The Computer Teacher

Computers come in all sizes and shapes. The most common models are called desktop (horizontal position), tower (vertical position), and laptop (lightweight and portable).

HARDWARE
Each computer box is made up of various components that are referred to as hardware. The main parts of a computer are:

CPU (Central Processing Unit): This is the brain of the computer.
Hard Disk Drive: The computer's filing cabinet also called permanent memory.
Random Access Memory (RAM): Computer's temporary memory. Information stored in this memory is lost once you turn off your computer. Without RAM your computer would have no place for its special instructions or its data. The more RAM your computer has, the more work it can do.
Power Supply: house current or batteries.

Secondary to these hardware components are various devices, also called peripherals, that connect to the computer such as a keyboard, modem—the computer's telephone, monitor—computer's TV screen, mouse—computer's finger or pointing device, and information storage devices that vary in size. Examples are a floppy disk drive—400 K (kilobytes) to 1.4 MB (megabytes); Zip Drive—100 to 750 MB; CD-ROM drive—Compact Disc Read-Only Memory optical disk capable of storing 1 GB (gigabytes); and DVD drive—Digital Versatile Disc or Digital Video Disc-a newer version of the CD-ROM that can hold 4.7 GB to 17 GB of data.

SOFTWARE
Software is a set of computer instructions that work with the computer hardware to perform a specific job. There are two major categories of software, the first is system software and the second is application software.

SYSTEM SOFTWARE
The most important software is the operating system. The operating system is the mediator of the computer. It communicates with and controls the hardware and is necessary to run all other software programs. Two common operating systems are Microsoft® Windows XP and their new Vista operating system. Also found in this category is utility software. These programs manage the computer system resources. A common example of this is a screen saver that manages your monitor when the computer has become inactive.

APPLICATION SOFTWARE
Application software includes the following:

Word Processing: Designed to produce typewritten documents that will be printed such as letters, reports, etc. Microsoft Word is an example of word processing software.
Spreadsheet: Designed to do mathematical calculations. It will help to organize data in rows and columns. Microsoft Excel is an example of this type of software.
Database: Designed to organize a large amount of information such as customer lists, store inventory, etc. An example of this is Microsoft Access.
Graphic: Software that can create and manipulate artwork such as logos, pictures, etc. An example of this is Adobe Photoshop.
Business Presentation: This software is used to present information to a group of people much like a slide show that utilizes pictures, graphs, charts, and sounds. An example of this is Microsoft PowerPoint.
Desktop Publishing: Software used to produce promotional brochures, booklets, etc. An example of this is Microsoft Publisher.
Browsers: Software used to locate and display Web pages. Examples are Internet Explorer, Mozilla Firefox, and Netscape Navigator.