Summary
Although general purpose computers have been available for more than 40 years, the dramatic plunge in the cost of electronics in the past 10 years has finally made significant computing power affordable to almost anyone. However, a large number of people including professionals have little idea of how a computer really works or what it can and cannot do.
Presented here is an introduction to the hardware and software of microcomputers which assumes no working knowledge of electronics or programming. The fundamental pieces of a microcomputer are explained, giving some insight into the reasons why present microcomputers are built the way they are. This is followed by a discussion of the fundamentals of how software is used to make the hardware compute. The various levels of software are discussed, then the most commonly used types of user application software are described, and finally some suggestions are made on how to choose a personal computer.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
References
Frenzel and Frenzel: Handbook for Your IBMPC, Howard W. Sam & Co., Inc., Indianapolis, 1985.
Gear CW: Computer Organization and Programming, Computer Science Series, McGraw-Hill Book Company, 1969.
LeBlond GT, Cobb DF: Using 1-2-3, Que Corporation, Indianapolis, 1983.
Norton P: The Peter Norton Programmer’s Guide to the IBM PC, Microsoft Press, 1985.
Norton P: PC-DOS Introduction to High-Performance Computing, Brady Communications Company, Inc., Bowie, Maryland, 1985.
Norton P: Inside the IBM PC: Revised and Enlarged, Brady Communications Company, Inc., New York, New York, 1986.
Poole L, McNiff M, Cook S: Apple II User’s Guide, Osborne/McGraw-Hill, California, 1981.
Prakash O (editor): Computing in Anesthesia and Intensive Care, Martinus Nijhoff Publ., 1983.
Rampa J: Getting Started with Microsoft WORD, Microsoft Press, 1985.
Simpson A: The Best Book of Lotus 1-2-3. Howard W. Sams & Co., Inc., first edition, third printing, Indianapolis, 1985.
Witkin RK: Managing Your Business with Multiplan, Microsoft Press, 1985.
Wolverton V: Running MS-DOS, second edition, Microsoft Press, Washington, 1985.
The 8086 Family User’s Manuel, Intel Corporation 1978, 1979.
Discovering Knowledgeman, Howard W. Sams & Co., Inc., Indianapolis, 1985.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Bloom, M.J. Introduction to microcomputer hardware and software. J Clin Monit Comput 4, 33–46 (1987). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02919573
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02919573