COMPUTERHARDWAREANDSOFTWARE

Comput
erHar
dwar
e

Har
dwar
e– anyphy
sicaldev
iceorequi
pmentusedi
norwi
thacomput
ersy
stem
(
any
thi
ngy
oucanseeandt
ouch)
.

Ext
ernal
har
dwar
e

Ext
ernalhar
dwar
edev
ices(
per
ipher
als)–anyhar
dwar
edev
icet
hati
slocat
edout
side
t
hecomput
er.

I
nputdev
ice– api
eceofhar
dwar
edev
icewhi
chi
susedt
oent
eri
nfor
mat
iont
oa
comput
erf
orpr
ocessi
ng.

Exampl
es:key
boar
d,mouse,
trackpad(
ort
ouchpad)
,touchscr
een,
joy
sti
ck,
micr
ophone,
l
i
ghtpen,
webcam,
speechi
nput
,et
c.

Out
putdev
ice–api
eceofhar
dwar
edev
icet
hatr
ecei
vesi
nfor
mat
ionf
rom acomput
er.

Exampl
es:moni
tor
,pr
int
er,scanner
,speaker
,di
spl
ayscr
een(
tabl
et,smar
tphone…)
,
pr
oject
or,
headphone,
etc.

I
nter
nal
har
dwar
e

I
nter
nalhar
dwar
edev
ices(
ori
nter
nalhar
dwar
ecomponent
s)–anypi
eceofhar
dwar
e
dev
icet
hati
slocat
edi
nsi
det
hecomput
er.

Exampl
es:
CPU,
har
ddi
skdr
ive,
ROM,
RAM,
etc.

1
Comput
ersof
twar
e

Sof
twar
e–asetofi
nst
ruct
ionsorpr
ogr
amst
hatt
ell
sacomput
erwhatt
odoorhowt
o
per
for
m aspeci
fi
ctask(
comput
ersof
twar
erunsonhar
dwar
e).

Mai
nty
pesofsof
twar
e–sy
stemssof
twar
eandappl
i
cat
ionsof
twar
e.

Appl
i
cat
ionsof
twar
e

Appl
i
cat
ion sof
twar
e – a comput
erpr
ogr
am t
hatpr
ovi
des user
s wi
tht
ool
sto
accompl
i
shaspeci
fi
ctask.

Exampl
es of appl
i
cat
ion sof
twar
e:wor
d pr
ocessi
ng,spr
eadsheet
s,pr
esent
ati
on,
dat
abasemanagement
,Int
ernetbr
owser
s,emai
lpr
ogr
ams,medi
apl
ayer
s,account
ing,
pr
onunci
ati
on,
transl
ati
on,
deskt
oppubl
i
shi
ng,
ent
erpr
ise,
etc.

Sy
stem Sof
twar
e

Sy
stem sof
twar
e– i
tis desi
gned t
orun a comput
er’
s har
dwar
e and appl
i
cat
ion
sof
twar
e,andmaket
hecomput
ersy
stem av
ail
abl
eforuse.I
tser
vesast
hei
nter
face
bet
ween har
dwar
e, appl
i
cat
ion sof
twar
e, and t
h

2
euser
.

Acomput
erf
unct
ionst
hroughi
nter
act
ionsbet
weent
heuser
,appl
i
cat
ions,
theoper
ati
ng
sy
stem,
andt
hehar
dwar
e.

Mai
nfunct
ionsofsy
stem sof
twar
e–al
l
ocat
ingsy
stem r
esour
ces,managi
ngst
orage
space,
stor
ingandr
etr
iev
aloff
il
es,
prov
idi
ngsecur
it
y,et
c.

Mai
nty
pesofsy
stemssof
twar
e– oper
ati
ngsy
stem,dev
icedr
iver
,ut
il
it
ysof
twar
e,
pr
ogr
ammi
ngsof
twar
e,et
c.

Oper
ati
ng sy
stem (
OS)– a sof
twar
ethatcont
rol
sand coor
dinat
est
he comput
er
har
dwar
edev
icesandr
unsot
hersof
twar
eandappl
i
cat
ionsonacomput
er.I
tist
he

3
mai
npar
tofsy
stem sof
twar
eandacomput
erwi
l
lnotf
unct
ionwi
thouti
t.

Mai
nfunct
ionsofanoper
ati
ngsy
stem – boot
ingt
hecomput
er,managi
ngsy
stem
r
esour
ces(
CPU,memor
y,st
oragedev
ices,pr
int
er,et
c.)
,managi
ngf
il
es,handl
i
ngi
nput
andout
put
,execut
ingandpr
ovi
dingser
vicesf
orappl
i
cat
ionsof
twar
e,et
c.

Exampl
esofoper
ati
ngsy
stem:Mi
crosof
tWi
ndows,Appl
eiOS,Andr
oidOS,macOS,
Li
nux,
etc.

Dev
icedr
iver–asof
twar
epr
ogr
am t
hati
sdesi
gnedt
ocont
rolapar
ti
cul
arhar
dwar
e
dev
icet
hati
sat
tachedt
oacomput
er.

Themai
npur
poseofdev
icedr
iver–i
tact
sasat
ransl
atorbet
weent
hehar
dwar
edev
ice
andoper
ati
ngsy
stemsorappl
i
cat
ionst
hatusei
t.

I
tinst
ruct
scomput
eron how t
o communi
cat
e wi
tht
he dev
ice byt
ransl
ati
ng t
he
oper
ati
ngsy
stem’
sinst
ruct
ionsi
ntoal
anguaget
hatadev
icecanunder
standi
nor
dert
o
per
for
mthenecessar
ytask.

Exampl
esofdev
icedr
iver
:pr
int
erdr
iver
,di
spl
aydr
iver
,USBdr
iver
,soundcar
ddr
iver
,
mot
her
boar
ddr
iver
,ROM dr
iver
,et
c.

Ut
il
it
ysof
twar
e– at
ypeofsy
stem sof
twar
ethathel
pssetup,anal
yze,conf
igur
e,
st
rengt
hen,mai
ntai
n acomput
erand per
for
msav
eryspeci
fi
ctask(
e.g.ant
ivi
rus
sof
twar
e,backupsof
twar
e,memor
ytest
er,
scr
eensav
er,
etc.
).

4
Cr
edi
ts:KeyConcept
sofComput
erSt
udi
esbyMei
zhongWangi
sli
censedundera
Cr
eat
iveCommonsAt
tri
but
ion4.
0Int
ernat
ional
License,
exceptwher
eot
her
wisenot
ed.

ByCor
nel
i
usSi
chi
nga