Which software applications do you use most frequently at work?
A very broad question indeed and it differs from industry to industry, but we all get hooked on to one or more of the ones we get used to, but tomorrow is another day and another app launch stirs up the water cooler talks.
You may be a fresh graduate applying for jobs, a stay-at-home mom looking forward to enter/re-enter the workplace, a baby boomer eager on learning new applications which weren’t around when you first joined your job or a savvy keyboard-happy office dweller; what we all need to do is be proactive towards career management and the tools and applications we use at the workplace may help us in efficient work and collaborations.
It is not always necessary and required that you learn all the new tools before anyone can say “launch”, but it is good to be up to date to technology. Agreed, it is thoroughly time consuming and takes you off tangent from what you are doing now, but there are tools on efficient information management – almost like reading the newspaper as you sip coffee/tea and takes a few minutes of your time.. so there you go apps to manage apps and helping you be more time savvy.
There can be a full fledged debate on this topic but let’s stay close to the topic – the apps at work. And only the basic ones are covered in this article; this article would prove informative to those readers who want to familiarize with the general software applications in use at the 21st century workplace. If you are a Millennial ready to enter the mighty cubicles and wondering which applications you would be playing around with; you have arrived at the right place. Read on.
And before we do that, let’s take a quick look at the ‘meaning’ of software applications:
According to Webopedia:
A program or group of programs designed for end users. Software can be divided into two general classes: systems software and applications software. Systems software consists of low-level programs that interact with the computer at a very basic level. This includes operating systems, compilers, and utilities for managing computer retargets.
In contrast, applications software (also called end-user programs) includes database programs, word processors, and spreadsheets. Figuratively speaking, applications software sits on top of systems software because it is unable to run without the operating system and system utilities.
Industry Leaders in Software Applications
The Major Competitors
Google Apps includes Sites, Video, Docs, Spreadsheets, Calendar, Gmail and Start Page. Google Docs competes with Microsoft Office products like Word and Excel. While Google Calendar competes with Microsoft’s Outlook.
Get more info on Google Apps on the official Google Enterprise Blog
Get more info on the Microsoft Office application at http://office.microsoft.com/ . Here you will find many how-to articles, downloads, templates, clip art, and training.
There are many versatile applications out there but the article breezes through the most used and famous ones, but of course open to comments and suggestions that you would like to see listed here.
Word processors applications you might be most familiar with (and some new ones):
Microsoft Word
Office Word 2007 helps information workers create professional-looking content more quickly than ever before. With a host of new tools, you can quickly construct documents from predefined parts and styles, as well as compose and publish blogs directly from within Word. Advanced integration with Microsoft Office SharePoint Server 2007 and new XML-based file formats make Office Word 2007 the ideal choice for building integrated document management solutions.
More info at: http://office.microsoft.com/en-us/word/HA101656411033.aspx
Google Docs
Free web-based word processor and spreadsheet, which allow you share and collaborate online.
More info at: http://docs.google.com/
Adobe® Buzzword®
Is a new online word processor, perfect for writing reports, proposals, and anything else you need to access online or work on with others. It looks and behaves like your normal desktop word processor, but it operates inside a web browser on Acrobat.com, so there’s no installation required.
More info at: http://www.adobe.com/acom/buzzword/
Collaborative Applications
Webex
Cisco’s Webex provides web conferencing and collaborations solutions. With Webex you can
- Collaborate with people across town or around the world as if you were “face-to-face”
- Share documents, make presentations, demonstrate products and collaborate like never before
- Start a secure web meeting from the comfort of your desktop instantly, with just a click of the mouse
More info at: http://webex.com
Google Wave
Google Wave is an online tool for real-time communication and collaboration. A wave can be both a conversation and a document where people can discuss and work together using richly formatted text, photos, videos, maps, and more.
More info at: http://wave.google.com/help/wave/about.html
Which applications do you use most frequently and those that you just can’t do without?
