Term | Definition |
application software | A program that enables users to do useful and fun things with a computer. |
individual application software | An application that serves only one person at a time, such as a word processor, an accounting package, or a game. |
collaboration software | An application that enables people at separate computers to work together on the same document or project. Also called groupware. |
vertical application software | A complete package of applications that work together to perform core business functions for a large organization. |
desktop application | An application designed to be run on full-featured desktop and notebook computers. |
app | An application designed for tablets and smartphones, and designed to be compact and to run quickly and efficiently on minimal hardware. |
commercial software | Software created by a company (or an individual, in rare cases) that takes on all the financial risk for its development and distribution upfront, and then recoups the costs by selling the software for a profit. |
software piracy | Stealing commercial software by using it without paying when payment is required. |
registration key | A string of characters that uniquely identifies the user’s purchase of a software. Sometimes called installation key. |
activation | A process that generates a unique code based on the hardware in your computer and the registration key you used when installing a software, locking that copy of the software to that computer. |
license agreement | The legal agreement that the user must consent to in order to complete the installation of a software product. Sometimes called End User License Agreement (EULA). |
site license | A license agreement that grants permission to make multiple copies of a software and install it on multiple computers. |
per-user site license | A license agreement that grants use of a software by a certain number of users, regardless of the number of computers. |
per-seat site license | A license agreement that grants use of a software for a certain number of computers, regardless of the number of users. |
shareware | A commercial software product that is released on a try-before-you-buy basis; purchasing the product unlocks additional features or removes time restrictions on the trial version. |
freeware | Software that’s made available at no charge to all. |
public domain | Software that’s not copyright protected, so anyone may use or modify it. |
source code | The uncompiled programming code for an application. |