Computer Software

The instructions computers receive from software are written in a computer language, a set of symbols that convey information. Like spoken languages used by humans, computer languages come in many different forms.

Computers use a very basic language to perform their jobs. The language ultimately can be reduced to a pattern of "on-or-off" responses, called binary digital information or Machine Language. Computers work using nothing but electronic "switches" that are either on or off, as represented by "1" and "0."

Human beings have trouble writing complex instructions using binary, "1 or 0" language. A simple command to a computer might look something like this: 00010010 10010111001 010101000110. Because such code is tedious and time consuming to write, programmers invented "assembly language." It allows programmers to assign a separate code to different machine language commands. Another, special program called a compiler translates the codes back into 1s and 0s for the computer.

Assembly language was a problem in that it only worked with computers that had the same type of "computer chip" or microprocessor (an electrical component that controls the main operating parts of the computer).

The development of what are referred to as high-level languages helped to make computers common objects in work places and homes. They allowed instructions to be written in languages that many people and their computers could recognize and interpret. Recognizable commands like READ, LIST, and PRINT could be used when writing instructions for computers. Each word may represent hundreds of instructions in the 1s and 0s language of the machine.

Because the electronic circuitry in a computer responds to commands expressed in terms of 1s and 0s, the high-level language command must be translated back into machine language. The various types of software needed to translate high-level language back into machine language are called translator programs.

Operating system software is vital for the performance of a computer. Before a computer can use application software, such as a word processing or a game-playing package, the computer must run the instructions through the operating system software. The operating system software contains many built-in instructions, so that each piece of application software does not have to repeat simple instructions (i.e., printing a document).

Disk Operating System or DOS is a popular operating system software program for many personal computers in use in the late 1990s. The Microsoft corporation has modified this software. MS-DOS (or Windows) has become the most popular computer operating system software. IBM-compatible machines can all run the same type of software, but Macintosh computers cannot. Indeed, the requirement for MS-DOS before other software programs could be run prompted charges that Microsoft has monopolized the software industry. In April 2000, the United States district court ruled that Microsoft has violated antitrust laws, and that the company was to be broken up, in order to foster competition. However, upon appeal, the breakup order was reversed in 2002.

Another operating software that is gaining in popularity is called Linux. Linux was initially written by Linus Torvalds in 1991. Linux is an open-source software. This means that anyone can modify the software. In contrast, the key codes that permit Windows to be modified are the property of Microsoft, and are not made available to the consumer.

A Linux-based operating system called Lindows has been devised. Commercially available as of January 2003, Lindows allows a user to run the Windows program on a Linux-based operating system. This development allows users to run Microsoft programs without having to purchase the Microsoft operating system. Not surprisingly, this concept is facing legal challenges from Microsoft.