SYSTEM SOFTWARE
Another borderline example is cloud based software. This software provides services to a software client (usually a web browser or a JavaScript application running in the web browser), not to the user directly, and is therefore systems software. It is also developed using system programming methodologies and systems programming languages. Yet from the perspective of functionality there is little difference between a word processing application and word processing web application.
The operating system (prominent examples being Microsoft Windows, Mac OS X and Linux), allows the parts of a computer to work together by performing tasks like transferring data between memory and disks or rendering output onto a display device. It provides a platform (hardware abstraction layer) to run high-level system software and application software.
A user interface "allows users to interact with a computer." Either a command-line interface (CLI) or, since the 1980s a graphical user interface (GUI). Since this is the part of the operating system the user directly interacts with, it may be considered an application and therefore not a system software.
For historical reasons, some organizations use the term systems programmer to describe a job function which is more accurately termed systems administrator. Software tools these employees use are then called system software. This so-called Utility software helps to analyze, configure, optimize and maintain the computer, such as virus protection. In some publications, the term system software also includes software development tools (like a compiler, linker or debugger).
System software and application programs are the two main types of computer software. Unlike system software, an application program (often just called an application or app) performs a particular function for the user. Examples (among many possibilities) include browsers, email clients, word processors and spreadsheets.
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