LIVING IN THE IT

ERA
Week 1
Computer Hardware and Software

Week 1
Objective
• Identifying Computer Hardware and Software

Topics
• Types of computing devices used in today's workplace
• Internal components, common computer connector
types and common peripheral devices
• Functions and features of common operating system
• Common software applications and their corresponding
purposes
Computer Hardware
DESKTOP COMPUTER
Computing Device
➢ A computing device is an electronic machine that uses binary data to
automatically perform calculations.

➢A personal computer - run commercial software applications, access the Internet,

communicate with other people over email, create new applications in any one of
number of programming languages, play games, do research, and much more.

➢A 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 TABLET SMARTPHONE
➢A 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
Other Computing Devices
➢A supercomputer is the fastest and the
most expensive computer among all types
of computers.
➢A mainframe is a large computer that
might serve a large organization.
➢An 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.
Other Computing Devices
➢A personal digital assistant (PDA) is a
mobile hand-held device that provides
computing, information storage, and
information retrieval capabilities for
personal or business use.
➢A multimedia player is a handheld
device that enables you to play
digitally recorded audio, video, and
combination audio/video files.
Storage
Hard Disk Drive Solid State Drive
Other Storage
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.
Internal Computer Components
➢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 non volatile
memory
MEMORY
Common Computer Connector Types
Serial/Parallel Ports and Connectors
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.
Common Computer Connector Types
➢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.
Common Computer Connector Types
➢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.
Common Computer Connector Types
➢A universal serial bus (USB)
connection is a computer
connection that enables you
to connect multiple peripherals
to a single port with high
performance and minimal
device configuration.
Common Computer Connector Types
➢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.
Internal Computer Components
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
Common Peripheral Devices

➢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).
Common Peripheral Devices

➢A printer is a device that

produces text and images
from electronic content onto
physical media such as paper,
photo paper, and labels.
Common Peripheral Devices

➢Speakers can be attached

to the device to play the
audio out loud, without
the need for headphones
Common Peripheral Devices

➢Fax device functionality

device that sends and
receives printed pages or
images over telephone
lines.
Common Peripheral Devices
➢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.
A software license is a legal document used to control
the distribution and use of software.
LICENSE TYPE
➢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
➢Copyleft – opposite of copyright, software can be freely used,
modified, and copied by others.
➢Shareware – free for a specific period of time (trial basis)
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.

• 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.

 Types of Operating Systems for Workstations
• Linux is an open-standards UNIX derivative originally

developed and released by a Finnish computer science

student named Linus Torvalds.

• Chrome OS - Built on the open source Chromium OS, the

Chrome operating system was developed by Google as its

commercial OS.
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®.

• 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.
Types of Operating Systems for Mobile Devices
• 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.
Types of Operating Systems for Mobile Devices
• 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.
APPLICATION SOFTWARE
TYPES OF PRODUCTIVITY SOFTWARE
• Productivity software is a broad term that
describes applications that range from those used
to create documents to those used to manage your
projects and organize your time.
• Word processing software is used to create
and work with typed documents. Examples
include Microsoft Word and Apple iWork
Pages.

• Spreadsheet software is used to calculate

and analyze tables of numbers. Examples
include Microsoft Excel and Apple iWork
Numbers.
• Email software is used to communicate
with others. Examples include Microsoft
Outlook and Gmail.

• Basic database software is used to

manage large volumes of lists and records.
Examples include Microsoft Access and
FileMaker Pro.
• PDF software is used to view, create, and
work with PDF documents. Examples include
Adobe Acrobat

• Presentation software is used to create and

work with slide shows. Examples include
Microsoft PowerPoint and Apple iWork
Keynote.
• Desktop publishing software is used to
work with page layouts and typography
in documents and publications.
Examples include Adobe InDesign and
Microsoft Publisher.
• Personal information managers (PIM) are used to
manage your contacts and schedules. Examples include
Windows Contacts and Google Calendar.

• Remote desktop software is used to access another

desktop to provide troubleshooting assistance. Examples
include Windows Remote Desktop Protocol (RDP) and
Virtual Network Computing (VNC).
COMMON FILE TYPES AND EXTENSIONS
Types of Files File Extensions - Descriptions

.txt plain text (Notepad)

.rtf Rich Text Format (Wordpad)
.doc / .docx data files (WORD)
Documents .xls / .xlsx data files (EXCEL)
.ppt / .pptx data files (POWERPOINT)
.pdf portable document format (ADOBE READER)

.aac advanced audio coding

.flac free lossless audio codec
Audio .m4a apple lossless audio codec
.mp3 moving picture experts group layer 3

.bmp bitmap image

.gif graphics interchange format image
.jpg / .jpeg joint photographic experts group image
Images .png portable network graphic image
.tif / .tiff tagged image file format
 Types of Files File Extensions - Descriptions

.avl audio video interleaved file format

.flv flash video file format
.mp4 moving picture experts group layer 4
Video .mpg / .mpeg moving picture experts group
.wmv Windows media video file format

.app application program executable file format used by Apple

.bat batch file
.com command file or compiled application file
.exe executable file
Executables .msl Windows Installer package; a file that can specify installation
parameters for an application
.scexe Linux self-extracting executable file

.gzip / .gz free file compression file format developed for the GNU Project
.jar Java archive file format
Compressions .rar developed by Eugene Roshal, archive file format
Formats .tar
.zip
compression file created with the XZ compression format
file compression format that has built-in support in most OS
Windows 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.