Applications are programs that help you get your work done. Use:

• Word processors to write essays and papers.
• Spreadsheets to do lab reports with tables of data on which you have to do calculations. They work well for balancing your checkbook or preparing a budget for your school club.
• A database manager to keep track of a lot of data which is all in the same format, like an address book. Use it to print letters to everybody, sort out those whose birthday is in March, those living in Mexico, etc.
• Paint programs to make your own pictures, or change ones you already have. You can turn a photo of your yellow dog into a photo of your purple dog.
• A drawing program for designing things, like a purple robo-dog.
• An Internet browser lets you see and sometimes grab what's out there on the Internet. You're using one right now. With an ftp client, you can grab it in bunches.
• There are several companies that publish several of these in one package. These things are called "office suites".