software

Definition

Intangible component of a computer system that imparts intelligence to otherwise useless pieces of metal and silicon called hardware. It consists of carefully-organized instructions and code, that programmers write in a language the hardware can understand and act upon. Software is divided commonly into two main categories: (1) System software: controls the basic (and invisible to the user) functions of a computer and comes usually preinstalled with the machine. See also BIOS and Operating System. (2) Application software: handles multitudes of common and specialized tasks a user wants to perform, such as accounting, communicating, data processing, word processing. It is often bought separately by the user, and is usually the reason people buy computers.