There are 2 types of appliaction that I would like to discuss about.
i) General application software
ii) Specific application software
The general purpose application software is much broader in use.
Word processors for example, can handle every form of writing, aside from calligraphy.
Spreadsheet programs like Excel handle a significant portion of data processing problems (with databases taking the rest).
Specific Purpose application software is very specific in its use. Engineering programs often fall under this category - there is a program that does slope stability analysis and nothing else, for instance. Specific purpose software may also be created in house and tailored to the specific needs of the company.
For my point of view I guess as their names said: you can use general purpose softwares for more purposes but limited capabilities for each purpose; but you can use purpose specific softwares for less purposes but with greater capabilities for each purpose.