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Subject:Re: A usage question From:"Philip H. Kachelmyer" <PHK -at- UMNACVX -dot- BITNET> Date:Mon, 3 May 1993 11:13:53 -0600
On 03 May 1993 08:48:08 -0700 (PDT), Fred M Jacobson wrote:
>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.)
I agree with you, Fred. You purchase "applications", and applications work
with each other (or don't). "Software" is a much more encompassing term
and includes the "operating system", "utilities", and other things that
make an entire system work. I believe it best to use these terms instead
of the more general "software" term.
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