Living in the Information Technology Era Gutierrez, Jhamil G.

Computer Hardware and Software Educational Handout

WHAT IS IT TODAY?
A computing device is an electronic machine that uses binary data to automatically perform calculations.
• Personal Computer - run commercial software applications, access the Internet, communicate with
other people over email, create new applications in any one of a number of programming languages,
play games, do research, and much more.
• Desktop Computer is a computing device designed to be placed on or near a user's desk.
• Peripherals are the computer components that can be attached to a computer.
• Laptop is a complete computer system that is small, compact, lightweight, and portable.
• Tablets look like a traditional laptop but have a touchscreen to small notebook-sized mobile devices
that operate similarly to a smartphone but are a bit larger and have more computing power.
• Smartphones are high-end mobile devices that provide users with a wide range of functions, such
as portable media players, video cameras, GPS, high- resolution touchscreens.

More Computing Devices

• Supercomputer is the fastest and the most expensive computer among all types of computers.
• Mainframe is a large computer that might serve a large organization.
• eBook Reader is a device used to read electronic books, or eBooks. Some of these devices do
nothing besides allow you to download and read eBooks.
• Personal Digital Assistant (PDA) is a mobile hand-held device that provides computing,
information storage, and information retrieval capabilities for personal or business use.
• Multimedia Player is a handheld device that enables you to play digitally recorded audio, video,
and combination audio/video files.

Internal Computer Components

• The motherboard is the personal computer component that acts as the backbone for the entire
computer system. Sometimes called the system board or mainboard.
• The central processing unit (CPU) is a computer chip where most of the computing calculations
take place.
• A power supply is an internal computer component that converts line voltage AC power from an
electrical outlet to the low-voltage direct current (DC) power needed by system components.
• Memory is the component that provides the workspace for a processor. Random access memory
(RAM) is volatile memory. Read only memory (ROM) is nonvolatile memory.

Common Computer Connector Types

• A port is a hardware interface that you can use to connect devices to a computer. The port transfers
electronic signals between the device and the system unit.
• A serial connection is a personal computer connection that transfers data one bit at a time over a
single wire.
• Serial ports are typically called COM1, COM2, COM3, and COM4, where “COM” is short for
communications port.
• A parallel connection is a computer connection that transfers data eight or more bits at a time over
eight or more wires. The standard parallel port has been phased out in favor of USB.
• A universal serial bus (USB) connection is a computer connection that enables you to connect
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multiple peripherals to a single port with high performance and minimal device configuration.
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Disclaimer: This is an unofficial handout document made purely for educational purposes and may only be used for personal uses. Content may not
properly cite sources from respective authors and publishers. By accessing, you acknowledge its purpose, origin, and unprofessional structure.
Living in the Information Technology Era Gutierrez, Jhamil G.
Computer Hardware and Software Educational Handout

• RJ-45 connector is used on twisted pair cable.

• RJ-11 connector is used with Category 1 cables in telephone system connections and is not suitable
for network connectivity.

Common Peripheral Devices

Peripheral is a device that connects to a computer to expand the computer's functionality. This includes
devices that enable the user to input, output, store, and share data. Keyboards and pointing devices are the
standard input devices for personal computers these days;
• A mouse is a small object that runs across a flat surface and has at least one, but typically two
or three, buttons that send electronic signals to the graphical user interface (GUI).
• A printer is a device that produces text and images from electronic content onto physical media
such as paper, photo paper, and labels.
• Speakers can be attached to the device to play the audio out loud, without the need for headphones
• Fax device functionality device that sends and receives printed pages or images over telephone
lines.
• A flash drive is portable, with most being about 1/2-inch wide, 1/4- inch deep, and 3-inches long.
• Touchscreen monitors enable input by touching images on the screen. The screen also acts as the
display for the computing device.

Computer Software
An operating system (OS) is a software package that enables a computer to function. It performs basic
tasks, such as:
• recognizing the input from a keyboard,
• sending the output to a display screen or monitor, and
• controlling peripheral devices such as disk drives and printers.

License Type
A software license is a legal document used to control the distribution and use of software.
• Open Source – enable users to access source code and gives them the right to modify it.
• Freeware – can be downloaded from the Internet directly and used without any restrictions.
• Commercial – sold to users.
• Shareware – free for a specific period (trial basis).

File Extensions
Operating Systems uses the file extension to determine how the system will use a file, if you alter a file
name extension, you might find that a program file will not execute properly or that a data file will not
automatically open in the associated application.
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Disclaimer: This is an unofficial handout document made purely for educational purposes and may only be used for personal uses. Content may not
properly cite sources from respective authors and publishers. By accessing, you acknowledge its purpose, origin, and unprofessional structure.
Living in the Information Technology Era Gutierrez, Jhamil G.
Computer Hardware and Software Educational Handout

Types of Operating Systems for Workstations

Microsoft Windows is the single most popular as well as widely deployed operating system on both
desktop computers and server systems in the world today. The various versions of Windows all feature a
graphical user interface (GUI); support for a wide range of applications and devices; a minimum of 32-bit
processing; native networking support; and a large suite of built-in applications and accessories such as the
Internet Explorer® browser.

Mac OS X is the operating system developed by Apple Computing, Inc. OS X is a Linux® derivative, and
consists of UNIX-based operating systems and GUIs. This proprietary operating system is included on all
Macintosh computer systems.
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Disclaimer: This is an unofficial handout document made purely for educational purposes and may only be used for personal uses. Content may not
properly cite sources from respective authors and publishers. By accessing, you acknowledge its purpose, origin, and unprofessional structure.
Living in the Information Technology Era Gutierrez, Jhamil G.
Computer Hardware and Software Educational Handout

Linux is an open-standards UNIX derivative originally developed and released by a Finnish computer
science student named Linus Torvalds. The Linux source code was posted publicly on a computing
newsgroup, then the code was developed and tested cooperatively all over the world. Due to the source code
being open, it can be downloaded, modified, and installed freely.

Chrome OS - Built on the open-source Chromium OS, the Chrome operating system was developed by
Google as its commercial OS. With manufacturing partners, the Chrome OS is installed on laptop computers
that are known as Chromebooks.

Types of Operating Systems for Mobile Devices

Apple iOS - iOS is the base software that allows all other applications to run on an iPhone®, iPod touch®,
or iPad®. The iOS user interface supports direct touch, multitouch, and using the accelerometer.

Android OS - Android™, on the other hand, is a layered environment built on the Linux kernel foundation
that includes not only the operating system, but middleware, which provides additional software for the
operating system and additional built-in applications. The Android OS was developed by the Open Handset
Alliance and is owned by Google.

Blackberry OS - BlackBerry® phones are primarily used by professionals to conduct business operations
and tasks. The BlackBerry OS directly supports corporate business requirements with functions such as:
synchronizing with Microsoft Exchange, IBM® Lotus® Domino®, or Novell® GroupWise® emails,
contacts, and tasks by maintaining a high level of security.

Firefox OS - Developed by Mozilla, the Firefox OS is an open-source operating system based on Linux.

Windows Phone OS - Windows smartphones run on the Windows Phone OS, which is maintained and
developed by Microsoft. Features include a suite of Microsoft® Office® applications, Outlook® Mobile,
web browsing, Windows Media® Player, and other advanced features.

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Disclaimer: This is an unofficial handout document made purely for educational purposes and may only be used for personal uses. Content may not
properly cite sources from respective authors and publishers. By accessing, you acknowledge its purpose, origin, and unprofessional structure.