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The American University in Cairo CSCI 106 – Dr. Khalil Assignment No. 1
By: Mohamed Gamal El Geish
Contents:
Today, computers are everywhere, doing every thing, all sorts of different tasks, helping people to write letters act as game machine, controlling robots. But how can a computer do all these things? The answer is that it is a general-purpose electronic machine controlled by a computer program. Computers store and process different types of information and data, such as numbers, letters, pictures, and sounds. The same computer can be used as a calculator, electronic game machine, or word processor, just by selecting the right program. All computers work like this in the present …but about the past?? In the 1940s, computers were developed that worked in the same way as those we use today. However, the history of the computer dates back long before then, starting with its forerunner, the calculator was the abacus, which originated in Asia about 5.000 years ago, and it still used today in classrooms and stores in some areas of the world. The computer pioneer is Charles Babbage (1791-1871) was an English mathematician and inventor who first developed the idea of the digital computer. And here our trip begins. Our trip program is Evolution of Computer Technology.
The hardware is the physical parts of a computer- its microchips, cables, screen, keyboard, mouse, and any others that we can touch. An important stage in the history of computers was the development of hardware. The first machines were electromechanical, using electromagnetic switches that were turned on and off by electric currents. Complex circuits of switches could perform simple sums. Computers using vacuum tubes, such as ENIAC (1), are often called first-generation computers. In 1947, the first prototype transistor was invented at the Bell Laboratories in the United States. The transistor acts as an electronic switch, and once it was perfected in the late 1950s, it quickly replaced the vacuum tube in computers. In the late 1960s the integrated circuit enabled thousands of transistors and electronic components to be built onto a tiny chip of silicon or “Microchips”. This single microchip, can be held in the jaws of an ant, contains thousands of components. Computers using (IC) are faster and smaller, they are classed as third-generation computers. This technology was applied on processors, the brain of the computer.
The main part of computer is its Central Processing Unit (CPU), the processor is the computer’s brain. In a personal computer, the CPU has a microprocessor. The CPU takes data from memory or inputs, processes it in some way, and then sends it to memory or outputs. A program, which is a list of instructions (also stored in memory), tells the CPU what to do. The processor is made up of two parts. The arithmetic unit carries out calculations and other operations on data. The control unit receives instruction from the program, collects data, tells the arithmetic unit what to do with it, and stores data back in memory. The processor also has some memory inside, where it stores results of calculation temporarily. Early computers used vacuum tubes, or simply valves, because they control the flow of electricity. These bulb-like components contained parts that had to glow red-hot to work. They did the same job as modern transistors and diodes, but were thousands of times larger Nowadays a processor uses electronic circuits called logic gates to do calculations and other jobs. Each gate does a simple operation, but groups of gates connected together can do more complex operations, such as adding.
Wednesday, 4th September 2002: Intel Pentium 4 2.8GHz Product: Intel Pentium 4 2.8GHz, Manufacturer: Intel Corp, Price: $600
Specifications:
2.8GHz Pentium 4 processor, 533MHz FSB, 12Kb Level 1 cache, 512KB Level 2
cache, Socket 478 interface.. Apart from continuing forward with a
barrage of new CPU speed grades almost every month, they, in Intel, have
also been rolling out chipsets and working on a number of interesting
things. Just recently Intel announced the first ever 90 nanometer or 0.09
micron process while other companies are just now getting into the 0.13
micron process.
Software is the abstract part of a computer, the things that we can’t touch but we can feel its effect. It manages the computer and tells it what to do. There are system software and application software. The most powerful company in this field is “Microsoft“. Microsoft man, Bill Gates (1955 - ) is the man who founded Microsoft, the company that possesses the operating system MS-DOS and Windows. These programs are now used on almost every PC in the world. Gates left college early to start Microsoft with a friend, and became a billionaire in 1986 when the company was floated on the market stock.
The function of system software is to tell the computer how to do routine jobs, such as looking to see what keys have been pressed on keyboard, or which way the mouse is moving, or getting data from the hard disk drive. Today the majority of PCs use Microsoft Windows as system software. Some system software is stored in the computer’s read-only memory (ROM) for instant use. The most famous operating systems are: DOS – Windows – UNIX - OS/2 – VMS - LYNX. And the latest versions are: Windows XP and Mac OS 9.
At last Windows XP or “experience”, after Windows 3.x, 95, 98, 98 SE, NT x, 2000, Me …etc. But what are the differences? Why it’s called XP? Numbers can say the answer to these questions.
Start-up and shutdown time:
The best records are shown in bold.
Application load time:
i-Bench 2.0: Load HTML pages:
Time form is (m:ss), and (-:--) means that’s Not applicable. After all, that’s the evolution of Windows as OSs.
