What is the difference between hardware and software?

hardware and software work on digital devices and systems to provide computer features. Hardware includes physical components such as motherboard, chips, memory and hard drives, while the software includes programs that run on hardware. Ergo, the computer is hardware, while an operating system like Microsoft XP is software that makes hardware functional. Although hardware and software are most commonly associated with computers, software also runs on other hardware, such as mobile phones, personal digital assistants (PDA), global positioning satellite units (GPS), medical equipment and air traffic control systems. Modern cash registers are also computer with software for better organization of sales related problems such as inventory, tax and coupon discounts. Many software programs used in industry are proprietary, which means they are designed for a specific function. THSE differs from computers that are generally multi -purpose, with many different typesSoftware programs for different tasks. Hardware is most often a narrow place in terms of data transfer speed or how quickly the software program can work. Therefore, as hardware improves, it is able to run more robust software programs. Old hardware from only ten years ago does not have to run current software, as the software could be designed to use hardware in a way that older hardware cannot support.

For this reason, when shopping software, the buyer should check specifications in terms of recommended minimum hardware requirements. The middle processing unit (CPU) of the computer is almost always mentioned because this hardware is responsible for the overall speed of the computer, generally speaking. Amount of Random Access Memory (RAM) is another factor and can also be mentioned graphics or graphics card requirements.

If you want to buy software, alE Not sure what hardware you have, most operating systems have a built -in program to display hardware and software information. In Windows XP, click the Start button and then all programs , accessories , system tools and system information . You may want to print the initial summary page of the system and then click on the appropriate header in the tree and view the new information displayed on the right. For example, click "Components" and then "View" the details of the graphics card on the computer.

There are also several online freeware programs that collect system data. These and other software programs are available on popular websites such as TuCows, Snapfiles and Zdnet.