Explain the difference between Applications and Utilities.

Application software is a complete, self-contained program that performs a specific function directly for the user. This is in contrast to the system software which exists to support application programs. Application software may consist of a single program such as an image viewer a small collection of programs (often called a software package) that work together to accomplish a task, such as spreadsheet or text processing system a larger collection (often called a software suite) of related but independent programs and packages that have a common user interface or shared data format such as Microsoft Office.

However, a utility program is designed for general support to the processes of a computer. They are usually for routine, repetitive tasks and many users share them. Examples of utility programs include diagnostic programs, trace programs, input routines and programs used to perform routine tasks, i.e., perform everyday tasks, such as copying data from one storage location to another.

Utility programs are also available commercially for example Norton Utilities package is a set of utility programs for checking disks for computer viruses, checking hard drive for bad locations and removing them and for performing disk compression.