MICROCOMPUTERS

A microcomputer is a computer with a microprocessor as its central processing unit. - It includes a microprocessor, memory, and input/output (I/O) facilities. Such computers are physically small compared to mainframes and minicomputers. - Many microcomputers (when equipped with a keyboard and screen for input and output) are also personal computers (in the generic sense). - The abbreviation "micro" was common during the 1970s and 1980s,but has now fallen out of common usage.

2)NOTEBOOK COMPUTERS

A laptop computer is a personal computer for mobile use. - A laptop integrates most of the typical components of a desktop computer, including a display, a keyboard, a pointing device such as a touchpad (also known as a trackpad) and/or a pointing stick, and speakers into a single unit.

- A laptop is powered by mains electricity via an AC adapter, and can be used away from an outlet using a rechargeable battery. -Laptops are also sometimes called notebook computers, notebooks or netbooks. - As portable computers became smaller, lighter, cheaper, more powerful and as screens became larger and of better quality, laptops became very widely used for all sorts of purposes, by all sorts of people.

3) PALMTOPS
A Handheld PC, or H/PC for short, is a term for a computer built around a form factor which is smaller than any standard laptop computer. It is sometimes referred to as a Palmtop. - The first handheld device compatible with desktop IBM personal computers of the time was the Atari Portfolio of 1989. Another early model was the Poqet PC of 1989 and the Hewlett Packard HP 95LX of 1991. Other DOS compatible hand-held computers also existed. Some Handheld PCs run on Microsoft's Windows CE operating system, with the term also covering Windows CE devices released by the broader commercial market

4)PDA (Personal Digital Assistance).

A personal digital assistant (PDA) or personal data assistant is a mobile device that functions as a personal information manager. - Nearly all current PDAs have the ability to connect to the Internet. - A PDA has an electronic visual display, enabling it to include a web browser, all current models also have audio capabilities enabling use as a portable media player, and also enabling most of them to be used as mobile phones. - Most PDAs employ touch screen technology. - The first PDA was released in 1986 by Psion, the Organizer II. Followed by Prisons Series 3, in 1991, which began to resemble the more familiar PDA style. It also had a full keyboard. - The term PDA was first used on January 7, 1992 by Apple Computer CEO John Sculley at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas, Nevada, referring to the Apple Newton. In 1996, - Nokia introduced the first PDA with full mobile phone functionality, the 9000 Communicator, which grew to become the world's best-selling PDA. - The Communicator spawned a new category of PDAs: the "PDA phone", now called "smartphone". Another early entrant in this market was Palm, with a

line of PDA products which began with the March 1996 Pilot 1000. Today, almost all PDAs are smartphones. Over 150 million smartphones are sold each year, while "stand-alone" PDAs without phone functionality sell only about 3 million units per year.

Software And Hardware COMPUTER SOFTWARE

Computer software, or just software, is a collection of computer programs and related data that provides the instructions for telling a computer what to do and how to do it.

Software refers to one or more computer programs and data held in the storage of the computer for some reasons. In other words, software is a set of programs, procedures, algorithms and its documentation concerned with the operation of a data processing system. Program software performs the function of the program it implements, either by directly providing instructions to the computer hardware or by serving as input to another piece of software. The term was coined to contrast to the old term hardware (meaning physical devices). In contrast to hardware, software "cannot be touched". Software is also sometimes used in a more narrow sense, meaning application software only. Sometimes the term includes data that has not traditionally been associated with computers, such as film, tapes, and records.[

COMPUTER HARDWARE Computer hardware is the collection of physical elements that comprise a computer system. - Computer hardware refers to the physical parts or components of computer such as monitor, keyboard,

hard disk, mouse, etc. Refers to objects that you can actually touch, like disks, disk drives, display screens, keyboards, printers, boards, and chips. - In contrast, software is untouchable. Software exists as ideas, concepts, and symbols, but it has no substance. - A combination of hardware and software forms a usable computing system.