It is impossible to imagine the modern computer world without a complex of software (abbreviated as software), without which no computer or mobile system can do. In this case, the concept of the software itself has a fairly broad interpretation and is divided into several basic types according to the structure and functions performed. And the choice here is very large. Consider what criteria to choose software of one type or another.
Software Classes
From the point of view of modern computer technologies at this stage of their development, two large general groups of software can be distinguished: system (general) and applied (special).
It should be said right away that both categories are in close interaction with each other, and special software depends more on system software. In other words, if the system does not meet the stated requirements for normal operation, a specialized program simply will not start. In some cases, the opposite effect is observed when the application program is morally and technically obsolete, and also does not work on new OSs.
An example of the first effect is the situation when the latest modification of the game DOOM3 came out. Its system requirements were so high that at that time corresponding computer configurations had not yet been created.
System software
The system software can include the OS itself, drivers, maintenance and diagnostics programs, additional plug-ins, antiviruses, archivers, etc. By what criteria should I choose this type of software? Everything is very simple. Initially, the question is reduced to the choice of the OS itself. In our country it is most often Windows, less often Mac OS X and Linux. As for systems such as Free BSD, they are common only among programmers and developers.
It is worth noting that when installing the selected OS, the main software (the basic package of standard programs and drivers) will be installed automatically. So in this regard, you can not worry.
The main task of system software, as is already clear, is to ensure the functioning of the hardware and its connection with application programs.
We can say that system software is, in a sense, a bridge that provides the connection between the hardware components of a computer system and installed applications.
Application software
Application programs or packages are inherently specialized applications that focus on a specific task. There can be a lot of them, so the question of what criteria to choose software in the appropriate direction, we will consider a little later.
Windows software
Now a few words about the Windows OS family. Probably everyone who at least once encountered the installation process noticed that Windows software, from the point of view of classification, has a maximum of system and a minimum of application programs.
Roughly speaking, here the maximum system set is installed, which is necessary for the functioning of the system itself, as well as for installing third-party software packages depending on the task or the needs of the user himself.
On Windows, PC software requires significant additions. First of all, this is the installation of codecs and decoders for listening to music and watching videos, anti-virus packages in order to ensure security, office applications for working with the main types of documents, etc.
Unfortunately, in standard official distributions all this is absent. Therefore, speaking about the criteria by which to choose the most comprehensive software, it should be noted that it is better to use installation distributions containing Office, archivers, file managers, system maintenance tools, and much more. A vivid example is the same ZverDVD installation disk, on which all the necessary utilities and components were assembled.
Setting tasks when choosing software
Now consider the question of how to choose software based on the tasks that need to be solved. Today there are an incredible number of them: work with documents, application development, the Internet, entertainment, working with databases, graphics, mathematics, sound, video, etc., etc. As you can see, the list goes on, as they say, to infinity.
In any case, the PC software should be based precisely on the performance of a specific function (meaning application software). However, this is far from all. There are a number of requirements, without which the solution to the question of what criteria to choose software for can simply come to naught.
System requirements
We came to one of the most serious issues related to the performance of a particular installed software package in the system itself. The slightest discrepancy between the OS itself, the hardware and the program, implying specific conditions for normal operation, will only result in a zero result.
Take at least system errors when an inscription appears stating that a particular component is not a Win32 application.
It is clear that 64-bit applications will not work on systems with 32-bit architecture. And this is not the only option. For example, a computer freezes very often if the system has less RAM than the program needs for normal operation. The same goes for the processor and the video card.
Almost all developers are characterized by the fact that they indicate two types of requirements: minimum and recommended. Immediately worth saying that this is wrong. Everyday practice shows that in most cases the minimum configuration does not work, although the software technology itself was originally designed specifically for such a system with minimal consumption of system resources. Most often this applies to modern computer games or packages for processing the same video in real time, which have much higher requirements than other applications.
By the way, if anyone noticed, Kaspersky Anti-Virus is very demanding on the system. It also happens that it either simply does not start, or loads the computer so much in the background that other tasks become simply impossible.
Criterias of choice
What are the main criteria for choosing software? General aspects for all types of collateral look something like this:
- Choosing an operating system.
- The choice of types of applications based on the task.
- Compliance of the system configuration with the requirements of the installed applications, and vice versa.
- Functional set of software packages.
- Type of software (paid, shareware, completely free, etc.).
The latter, by the way, plays a significant role for our user, since not everyone is able to pay a rather high price for a software product (unlike Western countries), although he knows that if you purchase the official version, you can get a fully functional package with all the declared or advanced features. Often, this also includes an automatic system for free software product updates via the Internet.
However, this never bothered our users in the sense that on the Internet you can find not only free basic software, but also other initially paid programs of any type. In extreme cases, if you don’t act illegally, you can find a lot of free analogues for most licensed software products. Functions, of course, may be smaller, however, the basic set will satisfy the basic needs of any user.
Conclusion
As you can see, the choice of software of any type is not so complicated as it might have seemed at first. The most important thing is to systematize for yourself all of the above points and approach the issue in the most reasonable way with a minimum of costs.