Software, Hardware and Microprocessors

Hardware
1. Hardware is the physical parts of the computer system – the parts that you can touch and see.
2. Examples of hardware include the motherboard, CPU and keyboard
Software
1. Software is not a physical thing. It can of course be stored on a physical medium such as a CD-ROM
2. An operating system such as Windows XP or Mac OS X, applications such as Microsoft Word, and the instructions that control a robot are all examples of software.
Microprocessors
1. A microprocessor is a computer processor on a microchip
2. The microprocessor contains all, or most of, the central processing unit (CPU) functions and is the "engine" that goes into motion when you turn your computer on. A microprocessor is designed to perform arithmetic and logic operations that make use of small number-holding areas called registers. Typical microprocessor operations include adding, subtracting, comparing two numbers, and fetching numbers from one area to another. These operations are the result of a set of instructions that are part of the microprocessor design.

Resource summary

	Created by Nathan Wilkinson over 10 years ago