THE DEFFERENT TYPES OF COMPUTERS AND

CLASSIFICATIONS
Understanding computer
A computer is one of the brilliant inventions of mankind. Thanks to the computer technology, we
were able to achieve storage and processing of huge amounts of data; we could rest our brains by
employing computer memory capacities for storing information. Due to computers, we have been able to
speed up daily work, Carry out critical transaction and achieve accuracy and precision in work. Computer
of the earlier years were of the size of a large room and were required to consume huge amount of
electrical power. However, with the advancing technology, computer have shrunk to the size of a small
watch. Depending on the processing power and size of a computer, they have been classified under
various types. Let us look at the classification of computers.
Different Types of Computers
Based on the operational principle of computer, they are categorized as analog, digital and hybrid
computer.
Analog Computer: these are almost extinct today. These are different from a digital computer because
an analog computer can perform several mathematical operations simultaneously. It uses continues
variables for mathematical and utilizes mechanical or electrical energy.

Digital computers: they use digital circuits and are designed to operate on two states, namely bits 0 and
1. They are analogous to stage on and off. Data on this computer is represented as a series of 0s and 1s.
Digital computer are programmable. Digital computers are either general purpose computer or special
purpose ones. Special purpose computers, as there name suggest, are design for specific types of data
processing while general purpose computer are meant for general use.
Hybrid computers: this computers are combination of both digital and analog computers. In this types of
computers, the digital segments perform process control by conversion of analog signals to digital ones.
Classification of computers
The following are the classification of the different types of computers based on their sizes and
functionalities.
Mainframe computers: large organizations use mainframes for highly critical applications such as bulk
data processing and ERP. Most of the mainframe computers have the capacities to host multiple operation
system and operate as a number of virtual machines and can substitute for several small servers.
Minicomputer: in terms of size and processing capacity, minicomputers lie in between mainframes and
microcomputers. Minicomputers are also called mid- range system or workstations. The term began to be
popularly used in the 1960’s to refer to relatively smaller third generation computers.
Servers: they are computers design to provide services to client machines in a computer network. They
have larger storage capacities and powerful processors. Running on them are programs that serve client
request and allocate resources like memory and time to client machines. Usually they very large size, as
they have large processors and many hard drives, they are design to be fail-safe and resistant to crash.
Supercomputer: the highly calculation-intensive tasks can be effectively performed by means of
supercomputer. Quantum physics, mechanics, weather forecasting, molecular theory are best studied by
means of supercomputers. Their ability of parallel processing and their well-designed memory hierarchy
give the supercomputers, large transaction processing power.
Microcomputers: a computers with a microprocessor and its central processing unit it is known as a
microcomputer. They do not occupy space as much as mainframes do. When supplemented with a
keyboard and muse, microcomputers can be called personal computer. A monitor, a keyboard and other
similar input output devices, computer memory in form of RAM and a power supply unit come packaged
in microcomputer. These computer can fit on desks or tables and prove to be the best choice for single-
user tasks.
Personal computers come in different forms such as desktops, laptops and personal digital assistant
(refer to figure 3). Let us look at each of these types of computers.
Desktop: a desktop in intended to be used on a single location. The spare parts of a desktop computer are
readily available at relatively lower costs. Power consumption is not as critical as that in laptops. Desktop
are widely popular for daily use in the workplace and household.
Laptops: similar in operation to desktops, laptop computers are miniaturized for mobile use. Laptop run
on a single battery or an external adapter that charges the computer batteries.
Netbooks: they fall in the category of laptops, but are inexpensive and relatively smaller in size. They
had a touch screen feature set and lesser capacities in comparison to regular laptops, at the time came into
the market.
Personal Digital Assistants (PDA): it is handheld computer and popularly known as a palmtop. It has a
touch screen and a memory card for storage of data. PDAs can also be used as portable audio players,
web browsers and smart phones. Most of them can access the internet by means of Bluetooth or Wi-Fi
communication.
Tablet Computers: tablets are mobile computers that are very handy to use. They use the touch screen
technology. Tablets come with the onscreen keyboard or use a stylus or a digital pen. Apple’s redefined
the class of tablet computers.
Wearable Computers: a record-setting step in the evolution of computers was the creation of wearable
computers. These computers can be worm on the body and are often use in the study of behavior
modeling and human health. Military and health professionals incorporated wearable computers into their
daily routine, as a part of such studies. When the user’s hands and sensory organs are engaged in other
activities, Wearable computers do not have to be turned on and off and remain in operation without user
intervention.
 OPERATING SYSTEM AND DEVICES OF A COMPUTER
Operating System
The operating system is the most important program that runs on a computer. Every
general-purpose computer must have an operating system to run other programs. Operating
systems perform basic tasks, such as recognizing input from the keyboard, sending output to the
display screen, keeping track of files and directories on the disk, and controlling peripheral
devices such as disk drives and printers.
Classification of Operating System
Multi-user: Allows two or more users to run programs at the same time. Some operating
systems permit hundreds or even thousands of concurrent users.
Linux
Unix
Windows 2000
Multiprocessing: Supports running a program on more than one CPU.
Linux
Unix
Windows 2000
Multitasking: Allows more than one program to run concurrently.
Unix
Windows 2000 and Windows multi point
Multithreading: Allows different parts of a single program to run concurrently.
Linux
Unix
Windows 2000 and Windows 7
Real time: Responds to input instantly. General-purpose operating systems, such as DOS
and UNIX, are not real-time.

