請問what is 多人多工的作業係統?

何謂應用軟體 ,何謂自由軟體?

多人多工 is multi-user multitasking. Multi-user means that many users can use the system at the same time. Multitasking means that many programs can run at the same time. Take Windows XP for example, you can run Internet Explorer along side with Microsoft Word, Skype and many other programs. This is an example of multitasking. A multi-user multitasking system is one that allows many users to run many programs at the same time. Unix-like systems and all mainframe systems are multi-user multitasking operating systems. Windows systems in some sense are also that way.

應用軟體 is application programs (or simply applications), all the kinds of programs that a user can use directly on a system are applications. So IE is an application, the same is true with Skype, MSN Messenger and many many others.

自由軟體 is freeware in English. It means you can use or distribute the software freely, or change it as you like so long as you follow some basic rules. It doesn't mean you don't have to pay for it. Freeware is similar to Open Source Software in that the source code is available to everyone. But not all freeware includes the source code.

Tim