tahir48
Posts : 47
Join date : 2012-10-31
 | Subject: Classification Of Computers (Complete Detail)  Wed Sep 11, 2013 12:28 pm | |
| 1.29 Classification of computers Computers are available in different size and powers. Different computers have different capabilities. Today’s we classified computers in four groups are as: · Super computers · Main frame computers · Mini computers · Microcomputers 1.29.1 Super Computers Supercomputers were introduced in the 1960s and were designed primarily by Seymour Cray at Control Data Corporation(CDC), and later at Cray Research. While the supercomputers of the 1970s used only a few processors, in the 1990s, machines with thousands of processors began to appear and by the end of the 20th century, massively parallel supercomputers with tens of thousands of "off-the-shelf" processors were the norm (A standard, model or pattern regarded as typical). Supercomputers are used for highly calculation-intensive tasks such as problems including quantum physics, weather forecasting, climate research, oil and gas exploration, molecular modeling (computing the structures and properties of chemical compounds, biological macromolecules, polymers, and crystals), and physical simulations (such as simulation of airplanes in wind tunnels, simulation of the detonation of nuclear weapons, and research into nuclear fusion). 1.29.2 Mainframe Computers 1.29.3 Mini Computers A minicomputer is a class of smaller computers that evolved in the mid-1960s and sold for much less than mainframe and mid-size computers from IBM and its direct competitors. When single-chip CPUs appeared, beginning with the Intel 4004 in 1971, the term "minicomputer" came to mean a machine that lies in the middle range of the computing spectrum, in between the smallest mainframe computers and the microcomputers. 1.29.4 Micro Computers A microcomputer is a small, relatively inexpensive computer with a microprocessor as its central processing unit (CPU). It includes a microprocessor, memory, and input/output (I/O) facilities. Microcomputers became popular in the 1970s and 80s with the advent of increasingly powerful microprocessors. The predecessors to these computers, mainframes and minicomputers, were comparatively much larger and more expensive (though indeed present-day mainframes such as the IBM System z machines use one or more custom microprocessors as their CPUs). Many microcomputers (when equipped with a keyboard and screen for input and output) are also personal computers (in the generic sense). 1.29.5 Pocket computer The programming language was usually BASIC, but some devices offered alternatives. For example the Casio PB-2000 could be programmed in Assembly, BASIC, C, and Lisp. An important feature of pocket computers was that all programming languages were available for the device itself, not downloaded from a cross-compiler on a larger computer. 1.29.6 Laptop Computer 1.29.7 Desktop Computers A desktop computer is a personal computer (PC) in a form intended for regular use at a single location, as opposed to a mobile laptop or portable computer. Early desktop computers are designed to lie flat on the desk, while modern towers stand upright. Most modern desktop computers have separate screens and keyboards. There are two types of desktop computers Macintosh & Personal Computer. | |
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