What are the criteria for choosing software? PC Software

The modern computer world can not be imagined without a software package (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 division into several basic types in terms of structure and functions. And the choice here is very big. Let's consider, by what criteria to choose software of this or that type.

Software classes

From the point of view of modern computer technologies at this stage of their development, two large common software groups can be distinguished: system (general) and applied (special).

Immediately it is worthwhile to say that both categories are in close interaction with each other, and the special software depends on the system one to a greater extent. In other words, if the system does not meet the stated requirements for normal operation, the specialized program simply will not start. In some cases, the reverse effect is also observed when the application program is morally and technically obsolete, and on new OS also does not work.

An example of the first effect can be called the situation, when the newest version of the game DOOM3. Its system requirements were so high that at that time the corresponding computer configurations had not yet been created.

System software

The OS software, drivers, maintenance and diagnostic programs, plug-ins, antiviruses, archivers etc. can be referred to the system software . What are the criteria for choosing a software of this type? Everything is very simple. Initially, the question is reduced to the choice of the operating system itself. At us it more often OS Windows, is more rare - Mac OS X and Linux. As for systems like 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 respect you do not have to worry.

The main task of system software, as it is already clear, is to ensure the functioning of "hardware" and its connection with application programs.

We can say that the system software in a sense is a bridge that provides a connection between the "iron" components of the computer system and installed applications.

Application software

Application programs or packages are essentially specialized applications that are specific to a particular task. There can be quite a lot of them, so we will consider the question of what criteria to choose the software of the corresponding direction, a little later.

Windows software

Now a few words about the Windows family. Probably everyone who has ever encountered the installation process noticed that the Windows software has a maximum of system and minimum application programs in terms of classification.

Roughly speaking, there is a maximum system set required for the operation of the system itself, as well as for installing third-party software packages, depending on the task or the needs of the user.

In Windows, PC software requires significant additions. First of all, this is the installation of codecs and decoders for listening to music and watching videos, antivirus packages for security purposes, office applications for working with basic types of documents, etc.

Unfortunately, in standard official distributions all this is missing. Therefore, speaking about what criteria to choose the most complete software, it should be noted that it is better to use installation distributions containing both Office and archivers, and file managers, and system maintenance tools, and much more. A vivid example is the same installation disk ZverDVD, which was collected all the necessary utilities and components.

Setting tasks when choosing software

Now consider the question of how to choose the software, based on the tasks that need to be addressed. Today they can be distinguished by an incredible variety: working with documents, developing applications, the Internet, entertainment, working with databases, graphics, math, sound, video, etc., etc. As you can see, the list can continue, as they say, to infinity.

In any case, the PC software should be based precisely on the performance of a specific function (ie, application software). However, this is not all. There are still a number of requirements, without which the solution to the question of what criteria to choose software, can simply be reduced to none.

System requirements

We approached 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 lead to the fact that we will get a zero result.

Take at least system errors, when there is an inscription saying that this or that component is not a Win32 application.

It is clear that in systems with 32-bit architecture, 64-bit applications will not work. And this is not the only option. For example, very often there is a computer crash if there is less RAM in the system than the program needs for normal operation. The same goes for the CPU and the video card.

Virtually all developers are characterized by the fact that they indicate two types of requirements: minimum and recommended. Immediately it is worth saying that this is wrong. Everyday practice shows that in most cases the minimal configuration does not work, although the software technology itself is originally designed for such a system with minimal consumption of system resources. Most often this applies to modern computer games or packages processing the same video in real time, which requirements are much higher than those of other applications.

By the way, if anyone noticed, Kaspersky Anti-Virus is very demanding on the system. It also happens that it either just does not start up, or so heavily loads the computer in the background, that the performance of other tasks becomes simply impossible.

Criterias of choice

What are the main criteria for choosing software? General aspects for all types of collateral look like this:

1. Select the operating system.
2. Select the types of applications, based on the task.
3. Compliance of the system configuration with the requirements of the installed applications, and vice versa.
4. A functional set of software packages.
5. The 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 high enough price for a software product (unlike Western countries), although he knows that in case of purchasing an official version, it is possible to get a fully functional package with all the claimed or Advanced capabilities. Often, this includes an automatic system for free software update via the Internet.

However, our users have never been embarrassed 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 an extreme case, if you do not do it illegally, you can find a lot of free analogs for most licensed software products. Functions, of course, can 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 seem at first. The most important thing is to systematize all the above theses for yourself and approach the issue in the most reasonable way with a minimum of costs.