| Desktop
Technology
1) In its more general usage, a PC (personal computer)
is a computer designed for use by one person at a time. Prior to
the PC, computers were designed for (and only affordable by) companies
who attached terminals for multiple users to a single large computer
whose resources were shared among all users. The advent of the era
of the personal computer was acknowledged by Time magazine in 1982,
when they broke with tradition by choosing the PC as their "Man
of the Year." By the late 1980s, technology advances made it
feasible to build a small computer that an individual could own
and use.
2) The term "PC" has been traditionally
used to describe an "IBM-compatible" personal computer
in contradistinction to an Apple Macintosh computer. The distinction
is both technical and cultural and harkens back to the early years
of personal computers, when IBM and Apple were the two major competitors.
Originally, the "IBM-compatible" PC was one with an Intel
microprocessor architecture and an operating system such as DOS
or Windows that written to use that microprocessor. The Apple Macintosh
uses a Motorola microprocessor architecture and a proprietary operating
system. The "IBM-compatible" PC was associated with business
and use, while the "Mac," known for its more intuitive
user interface, was associated with graphic design and desktop publishing.
Although the distinctions have become less clear-cut in recent years,
people often still categorize a personal computer as either a PC
or a Mac.
List of Source Systems Desktop Applications:
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