Q - Tell me about computer systems ?

Over the years the personal computer and work station has become the platform of choice for both business and personal users.

This replaced the old mainframe processing systems where users would interact with a central processing system through a dumb terminal. The downside of this model was that when the mainframe went down, so did everything else.

It is not completely dissimilar to the computer network models used today. However, due to the lower cost of technology the processing power is now distributed amongst all the machines, if the server goes down it is possible to continue working with applications installed on the PC or workstation or more importantly the processing unit can be mobile or portable.

Computers come in many shapes and sizes including desktops, workstations, laptops, palmtops, tablets and rugged units each suitable for different environments and users. Personal Digital Assistants (PDA) and Mobile phones are now capable of providing some of the basic functions that personal computers provide such as email, spreadsheets, GPS etc. What is common with all these newer systems is that there is an operating system that allows the users to interact with the hardware.

The MAC operating system was one of the first GUI or graphical users interfaces. Microsoft developed Windows which replaced its disk operating system DOS. UNIX was one of the first open source operating systems and Linux added a GUI to the open source environment, later becoming the OS of choice for server based applications.

Computer systems run software applications that perform specific tasks such as accounting, email, web, word-processing, CRM etc. They can even be used to perform video and audio transactions such as conferencing or telephony over networks and the internet, transforming the device into a truly universal communications tool.

Computer systems are programmed in a variety of languages such as Visual Basic, C, SQL, JAVA and their embedded counterparts for devices such as PDA's and mobile phones. Software can be purchased off the shelf to perform tasks or in many cases developed for specific customer requirements.

Glue or middleware is designed to integrate applications and other systems together where an API or interface exists.

Q - How are computers and other devices changing ?

We may see a resurrection of the mainframe type model (or an evolution of the networked PC model) as more and more applications and services are delivered virtually over the web through applications service providers (ASP's) and where even the bulk of processing can be delivered virtually. Users may only need a small appliance to interact with the web and control their requirements and fulfil their needs.

The functions and features of Phones, PDA's, computers will merge into a fintie number of devices tailored for specific users. Due to the increase in mobility and the web broader reaching programming languages are being adopted such as XML and .NET that allow applications to be developed that will run on multiple platforms through a common web browser interface.

This will reduce the software development cycle and increase thereliability and interoperability on different systems/platforms.

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