Operating Systems:

Being made up of basic ASCII processes, an OS is the software that is running on your
machine, we recognize these as Linux, Windows, or Apple OS, it is the experience you have
with a specific vendors configurations, and the functionality that best fits the end-user. The
operating system is the CPUs concierge, it takes your requests to it, and comes back with a
response, for example:

I use my computer mainly for homework and I was using an old copy of Microsoft office, when I
requested Word to come up so I could use it, the response told me that there was a software
update that was required. That was the OS telling me what the CPU, and the live Internet had
recommended I do.

When your hardware and OS are up-to date, there is minimum chance that you are getting a
bad response from your PC, being that it is less likely that the health of the two is in bad health,
of course, depending of the maintenance and care from the end-user as well.

Power Supplies & Form Factors:

Form Factors are specified per piece of hardware, most packages show you which other bits of
hardware they are recommended to be used with. In many instances when you get a
prepackaged PC there is sort of a simple, and a business package, however, when you put
together your own, you are applying the personal needs to the levels of requirements youll
have, especially if youre a gamer, you really want to improve the standard videocards, and with
that a few extra fans, but Form Factors will help you find what items will work best with each
other.

Power Supplies are what the standard is electrical-wise for your computer, and how you need to
manage the network its at while its running. For example, my husband is actually an electrician
and he has gone over the difference between commercial and residential wiring, and the ways it
can affect anything running in these circumstances.


Notes


At one time, all Macintosh computers were built using PowerPC processors by IBM or Motorola.
Macs now use Intel processors, which make it possible for Windows to run on a Mac. Boot
Camp software by Apple can be used to install Windows on a Mac computer as a dual boot with
Mac OS X. (A dual boot makes it possible to boot a computer into one of two installed OSs.)
Also, an application called VMWare Fusion can be installed on a Mac; the application creates a
virtual machine on the Mac. (A virtual machine (VM) is an environment created by software that
works as though it is a standalone computer system. A VM is a logical computer within a
physical computer. Software testers often use multiple VMs on a single PC to test software
under different OSs.) Windows is then installed on this virtual machine, making it possible to run
both Mac OS X and Windows at the same time without having to reboot the system.
Applications written for Windows can then be installed in the virtual machine environment. You
will learn to use a virtual machine in a project at the end of Chapter 12.


TRANSISTOR
A transistor is an electronic device that can serve as a gate or switch for an electrical
signal and can amplify the flow of electricity. Invented in 1947, the transistor is made
of three layers of semiconductor material.
A charge (either positive or negative, depending on the transistor's design) placed on
the center layer can cause the two outer layers of the transistor to complete a circuit to
create an on state. An opposite charge placed on the center layer can make the
reverse happen, causing the transistor to create an off state. Manipulating these
charges to the transistor allows it to hold a logic state of either on or off. The on state
represents binary 1 and the off state represents binary 0 when used to hold data in a
computer.
When the transistor maintains this state, it requires almost no electrical power. Because
the initial charge sent to the transistor is not as great as the resulting current that the
transistor creates, a transistor sometimes is used as a small amplifier. For instance,
transistors are used to amplify the tiny dots or pixels on an LCD monitor screen used to
create a sharper image. The transistor is also used as the basic building block of an
integrated circuit (IC), which is used to build a microchip.
CAPACITOR
A capacitor is an electronic device that can hold an electrical charge for a period of
time and can smooth the uneven flow of electricity through a circuit. Capacitors inside
a PC power supply create the even flow of current the PC needs. Capacitors maintain
their charge long after current is no longer present, which is why the inside of a power
supply can be dangerous even when it is unplugged. You can see many capacitors on
motherboards, video cards, and other circuit boards (see Figure 4-19).
DIODE
A diode is a semiconductor device that allows electricity to flow in only one direction.
(A transistor contains two diodes.) One to four diodes used in various configurations
can be used to convert AC to DC. Singularly or collectively, depending on the
configuration, these diodes are called a rectifier.


Manufacturer Web Site
Antec www.antec.com
ASUS www.asus.com
Cooler Master www.coolermaster.com
ENlight Corporation www.enlightcorp.com
Lian Li www.lian-li.com
PC Power and Cooling www.pcpowerandcooling.com
Rosewill www.rosewill.com
Silverstone www.silverstonetek.com
Sunus Suntek www.suntekgroup.com
Thermaltake www.thermaltakeusa.com
Zalman www.zalman.com