Main Frame

Descriptions of Personal Computers

When talking about personal computers (PCs), most people probably think of the desktop type, which are designed to sit on your desk. (Bet you figured that one out!) The tower and the smaller mid- and mini-tower style cases have become popular as people started needing more room for extra drives inside. Repairmen certainly appreciate the roominess inside for all the cables and circuit boards... and their knuckles.

A workstation is part of a computer network and generally would be expected to have more than a regular desktop PC of most everything, like memory, storage space, and speed. It's hard to tell the difference any more.

A variety of laptops/notebooks and similar PCs, like the netbook, that serve as a middle ground between the bulkier, heavier desktops and the extreme portability of PPCs, HPCs, and smart phones. A laptop computer is intended to be portable, with a built-in screen. A netbook is even lighter, with a smaller screen, less storage, and is missing features like a built-in DVD drive. Companies keep improving features and components, like battery life and screen quality, and are producing more varieties and styles of these smaller computers daily, or so it seems.

The market for the smallest PCs is expanding rapidly. Simplified versions of your regular software are becoming available for the small types of PC like the palmtop (PPC) and handheld (HPC) and for smart phones. You can carry a tiny computer like a PalmPilot, Blackberry, or a smart phone around and enter new phone numbers and appointments and those great ideas you just had. Later you can move this information to your main computer. More and more of these small devices can connect wirelessly to the Internet. Using web applications, like Google Docs and Microsoft Office Web Apps, you can use a browser to view and even edit documents that are stored online, and, of course, check your email. No local program is required! You just need a data plan that you can afford!

With a Tablet PC you use an electronic stylus to write on the screen, just like with a pen and paper, only your words are in digital ink. The Tablet PC saves your work just like you wrote it (as a picture), or you can let the Hand Recognition (HR) software turn your chicken-scratches into regular text. Your second grade teacher was right. Good handwriting is important!

The main frame is the workhorse of the business world. A main frame is the heart of a network of computers or terminals which allows hundreds of people to work at the same time on the same data. It requires a special environment - cold and dry. Most main frame computers look like a bunch of tall cabinets. Not very exciting.

Дата добавления: 2014-12-23