Devices of a computer
The following list represents a basic set of devices found in most Personal Computers.
1. System Unit- The main part of a microcomputer, sometimes called the chassis. It includes
the following parts: Motherboard, Microprocessor, Memory Chips, Buses, Ports, Expansion
Slots and Cards.
2. Motherboard / Mainboard / System Board- The main circuit board of a computer. It
contains all the circuits and components that run the computer
3. CPU (Central Processing Unit) -The processor is the main “brain” or “heart” of a computer
system. It performs all of the instructions and calculations that are needed and manages the
flow of information through a computer.
4. Primary storage- (internal storage, main memory or memory) is the computer's working
storage space that holds data, instructions for processing and processed data (information)
 waiting to be sent to secondary storage. Physically, primary storage is a collection of RAM
chips.
5. Two (2) Types of Memory
a. ROM – (Read Only Memory) ROM is non-volatile, meaning it holds data even when the
power is ON or OFF.
b. RAM – (Random Access Memory) RAM is volatile, meaning it holds data only when the
power is on. When the power is off, RAM's contents are lost
6. Expansion Bus- A bus is a data pathway between several hardware components inside or
outside a computer. It does not only connect the parts of the CPU to each other, but also links
the CPU with other important hardware.
7. Adapters- Printed-circuit boards (also called interface cards) that enable the computer to
use a peripheral device for which it does not have the necessary connections or circuit
boards. They are often used to permit upgrading to a new different hardware.
8. Power Supply Unit (PSU) - Installed in the back corner of the PC case, next to the
motherboard. It converts 120vac (standard house power) into DC voltages that are used by
other components in the PC.
9. Hard Disk Drive (HDD) - Also known as hard drive, is a magnetic storage device that is
installed inside the computer. The hard drive is used as permanent storage for data. In a
Windows computer, the hard drive is usually configured as the C: drive and contains the
operating system and applications.
10. Optical Drive- An optical drive is a storage device that uses lasers to read data on the optical
media. There are three types of optical drives: Compact Disc (CD), Digital Versatile Disc
(DVD) and Blu-ray Disc (BD).
11. Digital Versatile Disc (DVD) - Designed to optically access data stored on a DVD. A laser
moves back and forth near the disk surface and accesses data at a very fast rate.
 INPUT AND OUTPUT DEVICES OF A COMPUTER

Devices attached to a personal computer can be classified into two- the input and output
devices.
Input Device is composed of a device that accepts data and output devices that accepts
data and instructions from the user or from another computer system. While,
Output Device is any piece of computer hardware that displays results the computer has
processed the input data that has been entered.

Two types of Input Devices

Keyboard Entry-data is inputted to a computer through a keyboard
Keyboard – the first input device developed
for the PC. Data is transferred to the PC over a short
cable with a circular 6-pin Mini-din connector that
plugs into the back of the motherboard.
Direct Entry- a form input that does not require
data to be keyed by someone sitting at a keyboard. Direct-entry devices not require data on
paper, or magnetic media, or feed it directly into the computer’s CPU.

Three Categories of direct Entry Devices

1. Pointing Devices - An input devices used to move the pointer (cursor) on screen.
• Mouse – the mouse common ‘pointing
device” used in PCs. Every mouse has two
buttons and most have one or two scroll
wheels.

• Touch screen – a display screen that is

sensitive
to the touch of finger or stylus. Used in myriad
applications. ATM machines, retail point-of- sale
terminals, car, navigation, and industrial
controls.
The touch screen became wildly popular for smart phones and tablets.

• Light Pen – A light sensitive stylus wired to a

video terminal used to draw pictures or select
 menu options. The user brings the pen to the desired point on screen and presses the
pen button
to make contact.

• Digitizer Tablet –A graphics drawing tablet used

for sketching new images or tracing old ones. Also
called a “graphic tablet” the user contact to the
surface of the device with a wired or wireless pen
or puck. Often mistakenly called a mouse, the puck is
officially the “tablet cursor”.

2. Scanning Devices– a device that can read text or illustrations printed on paper and
translates the information into a form the computer can uses.
 Image Scanner
 Barcode Reader

3. Voice – input Devices– audio devices also known as speech or voice recognition
system that allow a user to send audio signals to a computer for processing, recording,
carrying out commands. Audio input devices such as microphone allows user to speak
to the computer in order to record a voice message or navigate software.
 Output Devices

1. Computer Display Monitor- it display information in visual form, using text

and graphics. The portion of the monitor that display the information is called the
screen or video display terminal.

Types of Monitor

CRT Monitor LCD Monitor LED Monitor

2. LCD Projector – utilize two sheets of

polarizing material with a liquid crystal
solution them. An electric current passed
through the liquid causes the crystals to
align so that light cannot pass through them.
Each crystal, there for, is like a shutter,
either allowing light to pass through or
blocking the light.

3. Smart Board– A type of display screen

that has a touch sensitive transparent panel
covering the screen, which is similar to a
touch screen.
4. Printer– A device that prints text or illustrations on paper.

Types of Printer
 Ink-jet or Bubble-jet
Printer Laser
Printer LCD
and LED Printer

Line
Printer Thermal Printer

5. Speaker– used to play sound. They may be build into the system unit or
connected with cables. Speakers allow you to listen music and hear sound effects
from your computer.