TechWhirl (TECHWR-L) is a resource for technical writing and technical communications professionals of all experience levels and in all industries to share their experiences and acquire information.
For two decades, technical communicators have turned to TechWhirl to ask and answer questions about the always-changing world of technical communications, such as tools, skills, career paths, methodologies, and emerging industries. The TechWhirl Archives and magazine, created for, by and about technical writers, offer a wealth of knowledge to everyone with an interest in any aspect of technical communications.
Subject:A usage question From:Fred M Jacobson <fred -at- SATURN -dot- BOOLE -dot- COM> Date:Mon, 3 May 1993 08:48:08 PDT
Now for something a lot more specific:
> I have found also that educating people about the "behind-the-scenes"
> interactions of one software with another ...
^^^^^^^^^^^^
I seem to be hearing this more and more, but I don't think I've seen it
written before this. I always use "software" as a collective noun or as
an adjective. (I would never say, "I lost my self-control and bought
three softwares for my PC on the way home from work.") Is the above
usage and similar ones, such as "a new software for the Mac," acceptable
in writing? in formal speech? (I don't ask about informal speech, because
there I accept whatever communicates best.)
-Fred Jacobson
Product Center Writer
Boole & Babbage Network Systems
fred -at- boole -dot- com
