HARDWARE AND SOFTWARE What is hardware Hardware is

HARDWARE AND SOFTWARE

What is hardware? Hardware is any physical component of a computer system. Without any hardware, your computer would not exist, and software would not have a medium to run on. Hardware includes not only the computer proper but also the cables, connectors, power supply units, and peripheral devices such as the keyboard, mouse, audio speakers, and printers.

Main hardware parts • Speaker: It is an electronic device connected as a component in an audio system. It makes the speech or music audible • Monitor: It is a program that controls other programs. It also contains the screen • Microphone : It is an instrument that transforms sound waves into changes in electric currents or voltage. It is used to transmit and record sounds • Mouse: It is a device used to move, select, activate and change items on the screen • Keyboard: a set of keys, used for operate as a typewritter, typesetting machine or computer terminal • System unit: It is the main part of a computer. It is also called CPU, which means “central processing unit”

Main hardware parts

System unit components • Casing: It protects the system unit • Hard disk drive: It is the mechanism that controls the positioning, reading, and writing of the hard disk • Motherboard: It is the device that contains the computer's basic circuits and components. • Sound card: It is a device on the motherboard that enables the computer to input, process, and deliver sound. • RAM: It means “random access memory” component where the operating system, application programs, and data are stored • Power supply: It is a device that allows a computer to keep running for at least a short time when the primary power source is lost.

System unit components

What is software? Software means computer instructions or data. Anything that can be stored electronically is software

Main types of software • System software • Utility software • Applications software

System software It is the software used to control the hardware and which allow interaction between hardware and the other types of software. The most obvious type of system software is the computer‘s operating system. The system software is divided into: • Operating System • Device Drivers • Utility programs

Operating system It is a set of programs that manage computer resources and control its operation.

Device drivers are programs that allow other higher-level program to interact with a hardware device.

Utility programs The utilities perform various functions to solve specific problems, and generally perform tasks and maintenance. Some are included in the operating system.

Utility software is software such as anti-virus software, firewalls, disk defragmenters and so on which helps to maintain and protect the computer system but does not directly interface with the hardware.

Applications software It is designed to allow the user of the system complete a specific task or set of tasks. They include web browsers, office software, games and so on. They are usually the reason you bought the computer system in the first place

Work done by Miguel Hernández Espejo 3ºA