manages all of the processes and threads in the computer’s memory. It also controls access to any resources outside of the computer’s main memory, such as peripheral devices or disk drives. | It is used to run specific programs on a computer. For example, a word processor application might allow you to create a document on your computer |
| Helps the operating system run and provide basic functions, such as responding to a keyboard or mouse. | Runs on top of the operating system and provides extra features, such as word processing programs. |
| It enables a device to function properly | It enables the user to accomplish specific task |
| System software includes drivers and applications (apps), which are: pre-installed by the manufacturer on the hard drive, but not necessarily available for use by end-users | Application software is a program whose job it is to perform specific tasks. Application software may rely on other software, such as an operating system or graphical user interface (GUI) to perform its tasks. |
| Provides support for interfacing with hardware devices and supporting applications | Application software may include business logic, data processing and analysis, text processing and manipulation, graphics processing, database management and scheduling, financial analysis and reporting, etc. |
| System software is designed to work with other devices, like your desktop computer or laptop computer. | Application software consists of programs that solve problems for users and make their lives easier by providing specialized tools that allow them to carry out tasks more easily or efficiently than if they were required to do so themselves by hand or through other means |
In Conclusion
Therefore, overall, there are many differences between systems and application software. The process of software development is different, the strategies behind their creation are different and the result and their objectives are also different.
Application software can be thought of as just one type of system software, but it by no means represents the whole picture. To sum up, for you, we can say that system software is vital to running a computer smoothly; whereas application software is used to run programs that are more often and more geared toward accomplishing specific tasks.
