Editing Application software (section)

== Terminology ==
The delineation between system software such as [[operating system]]s and application software is not exact and is occasionally the object of controversy.<ref name=cutter /> For example, one of the key questions in the ''[[United States v. Microsoft Corp. (2001)|United States v. Microsoft Corp.]]'' [[antitrust]] trial was whether Microsoft's [[Internet Explorer]] [[web browser]] was part of its [[Microsoft Windows|Windows]] operating system or a separate piece of application software.  As another example, the [[GNU/Linux naming controversy]] is, in part, due to disagreement about the relationship between the [[Linux kernel]] and the operating systems built over this [[Kernel (operating system)|kernel]]. In some types of [[embedded system]]s, the application software and the operating system software may be indistinguishable by the user, as in the case of software used to control a [[Videocassette recorder|VCR]], [[DVD]] player, or [[microwave oven]]. The above definitions may exclude some applications that may exist on some computers in large organizations. For an alternative definition of an app: '' see [[Application portfolio management#Definition of an application|Application Portfolio Management]].''

When used as an adjective, ''application'' is not restricted to mean: of or on application software.<ref name=cutter>{{Cite web|title=Application Package Software: The Promise Vs. Reality | website= Cutter Consortium
| last1=Ulrich|first1=William
| date=August 31, 2006 | series=Cutter Benchmark Review 
| archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20160202225513/https://www.cutter.com/article/application-package-software-promise-vs-reality-393871
| archive-date= 2 February 2016
| url-status=live
|url=https://www.cutter.com/article/application-package-software-promise-vs-reality-393871|access-date=2023-01-12}}</ref> For example, concepts such as [[application programming interface]] (API), [[application server]], [[application virtualization]], [[application lifecycle management]] and [[portable application]] apply to all computer programs alike, not just application software.

===Killer app===

Sometimes a new and popular application arises that only runs on one [[Computing platform|platform]] that results in increasing the desirability of that platform. This is called a [[killer application]] or ''killer app'', coined in the late 1980s.<ref>{{cite magazine |last=Dvorak |first=John |author-link=John C. Dvorak |date=1989-07-01 |title=Looking to OS/2 for the next killer app is barking up the wrong tree. Here's where they really come from. |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=CbsaONN5y1IC&pg=PP75 |magazine=[[PC Magazine]] |publisher=[[Ziff Davis]] |access-date=2023-03-25}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.dictionary.com/browse/killer-app |title=killer app |author=<!--Not stated--> |website=dictionary.com  |access-date=2023-03-26 |quote=Origin of killer app 1985–1990}}</ref> For example, [[VisiCalc]] was the first modern [[spreadsheet]] software for the Apple II and helped sell the then-new [[personal computer]]s into offices. For the [[BlackBerry]], it was its [[email]] software.

===Platform specific naming===

Some applications are available for multiple platforms while others only work on one and are thus called, for example, a [[Geographic information system|geography]] application ''for [[Microsoft Windows]]'', or an ''[[Android (operating system)|Android]]'' application for [[Educational software|education]], or a [[Linux gaming|''Linux'' game]].