Comparison between general purpose application software and function-specific application function?

Answer 1

Special Purpose application software is very specific in its use. Engineering programs often fall under this category - there is a program that does slope stability analysis and nothing else, for instance. Special purpose software may also be created in house and tailored to the specific needs of the company.

General purpose application software is much broader in use. Word processors for example, can handle every form of writing, aside from calligraphy. Spreadsheet programs like Excel handle a significant portion of data processing problems (with databases taking the rest).

In general, special purpose software is intended to perform a very specific function, while general purpose software is intended to perform a broader class of functions.

Answer 2

General purpose software is a 'one size fits all' program - for example MSOffice. Specific purpose software is usually geared to one task - for example bar-code software (which is solely for the purpose of decoding barcodes).

Answer 3

pls refer back to ur IS text book.