Hardware and software

Hardware and software

1. Hardware is any part of the computer that can be physically touched, picked up, held, and moved around the room, etc.

   • Peripherals are hardware that connects to the computer and is controlled by the CPU (with the exception of memory)
     • Examples of peripherals are mouse, keyboard, printer, scanner, joystick, graphics tablet.

2. Software is the applications and programs that run on the computer to perform specific tasks using the hardware.

3. Examples of hardware include the monitor, mouse, keyboard, hard drive, speakers, etc.

4. Some examples of software are the operating system, utility software, user interfaces, word processing software, photo manipulation software, spreadsheet software.

   • Utility software is software that is designed to help the computer run more efficiently.
     • For example, disk defragmentation software, anti-virus software, registry cleaner.

5. As various companies started manufacturing their own versions of the PC, they only developed with their own equipment in mind.

   • This means that one company's peripherals were not compatible with another company's PC.
     • IBM effectively created PC standards by creating a PC that was compatible with other manufacturer's hardware.
       • Many standards have been developed to allow any manufacturer to build compatible equipment.
   • Some companies choose to define their own path and maintain control of their computers.
     • The Apple range of computer devices is one such company. They have their own operating system that is compatible with their own peripherals.
       • Creating an application for their computer devices requires an Apple developer licence and use of the approved software and hardware environment.
       • Android is a much more flexible hardware platform that allows for more of a range in the development environments that can be used, they also offer free SDK (software development kit).
       • This is a classic case of proprietary versus open source standards.
       • https://www.goconqr.com/en-US/p/7993619-Standards-notes

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