Types Of Computers

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1. Digital Computers

   • Modern computers are not mechanical but electronic
   • Computers can follow or execute a set of prewritten or recorded instruct ions, called a program, and respond to commands entered by a user
   • All computers used today have the same basic structure, although the way the components are arranged in the structure differs depending on the use to which the computer will be put.

2. Personal Computers

   • Personal computers are often connected together on a network and the internet which also allows them to be used for searching the World Wide Web, sending and receiving email messages, accessing chat rooms or instant messaging, writing blogs and using social networking sites.
   • Examples of personal computers are: netbooks, laptops, notebook computers, palmtops, desktop computers, tablet computers, PDAs and handheld computers
   • Modern mobile telephones can also carry out many of the tasks normally associated with personal computers with the added advantages of being able to keep in contact with friends by text message or telephone, having an inbuilt camera and playing music or video files or using applications when out and about away from home.

3. Other types of computer system

   • Large organisations such as banks, insurance firms and utility companies (these supply gas, electricity and water) may use mainframe computers.
   • Mainframe computers are computers which work not as a single computer but as if they were many, often dozens or hundreds, of computers each running their own operating systems and carrying out many tasks at once.

4. Supercomputers and Mainframes

   • Supercomputers are the fastest computers that exist in terms of the speed of calculation
   • The distinction between mainframe computer and supercomputer is often not that clear today but supercomputers are usually ‘one of a kind’, built for a particular purpose, although supercomputers often contain the same components as other computers

5. Embeded Computers

   • At the other end of the scale, embedded computer systems are found in everyday devices and carry out only one or two tasks so they do not need to be as flexible as a personal computer

6. Hardware and software

   • The physical components of a computer system are called the ‘hardware’ and the instructions that make the system work and which the system follows are called ‘software’
   • Hardware is all of the physical components that can be touched, held and seen.
   • Software is used to ‘program’ the computer system which means to create a set of instructions, usually stored or saved for later use, that the computer will follow.