Personal Computers and MS Windows Johanna Henrikson CS 121

A Brief History By the early 1970s, people in academic or research institutions had the opportunity for single-person use of a computer system in interactive mode for extended durations, –although these systems would still have been too expensive to be owned by a single person Early personal computers - generally called microcomputers - were sold often in kit form and in limited volumes, and were of interest mostly to hobbyists and technicians Through the late 1970s and into the 1980s, computers were developed for household use, with software for personal productivity, programming and games

What is a PC? A personal computer (PC) is any general-purpose computer whose size, capabilities, and original sales price make it useful for individuals, and which is intended to be operated directly by an end user, with no intervening computer operator. may be a desktop computer, a laptop, tablet PC a handheld PC (also called palmtop) or an Apple Mac or itouch type product.

Uses of a PC Word processing programs are used to type, correct, rearrange, or delete text in letters, memos, reports, and school assignments. Spreadsheet programs enable individuals to prepare tables easily. The users of such programs establish rules for handling large groups of numbers. Database programs allow a computer to store large amounts of data (information) in a systematic way. Communication programs connect a personal computer to other computers. People can thereby exchange information with one another via their personal computers. Other programs include recreational and educational programs for playing games, composing and hearing music, and learning a variety of subjects.

Components of a PC Case with hardware inside: –Power Supply - The power supply comes with the case, but this component is mentioned separately since there are various types of power supplies. The one you should get depends on the requirements of your system. This will be discussed in more detail later –Motherboard - This is where the core components of your computer reside which are listed below. Also the support cards for video, sound, networking and more are mounted into this board. Microprocessor - This is the brain of your computer. It performs commands and instructions and controls the operation of the computer. Memory - The RAM in your system is mounted on the motherboard. This is memory that must be powered on to retain its contents. Drive controllers - The drive controllers control the interface of your system to your hard drives. The controllers let your hard drives work by controlling their operation. On most systems, they are included on the motherboard, however you may add additional controllers for faster or other types of drives. –Hard disk drive(s) - This is where your files are permanently stored on your computer. Also, normally, your operating system is installed here. –CD-ROM drive(s) - This is normally a read only drive where files are permanently stored. There are now read/write CD-ROM drives that use special software to allow users to read from and write to these drives. –Floppy drive(s) - A floppy is a small disk storage device that today typically has about 1.4 Megabytes of memory capacity. –Other possible file storage devices include DVD devices, Tape backup devices, and some others. Monitor - This device which operates like a TV set lets the user see how the computer is responding to their commands. Keyboard - This is where the user enters text commands into the computer. Mouse - A point and click interface for entering commands which works well in graphical environments.

Hardware computer case with power supply central processing unit (processor) motherboard memory card hard disk video card visual display unit (monitor) optical disc (usually DVD-ROM or DVD Writer) keyboard and pointing device (mouse)

Software Computer software is a general term used to describe a collection of computer programs, procedures and documentation that perform some tasks on a computer system Software applications for word processing, Internet browsing, Internet faxing, and other digital messaging, multimedia playback, computer game play and computer programming are common. Some programs include: –Microsoft Windows –Mac OS X –Linux

Microsoft Windows Microsoft first introduced an operating environment named Windows in November 1985 as an add-on to MS-DOS in response to the growing interest in graphical user interfaces. Microsoft Windows came to dominate the world's personal computer market, overtaking Mac OS, which had been introduced previously. As of October 2009, Windows had approximately 91% of the market share of the client operating systems for usage on the Internet.

The Early Days Windows dates back to September 1981 Windows 1.0 did not allow overlapping windows, due to Apple Computer owning this feature Windows 2.0 was released in October 1987 and featured several improvements to the user interface and memory management. Windows 2.0 allowed application windows to overlap each other and also introduced more sophisticated keyboard- shortcuts.

Windows ‘95 On August 24, 1995, Microsoft released Windows 95, a new, and major, consumer version that made further changes to the user interface, and also used preemptive multitasking. Windows 95 featured a new user interface, support for long file names of up to 255 characters, and the ability to automatically detect and configure installed hardware (plug and play). It could natively run 32-bit applications, and featured several technological improvements that increased its stability over Windows 3.1.

Vista Prior to its announcement on July 22, 2005, Windows Vista was known by its codename "Longhorn." The release of Windows Vista came more than five years after the introduction of its predecessor, Windows XP, the longest time span between successive releases of Microsoft Windows desktop operating systems While these new features and security improvements have garnered positive reviews, Vista has also been the target of much criticism and negative press.

The Present Windows 7 was released to manufacturing on July 22, 2009 Unlike its predecessor, which introduced a large number of new features, Windows 7 was intended to be a more focused, incremental upgrade to the Windows line, with the goal of being fully compatible with applications and hardware with which Windows Vista is already compatible.