Network: A continuing connection between two or more computers that facilitates sharing files and resources. Computer Networks are of two types: a. Local Area Network (LAN): A small- to moderate-size network in which communications are usually confined to a relatively small area, such as a single building or campus. Where the computers are usually connected one to another with some sort of cable. b. Wide Area Network (WAN): Usually a moderate to large network in which communications are conducted over the telephone lines using modems.
The simplest form for Local Area Network (LAN) is that: two computers are to be connected one to another by means of a given cable. But, let's suppose that there is a third person who desires to get connected to these two previous computers. In this case, each computer should have its own network address to facilitate being accessible as for the other computers. It suffices, if we give each computer a network address using a connecting card. The connecting card is one of the Hardware components of the computer. In the LAN, each computer gets connected to the network through a cable connecting the network itself to the connecting card found on the computer. In order for data to transfer from one computer to another that is connected to the network, there should be a network program coordinating transferring data through the network and laying down a special protocol for communicating among the different computers connected to the network. Networks permit computer users to share using expensive units of Hardware. For instance, providing each computer with a laser printer will represent a financial burden on the office, but through a simple LAN, all computers can have access to the common laser printer. Local Area Networks also permit users to share Software, chat, send mails and transfer files from one PC to another. Big offices or buildings can be provided with more than a single Local Area Network. In addition, two Local Area Networks can get connected through a bridge and several Local Area Networks can get connected through a distributor as well.
Some gigantic companies have offices in several cities or regions (in the same country). In case there is a Local Area Network for each office, the company can connect all these Local Area Networks together forming a Wide Area Network. This type of networks permits transferring data from one city or region to another. In order for a number of Local Area Networks to get connected and thus forming a single Wide Area Network, each local network should get connected to the nearest entry. All entries must get connected one to another as well. The entry is a computer designed for administrating data from and to the networks connected thereof according to a given protocol. The entry gives each network a distinguished address to be responsible for sending and receiving data there from. And the server: This represents any computer connected to the network and which is designed for carrying out a certain service for all the other computers connected thereto. For instance, if a computer is designed for printing documents, it is to be viewed as the Printing Server for this network. Also, another computer may be designed for communicating with other networks and in this case it will to be viewed as the Communication Server.
The Internet is the widest group of cooperating networks using TCP/IP Protocol in their communications. This TCP/IP Protocol is the short form for: Transmission Control Protocol/Internet Protocol. Each of these networks has an address distinguishing it from the rest called DNS, which is the short form for DOMAIN NAME SERVER. The network address consists of four numbers separated with a dot. Each network has a distinguished address and it has a distinguished name as well. For instance, the network whose name is: WWW.Hotmail.COM has the following address: 207.82.250.251. History: The Internet started with a small group of institutions and universities working on military researches and which were located in distant places. One day, they felt the need for exchanging the results of their researches across computers. During the 1980s, the National Science Foundation established a network connecting its five computer centers together. This private network called (NSFNET) represented the foundation stone of the USA Internet. With the increasing demand for computing networks, universities and governmental circles began to establish local cooperative entities of computing networks that are connected to the NSFNET. These entities acted as a connecting means between the tiny local institutions and the Internet. Students and staff of these institutions benefited from the capabilities of the Internet in terms of exchanging electronic messages and all other types of information. Along with its ever-increasing ranging, the Internet attracts more and more people in a manner that let it increase and grow faster and faster. While the United States of America was ahead to develop its local and national computing networks, other countries were starting to take the very same steps. During the 1980s, networks of the different countries started to get connected to each other.
Every second there is new technology developed, new invention created, new technique applied. Every day there is new devices appear and they wouldn’t stop till the life itself has stopped. Every month new products find their way to our life and computerize it. Every season an evolution of hardware and software happens, and we can’t search for the newest, because if we did so we would search forever in vainly. Every year more countries get connected to the Internet aspiring for getting benefited from its resources and contributions. Lately, the Internet turned into a comprehensive universal academy of connected computing networks. The Internet owes its continuity to the continuous cooperation among all the connected networks. Each Local Area Network shoulders the costs of its own computers. It pays charges for connecting them to the widest and nearest network. Thus, these hierarchical cooperative relationships take us ahead to the data and information fountainheads, for instance, the NSFNET in the United States of America. The Internet is not the only computer network all over the world. As there are also the world commercial networks such as: CIS, CompuServe, MCI Mail and America On Line. These networks are owned by private companies and are used just like the Internet by all people all over the world. The Internet users still, even during the 1990s, regarded as among the pioneers who explore these vast electronic terra incognitos, the matter which incites beginners to begin to explore it. As there are treasures of useful information and numerous opportunities to get acquainted to people who try their best to settle in these new electronic lands. Where are we from all this?
1) Books: The Computer Age – Chris Oxlade – Barron’s – year: 2000
2) Magazines: PC magazine Middle & Near East – Volume 8. Numbers: 1, 3, 4, 5, 7, 8 – year: 2002
3) CDs: The Internet step by step – Version 2.0 - Khalifa for engineering and computers – year: 1999
4) Websites:
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