UNIVERSITI TENAGA NASIONAL “Generates Professionals” MODULE 2 : Part 1 INTRODUCTION TO HARDWARE & SOFTWARE

UNIVERSITI TENAGA NASIONAL “Generates Professionals” Module Objectives At the end of the module, students should be able to: –identify the terms and concept related to computer hardware and software –identify the five basic unit of a computer –identify the two types of computer software –explain the differences between application software and system software

UNIVERSITI TENAGA NASIONAL “Generates Professionals” Hardware Vs. Software ??? Hardware - the physical parts or components of a computer that we can actually touch, like disks, disk drives, monitor, keyboards, printers, boards, and chips. Software - untouchable. Software exists as ideas, concepts, and symbols, but it has no substance.

UNIVERSITI TENAGA NASIONAL “Generates Professionals” Hardware Vs. Software ??? Books provide a useful analogy. The pages and the ink are the hardware, while the words, sentences, paragraphs, and the overall meaning are the software. A computer without software is like a book full of blank pages –you need software to make the computer useful just as you need words to make a book meaningful

UNIVERSITI TENAGA NASIONAL “Generates Professionals” Basic Unit of a Computer INPUT UNITSYSTEM UNITOUTPUT UNIT STORAGE UNIT COMMUNICATION UNIT

UNIVERSITI TENAGA NASIONAL “Generates Professionals” Basic Unit of a Computer 1. Input Unit consist of hardware used to enter data and instructions “Receiving” section of computer Obtains data from input devices –Usually a keyboard, mouse, disk or scanner Places data at disposal of other units

UNIVERSITI TENAGA NASIONAL “Generates Professionals” Basic Unit of a Computer 2. System Unit Case containing electronic components used to process data

UNIVERSITI TENAGA NASIONAL “Generates Professionals” Basic Unit of a Computer There are 2 main components on a motherboard: CPU MEMORY

UNIVERSITI TENAGA NASIONAL “Generates Professionals” System Unit Central Processing Unit (CPU) also called a processor electronic component that interprets and carries out the basic instructions that operate the computer MEMORY (RAM) electronic component that store instructions waiting to be executed and data needed by those instructions Retains info that has already been processed until can be sent to output unit Often called memory, primary memory, or random access memory (RAM)

UNIVERSITI TENAGA NASIONAL “Generates Professionals” Basic Unit of A Computer 3. Output Unit Hardware that conveys information to one or more user “Shipping” section of computer Puts processed data/info on various output devices –Monitor (screens), printers, projector, speakers Makes info available outside the computer

UNIVERSITI TENAGA NASIONAL “Generates Professionals” Basic Unit of a Computer Storage Media - physical material on which a computer keeps data, instructions & information Storage Device - computer hardware that records an/or retrieves items to and from storage media. 4. Storage Unit Holds data, instructions, and information for future use.

UNIVERSITI TENAGA NASIONAL “Generates Professionals” Storage Unit Storage Device Card reader CD-ROM Drive/ DVD-ROM Drive hard disk External/removable hard disk USB flash drive Storage Media memory card Optical Disc (CD-ROM/DVD-ROM ) hard disk USB flash drive Smart card Cloud storage

UNIVERSITI TENAGA NASIONAL “Generates Professionals” Basic Unit of a Computer 5. Communication Unit hardware component that enables a computer to send (transmit) and receive data, instructions, and information to and from one or more computers. E.g.: modem (digital modem-cable, isdn, wireless modem, wireless access points)

UNIVERSITI TENAGA NASIONAL “Generates Professionals” Basic Computer Hardware

UNIVERSITI TENAGA NASIONAL “Generates Professionals” Inside the computer…

UNIVERSITI TENAGA NASIONAL “Generates Professionals” Series of instructions or programs that process data Two types : –System software Used mainly by the computer –Application software Used only by the user The purpose of software is to cause a task, process, or computation to be performed. A task can include the retrieval, storage, or display of information. A computer system requires software to make the best use of its capabilities and to solve problems What is Software?

UNIVERSITI TENAGA NASIONAL “Generates Professionals” Enables application software to interact with computer hardware A “Background” software  manage internal computer resources and coordinate the application software requests with computer hardware without user interaction Operating system software Most important system software Executes application software Stores data and programs manages all the overall operation of the computer system I.e.  Eg. Window XP, Windows 7, Linux, UNIX, Sun Solaris, Mac OS X Mavericks What is System Software?

UNIVERSITI TENAGA NASIONAL “Generates Professionals” Windows platform (XP, Vista, 7, 8) is currently the dominating OS for the personal computer. By Microsoft. Popular Operating System Windows OS

UNIVERSITI TENAGA NASIONAL “Generates Professionals” Popular Operating System Mac OS The main operating system for the Apple Macintosh. The most advanced version is Mac OS X Mavericks. Previous version includes Mac OS X Lion and 9.0.

UNIVERSITI TENAGA NASIONAL “Generates Professionals” Popular Operating System Linux OS Open Source operating system Many distributions/versions Red Hat 9.0, Mandrake, SuSE, Lindows, Knoppix and many others

UNIVERSITI TENAGA NASIONAL “Generates Professionals” General-purpose programs –Some types: Browsers, Spreadsheet, Database management systems, presentation graphics, word processor –i.e  Internet Explorer, Microsoft Word, PowerPoint Special-purpose programs –Custom written for specialized tasks –written for an organization’s or business type’s specific purpose –i.e.  Online Registration System End-user software  enter commands and typically interact with application programs. What is Application Software?

UNIVERSITI TENAGA NASIONAL “Generates Professionals” Word processorSpreadsheetsDatabases Communications Others - GroupwarePresentation Application Software