COMPUTER SYSTEM SOFTWARE

Computer software, or simply software, is that part of a computer system that consists of encoded information or computer instructions, in contrast to the physical hardware from which the system is built.

SYSTEM SOFTWARE

System software, which is software that directly operates the computer hardware, to provide basic functionality needed by users and other software, and to provide a platform for running application software.Examples of system software are operating system software.

UTILITY SOFTWARE

Utility software is system software designed to help analyze, configure, optimize or maintain a computer. It is a type of system software, used to support the computer infrastructure by contrast with application software, which is aimed at directly performing tasks that benefit ordinary users.

APPLICATION SOFTWARE

Application software provides instructions that enable the user to perform specific tasks such as creating presentations, composing written documents, and editing images. Examples of application software programs are Microsoft Word and Notepad. Application software instructions are handled by the operating system. For instance, when you open a file using Microsoft Word, first the application provides the user-interface for you to specify which file you want to open (for example, the menu bar). Once you have selected the file, the application notifies the operating system that a certain file is needed. The operating system then requests for the file from the hard drive of the computer. You can view the application software currently on your computer by clicking on the Start button and select Programs. If you are reading this page online, then you are probably using the Internet Explorer or Firefox web browser program. Examples of application software are Microsoft office package, web browsers, etc...

COMPUTER HARDWARE

Computer hardware is the collection of physical components that constitute a computer system. Computer hardware is the physical parts or components of a computer,suchas monitor, keyboard, computer data storage, hard disk drive (HDD), graphic card, sound card, memory (RAM), motherboard, and so on, all of which are tangible physical objects. By contrast, software is instructions that can be stored and run by hardware. Hardware is directed by the software to execute any command or instruction. A combination of hardware and software forms a usable computing system.

CENTRAL PROCESSING UNIT

A central processing unit (CPU) is the electronic circuitry within a computer that carries out the instructions of a computer program by performing the basic arithmetic, logical, control and input/output (I/O) operations specified by the instructions. The term has been used in the computer industry at least since the early 1960s. Traditionally, the term "CPU" refers to a processor, more specifically to its processing unit and control unit (CU), distinguishing these core elements of a computer from external components such as main memory and I/O circuitry.

MOTHERBOARD

A motherboard is the main printed circuit board (PCB) found in general purpose microcomputers and other expandable systems. It holds and allows communication between many of the crucial electronic components of a system, such as the central processing unit (CPU) and memory, and provides connectors for other peripherals. Unlike a back-plane, a motherboard usually contains significant sub-systems such as the central processor, the chip-set's input/output and memory controllers, interface connectors, and other components integrated for general purpose use.

HARD DISK DRIVE

A hard disk drive (HDD) is a data storage device that uses magnetic storage to store and retrieve digital information using one or more rigid rapidly rotating disks (platters) coated with magnetic material. The platters are paired with magnetic heads, usually arranged on a moving actuator arm, which read and write data to the platter surfaces. Data is accessed in a random-access manner, meaning that individual blocks of data can be stored or retrieved in any order and not only sequentially. HDDs are a type of non-volatile memory, retaining stored data even when powered off.

Introduced by IBM in 1956, HDDs became the dominant secondary storage device for general-purpose computers by the early 1960s. Continuously improved, HDDs have maintained this position into the modern era of servers and personal computers. More than 200 companies have produced HDDs historically, though after extensive industry consolidation most current units are manufactured by Seagate, Toshiba, and Western Digital. As of 2016, HDD production (in bytes per year) is growing, although unit shipments and sales revenues are declining. The primary competing technology for secondary storage is flash memory in the form of solid-state drives (SSDs), which have higher data-transfer rates, higher areal storage density, better reliability, and much lower latency and access times While SSDs have higher cost per bit, SSDs are replacing HDDs where speed, power consumption, small size, and durability are important.

RANDOM ACCESS MEMORY

Random-access memory (RAM) is a form of computer data storage which stores frequently used program instructions to increase the general speed of a system. A random-access memory device allows data items to be read or written in almost the same amount of time irrespective of the physical location of data inside the memory. In contrast, with other direct-access data storage media such as hard disks, CD-RWs, DVD-RWs and the older drum memory, the time required to read and write data items varies significantly depending on their physical locations on the recording medium, due to mechanical limitations such as media rotation speeds and arm movement. RAM contains multiplexing and demultiplexing circuitry, to connect the data lines to the addressed storage for reading or writing the entry. Usually more than one bit of storage is accessed by the same address, and RAM devices often have multiple data lines and are said to be '8-bit' or '16-bit' etc. devices.

INPUT DEVICES

In computing, an input device is a peripheral (piece of computer hardware equipment) used to provide data and control signals to an information processing system such as a computer or information appliance. Examples of input devices include keyboards, mouse, scanners, digital cameras and joysticks.Many input devices can be classified according to: 

• modality of input (e.g. mechanical motion, audio, visual, etc.)
• whether the input is discrete (e.g. pressing of key) or continuous (e.g. a mouse's position, though digitized into a discrete quantity, is fast enough to be considered continuous)
• the number of degrees of freedom involved (e.g. two-dimensional traditional mice, or three-dimensional navigators designed for CAD applications)

OUTPUT DEVICES

An output device is any piece of computer hardware item which utilizes whatever data and commands from your computer in order to perform a task. This leads to the results of data processing carried out by an information processing system which converts the electronically generated information into human-readable form.

Display device is an output device that visually conveys text, graphics, and video information. Information shown on a display device is called soft copy because the information exists electronically and is displayed for a temporary period of time. Display devices include CRT monitors, LCD monitors and displays, gas plasma monitors, and televisions.

In computing, a printer is a peripheral which makes a persistent human-readable representation of graphics or text on paper or similar physical media. The world's first computer printer was a 19th-century mechanically driven apparatus invented by Charles Babbage for his difference engine. The first commercial printers generally used mechanisms from electric typewriters and Teletype machines The demand for higher speed led to the development of new systems specifically for computer use. In the 1980s were daisy wheel systems similar to typewriters, line printers that produced similar output but at much higher speed, and dot matrix systems that could mix text and graphics but produced relatively low-quality output. The plotter was used for those requiring high quality line art like blueprints.