Personal computer
 |
This section does not cite any references or sources. (June 2008) Please help improve this section by adding citations to reliable sources. Unverifiable material may be challenged and removed. |
Application software employs the capabilities of a computer directly and thoroughly to a task that the user wishes to perform. This should be contrasted with system software which is involved in integrating a computer's various capabilities, but typically does not directly apply them in the performance of tasks that benefit the user. In this context the term application refers to both the application software and its implementation. A simple, if imperfect analogy in the world of hardware would be the relationship of an electric light bulb (an application) to an electric power generation plant (a system). The power plant merely generates electricity, not itself of any real use until harnessed to an application like the electric light that performs a service that benefits the user.
Typical examples of software applications are word processors, spreadsheets, and media players. Multiple applications bundled together as a package are sometimes referred to as an application suite. Microsoft Office and OpenOffice.org, which bundle together a word processor, a spreadsheet, and several other discrete applications, are typical examples. The separate applications in a suite usually have a user interface that has some commonality making it easier for the user to learn and use each application. And often they may have some capability to interact with each other in ways beneficial to the user. For example, a spreadsheet might be able to be embedded in a word processor document even though it had been created in the separate spreadsheet application.
User-written software tailors systems to meet the user's specific needs. User-written software include spreadsheet templates, word processor macros, scientific simulations, graphics and animation scripts. Even email filters are a kind of user software. Users create this software themselves and often overlook how important it is.
[
Lifetime
|
|
This section does not cite any references or sources. (April 2008) Please help improve this section by adding citations to reliable sources. Unverifiable material may be challenged and removed. |
Most personal computers are standardized to the point that purchased software is expected to run with little or no customization for the particular computer. Many PCs are also user-upgradeable, especially desktop and workstation class computers. Devices such as main memory, mass storage, even the motherboard and central processing unit may be easily replaced by an end user. This upgradeability is, however, not indefinite due to rapid changes in the personal computer industry. A PC that was considered top-of-the-line five or six years prior may be impractical to upgrade due to changes in industry standards. Such a computer usually must be totally replaced once it is no longer suitable for its purpose. This upgrade and replacement cycle is partially related to new releases of the primary mass-market operating system, which tends to drive the acquisition of new hardware and render obsolete previously serviceable hardware (planned obsolescence).
[
See also
- Influence of the IBM-PC on the PC market
- List of computer system manufacturers
- Desktop replacement computer
- Desktop computer
- IBM Corporation
- Microsoft Corporation
- Apple, Inc.
- Gaming PC
- Personal Computer Museum
- Quiet PC
- Supercomputer
- Public computer
[
References
- ^ Ralston, Anthony; Reilly, Edwin (1993). "Workstation". Encyclopedia of Computer Science (Third Edition). New York: Van Nostrand Reinhold. ISBN 0442276796.
- ^ New Windows Mobile 6 Devices :: Jun/Jul 2007
- ^ pete edge...casefancasefancase
- ^ Wordreference.com: WordNet® 2.0. Princeton University, Princeton, NJ. Retrieved on 2007-08-19.
- ^ W3Counter - Global Web Stats
- ^ Market share for browsers, operating systems and search engines
- ^ http://inventors.about.com/od/mstartinventions/a/Windows.htm?rd=1. Retrieved on 2007-04-22.
- ^ IDC: Consolidation to Windows won't happen www.linuxworld.com.au
- ^ http://images.apple.com/macosx/pdf/MacOSX_UNIX_TB_v2.pdf
- ^ Linux Online ─ About the Linux Operating System. Linux.org. Retrieved on 2007-07-06.
- ^ Weeks, Alex (2004). "1.1", Linux System Administrator's Guide, version 0.9. Retrieved on 2007-01-18.
- ^ Lyons, Daniel. Linux rules supercomputers. Retrieved on 2007-02-22.
[
Further reading
- Accidental Empires: How the boys of Silicon Valley make their millions, battle foreign competition, and still can't get a date, Robert X. Cringely, Addison-Wesley Publishing, (1992), ISBN 0-201-57032-7
[
External links
- Howstuffworks' article on "How PCs Work"
- Dissecting a PC at HowStuffWorks
- How to Upgrade Your Computer at HowStuffWorks
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
||||||||
For more information review our copyright contact and privacy policy.