Computer Lessons

Basics

The hardware are the "hard" electronic components that make up a computer (e.g. RAM, CPU, and disk)

An application is software that performs a task (e.g. typing a document to print, web browser to surf the web, organize finances on Quick book). The most popular applications are Microsoft Internet Explorer (for web surfing), Microsoft Word (for typing documents) and Microsoft Excel (for writing spreadsheets).

An operating system (OS) is software that is acts as an interface between an application and the various hardware devices. The OS provides/manages the physical resources of a PC (e.g. RAM, CPU, disk) so that the applications can use them. The most popular OS is Microsoft Windows.

A peripheral is an electronic device attached to a computer (e.g. mouse, USB drive, keyboard)

The personal computer (PC) represents all the above as one abstract concept.

Hardware

Hardware does 3 basic things:

RAM = used for storing stuff temporarily (e.g. data and applications) when the computer is on
Disk = used for storing stuff permanantly, even if computer is off
CPU = used for doing stuff

Application

An application software is the reason why you use a computer - applications perform our tasks. Applications run on top an an OS. Here are popular applications:

Microsoft Internet Explorer (IE) - a web browser, allows you to visit websites to read news, check email, watch videos, or do online banking
Microsoft Word - a word processor, which allows you to write letters and create banners
Firefox - another web browser, a competitor to IE

Operating System

An OS provides you interface to start/use applications which then use the hardware (e.g RAM, Disk, CPU) to carry out tasks. The OS also allows you to manage your peripheral (e.g. change resolution on monitor, keyboard settings, etc...).

Applications are stored permanantly on harddisks (or disk)
When you start an application (e.g. double click the IE icon), the OS loads the application into temorary storage (RAM)
The OS allows your application to use the CPU to do stuff (e.g. IE sents instructions to the CPU via the OS).

Peripheral

A peripheral is an electronic device that is an extenstion to your computer (e.g. monitor, mouse, keyboard, etc...).

When you connect a peripheral to your computer, your OS ensures it is usable by your OS and applications.
In Windows (which is an OS), you can manage peripheral by clicking Start->Settings->Control Panel

Personal Computer

All of the above make up a personal computer!