Summary

CHAPTER 1Introduction to the Personal ComputerObjectivesUpon completion of this chapter, you should be able to answer the following questions:■■■■What are IT industry certifications?What is a computer system?How can I identify the names, purposes, andcharacteristics of cases and power supplies?What are the names, purposes, and characteristicsof internal components?Key Terms■■■■What are the names, purposes, and characteristicsof ports and cables?How can I identify the names, purposes, andcharacteristics of input devices?How can I identify the names, purposes, andcharacteristics of output devices?What are system resources and their purposes?This chapter uses the following key terms. You can find the definitions in the Glossary.hardware page xxsoftware page xxOhm’s Law page xxcentral processing unit (CPU) page xxcache page xxReduced Instruction Set Computer (RISC)Complex Instruction Set Computer (CISC)hyperthreading page xxsingle-core CPU page xxdual-core CPU page xxread-only memory (ROM) page xxprogrammable read-only memory (PROM)page xxpage xxpage xxerasable programmable read-only memory (EPROM)page xxelectrically erasable programmable read-onlymemory (EEPROM) page xxrandom-access memory (RAM)dynamic RAM (DRAM)nonparityparityNICpage xxpage xxpage xxRAID adapterUSB portparallel portserial portpage xxpage xxpage xxpage xxpage xxpage xxcontinues