Computer software
Computer software (often called just software) is made of one or more computer programs. Sometimes it means one specific program, or it can mean all the software on a computer, including the applications and the operating system. Applications are programs that do a specific thing, such as a game or a word processor. The operating system (Mac OS, Windows 7, Windows XP, Linux, etc.) is software that helps the applications run, and controls the display and the keyboard.
The word software was first used in the late 1960s to show the difference from computer hardware, which are the parts of a machine that can be seen and touched. Software is the instructions that the computer follows. Before compact discs (CDs) or Internet downloads, software came on "soft media" like paper punch cards, magnetic discs or magnetic tape.
The word firmware is sometimes used to describe a style of software that is made special for a particular type of computer and is usually stored on a Flash memory or ROM chip in the computer.
There are two types of software:
