Differences between writen software and off-the-shelf software

Off-the-shelf software is ready to roll the minute you slide the installation CD in the drive and the other is software which is built to your specification. There is a lot of difference between the writen and off-the-shelf software and the usability of the two types is also considerably different. Here are some of the main differences:

Price: One of the biggest differences is the price. An off-the-shelf product is usually reasonably priced whereas a customized product can be relatively expensive to build.

Generic build: An off-the-shelf product is made for a wide range of audience. Thus the development team has to provide a set design as well as a pre-defined framework. Since the product is ready to use, it may not cater to the exact requirement of all organizations. Usually there are some adjustments that an existing organization will need to make in order to implement an off-the-shelf product. This disadvantage is the biggest advantage in the case of customized software. Customized software picks up current processes and builds an electronic framework to automate them. There is no requirement to change any processes and people can usually get used to the software within a few days. Customized software provides flexibility as well for the organization to tinker around with the software and fine tune it for better performance.

Updates: Off-the-shelf products have off-the-shelf updates. Each time there is a revision in software purchased off-the-shelf, you will need to shell out an update fee. On the other hand, some off-the-shelf products may not have any updates for a long time, thus making you use obsolete software which might have negative repercussions on your business. Updates in customized software are done based on the requirements and budget of the company.

Below are the benifits of using a custom or writen software over an off-the-shelf or packaged software:

1. CUSTOM SOFTWARE: Custom software solutions enable you to develop software solutions that map your unique business processes rather than changing your business processes to conform to what a "packaged software" provides.

PACKAGED SOFTWARE: You may have to bend your business practices to fit the requirements of the package, so that it will suite your business.

2. CUSTOM SOFTWARE: Clearly specifying and achieving the requirements that fits your business is possible.

PACKAGED SOFTWARE: Selecting the best package software that entirely fits your business is very difficult.

3. CUSTOM SOFTWARE: With a custom application, you can have all the features you need and request for your business.

PACKAGED SOFTWARE: You may end up paying a lot of money for features that you don't really need and may be unable to utilize the software effectively in your business.

4. CUSTOM SOFTWARE: The cost of and amount of training required is an up-front investment. 24/7 support is available for you on your software functionality and training.

PACKAGED SOFTWARE: If the product is complex, your staff may be confused, making the software useless. You may not receive 24/7 support service and attention for your business's functionality.

5. CUSTOM SOFTWARE : There are no licensing fees with the custom solutions. Once you have paid for the product, you can usually make as many copies as you need.

PACKAGED SOFTWARE : When you buy off-the-shelf software you are always subject to licensing fees.

6. CUSTOM SOFTWARE :Once you have paid for the product, you can use it for as many employees that you need.

PACKAGED SOFTWARE :The initial purchase price for a product often limits your right of use to a limited number of current users. You have to pay extra if you want the product to be accessible to more users.

7. CUSTOM SOFTWARE : Custom software developers can create a version that contains only the system core and essential system modules. This permits the repair of bugs found in the software.

PACKAGED SOFTWARE : Packaged software, in comparison, are often plagued with serious bugs resulting from a short span between deadline and first sale.

Application software

Applications are programs written to carry out a specific task or set of tasks, for example: word processors, spreadsheets, accounting packages, media players and games.

Types of applications software

Applications come in several different types:

Utility programs - examples include virus scanners, disk defragmenters and backup utilities.

Generic - general purpose software that is not written for any particular type of business. Examples of this include word processors and spreadsheets.

Integrated - a collection of software that has a common set of commands/icons. Usually they include word processors, spreadsheets and graphics software, but they can contain databases as well. They tend to be cheaper than purchasing each application separately.

Specific - software written for a defined purpose. Accountancy software is a good example of this that can be bought by anyone.

Bespoke - bespoke software is written when a company requires a piece of software to perform a very specific task or function and there's no existing software that does what they need. It can be very expensive.

Input and Output device

Output device is any peripheral that receives and/or displays output from a computer. For example plotter, speaker and printer.

PlotterSpeaker

Printer

Input device is a hardware that sends information or feeds data into the computer. For example mouse, keyboard and trackball.

keyboard.mouse.trackball.

Natural Language User Interfaces

Natural Language User Interfaces (LUI) are a type of computer human interface where linguistic phenomenon such as verbs, phrases, and clauses act as UI controls for creating, selecting, and modifying data in software applications.

Command-line interface

A command-line interface allows the user to interact with the computer by typing in commandscommand: a directive given to a computer program. The computer displays a prompt, the user keys in the command and presses enter or return.

Menu

A list of commands or options from which you can choose. Most applications now have a menu-driven component. You can choose an item from the menu by highlighting it and then pressing the Enter or Return key, or by simply pointing to the item with a mouse and clicking one of the mouse buttons.

The antithesis of a menu-driven program is a command-driven system, in which you must explicitly enter the command you want rather than choose from a list of possible commands. Menu-driven systems are simpler and easier to learn but are generally not as flexible as command-driven systems, which lend themselves more naturally to interaction with programs.

There are several different types of menus:
# pop-up menu: A menu that appears temporarily when you click the mouse button on a selection. Once you make a selection from a pop-up menu, the menu usually disappears.
# cascading menu: A submenu that opens when you select a choice from another menu.
# pull-down menu : A special type of pop-up menu that appears directly beneath the command you selected.
# moving-bar menu : A menu in which options are highlighted by a bar that you can move from one item to another. Most menus are moving-bar menus.
# menu bar : A menu arranged horizontally. Each menu option is generally associated with another pull-down menu that appears when you make a selection.
# tear-off menu : A pop-up menu that you can move around the screen like a window.

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Forms

A formatted document containing blank fields that users can fill in with data. With paper forms, it is usually necessary for someone to transfer the data from the paper to a computer database, where the results can then be statistically analyzed. Some OCR systems can do this automatically, but they're generally limited to forms containing just check boxes. They can't handle handwritten text.

Electronic forms solve this problem by entirely skipping the paper stage. Instead, the form appears on the user's display screen and the user fills it in by selecting options with a pointing device or typing in text from the computer keyboard. The data is then sent directly to a forms processing application, which enters the information into a database.

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Graphical user interface

A graphical user interface (GUI) is a type of user interface item that allows people to interact with programs in more ways than typing,such as computers; hard-held device such as MP3 Players, Portable Media Players or Gaming devices; household appliances and office equipment with images rather than text commands. A GUI offers graphical icons, and visual indicators, as opposed to text-based interfaces, typed command labels or text navigation to fully represent the information and actions available to a user. The actions are usually performed through direct manipulation of the graphical elements.

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Utility software

Utility software is a kind of system software designed to help analyze, configure, optimize and maintain the computer. A single piece of utility software is usually called a utility or tool.

Utility software should be contrasted with application software, which allows users to do things like creating text documents, playing games, listening to music or surfing the web. Rather than providing these kinds of user-oriented or output-oriented functionality, utility software usually focuses on how the computer infrastructure (including the computer hardware, operating system, application software and data storage) operates. Due to this focus, utilities are often rather technical and targeted at people with an advanced level of computer knowledge.

Most utilities are highly specialized and designed to perform only a single task or a small range of tasks. However, there are also some utility suites that combine several features in one software. Most major operating systems come with several pre-installed utilities.

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Some Examples of utility software are:

Disk formatting-to divide up the surface of a disk into more easily manageable sectors.

File handling- to manage the files that are stored on a computer software system

File compression- utilities output a shorter stream or a smaller file when provided with a stream or file.

Virus checker- used to check any files on or entering the system for viruses.

Hardware drivers- used to control communication between computer and pheriperals.

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Network operating system

A networking operating system is an operating system that contains components and programs that allow a computer on a network to serve requests from other computers for data and provide access to other resources such as printer and file systems.

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Multi-tasking operating system

An operating system that is capable of allowing multiple software processes to run at the same time. Below are some examples of multitasking operating systems.
-UNIX
-WINDOWS 2000

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Multi-user operating system

A multi-user operating system allows many different users to take advantage of the computer's resources simultaneously. The operating system must make sure that the requirements of the various users are balanced, and that each of the programs they are using has sufficient and separate resources so that a problem with one user doesn't affect the entire community of users. Unix, VMS and mainframe operating systems, such as MVS, are examples of multi-user operating systems.

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Single-user operating system

A single user operating system is usually restricted to only allowing one user at a time log in and use the system. These types of systems are optimized for a personal desktop experience, not for multiple users of the system at the same time.

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Single-user, single task - As the name implies, this operating system is designed to manage the computer so that one user can effectively do one thing at a time. The Palm OS for Palm handheld computers is a good example of a modern single-user, single-task operating system.
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Single-user, multi-tasking - This is the type of operating system most people use on their desktop and laptop computers today. Microsoft's Windows and Apple's MacOS platforms are both examples of operating systems that will let a single user have several programs in operation at the same time. For example, it's entirely possible for a Windows user to be writing a note in a word processor while downloading a file from the Internet while printing the text of an e-mail message.

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Real-time operating system

Real-time operating systems are used to control machinery, scientific instruments and industrial systems. An RTOS typically has very little user-interface capability, and no end-user utilities, since the system will be a "sealed box" when delivered for use. A very important part of an RTOS is managing the resources of the computer so that a particular operation executes in precisely the same amount of time, every time it occurs. In a complex machine, having a part move more quickly just because system resources are available may be just as catastrophic as having it not move at all because the system is busy.

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Real-time processing is widely use, for example in the medical diagnostic or exam technologies like MRI's, echocardiograms, etc, doppler weather monitoring and air traffic control systems.

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Batch operating system

Batch: Jobs with similar needs are batched together and run through the computer as a group, by an operator or automatic job sequencer. Performance is increased by attempting to keep CPU and I/O devices busy at all times through buffering, off-line operation, spooling, and multiprogramming.

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An example of batch processing is the way that credit card companies process billing. The customer does not receive a bill for each separate credit card purchase but one monthly bill for all of that month’s purchases. The bill is created through batch processing, where all of the data are collected and held until the bill is processed as a batch at the end of the billing cycle.

Other example is Payroll - when a company calculates the wages for its workforce and prints payslips.

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The purpose of an operating system

An operating system is the framework that allows you to communicate with computer hardware in an interactive way. Without this, you would not be able to tell the computer to do anything and it would have any instructions to follow. This is why it is important for a computer to have an operating system .In early days without OS so much problems where faced like accessing or getting output it takes two days. To make it much more efficient OS is used.

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