The PC AKA Personal Computer
PC is another way to say personal computer. The term pc is usually associated with the Widows operating system platform. It also refers to those computer systems that are compatible to IBM hardware and software. PC is a term for computers that originally were based on an Intel 486 microprocessor. Pcs have a relationship to the original IBM computer built in 1981. There were computers prior to 1981 but they are not considered the descendants of the pc. Apple Mac computers are not considered part of the pc family. Over the years the electronic development of standards for a pc has been brought to the point of enabling devices and applications that are called in fact pc compatible. What that means is that devices and applications can fit, connect or install to a personal computer with no problems. Microsoft controls the main software for the pc operating system, which is the Windows format. There are other operating systems now for pcs’ like LynuxWorks software, but they are not by far as popular. Computer savvy people lean towards LynuxWorks software applications. Microsoft, which dominates control of the pc operating system, extended its control to pc compatible applications to compliment the Windows operating system. There are basic components of a pc. Lets start with the motherboard. The motherboard is the core of the pc. Everything connects to the motherboard. (Like a baby in the womb is connected to the mother) And just like a mother, the motherboard controls everything in the pc. The next component is the processor. You can think of the processor as being like the brain of the pc. It’s often called the CPU or Central Processing Unit. The CPU runs all the computer processes. It is done by taking instructions from the RAM (Random Access Memory), processing or evaluating it and executing the information in sequence. Memory or RAM is what the pc’s memory is called. The RAM holds all the data and programs that the pc uses and stores the ones it doesn’t at the time. The power supply supplies all of the pc and its parts with electrical power. The hard drive or hard disk is basically a storage unit for pc memory. Most pcs also have a built in modem that enables Internet connectivity. The video card controls what you can see on the monitor and the sound card enables the pc to generate sound. The case or chassis holds the motherboard, power supply, disk drives, adapter cards and any other physical components that need to be inside. Now days you do not see to many floppy disk drives on pcs. What you do see are CD and DVD drives. CD or compact disk and DVD digital versatile disk drives are high capacity removable media and optical drives. The pc systems today with CD/DVD have rewritable capacities called CD (CD-RW) with DVD-ROM drive. This means you can burn music and movies to CDs and DVDs. The peripheral parts of the pc are the keyboard, mouse and monitor. There may even be speakers as well. Today you can get a pc that ranges from relatively cheap; approximately from $500.00 to $700.00, to very, very expensive. The more features a pc has the more it will cost. There are gaming pcs, which are more pricey and mainstream pcs such as Hewlett Packard. Depending on what your needs are, you can get a pc to fit your pocketbook and arrangement in your home. If you don’t have a lot of room there are compact models to accommodate your small space. If you are in the market for a pc my suggestion is that you do your homework first. Look in the newspapers for sales and go online as well. These days, when shopping for a pc, make your money go further by comparison shopping. Consider what features you want and compare prices off and on line. This way you get an idea for what the going price is for the type of pc you are interested in. |
