Page 19 - DCAP101_BASIC_COMPUTER_SKILLS

Basic Computer Skills

Notes 12. In addition to unbundled software, these systems also used add-on hardware feature
that allowed users to invest only in the hardware configuration and software of their
need and value.
13. PCs of fourth generation made computers affordable even by individuals for their
personal use at home.
1.3.5 Fifth Generation (1989-Present)

The trend of further miniaturization of electronic components, dramatic increase in power
of microprocessor-chips, and increase in capacity of main memory and hard disk continued
during fifth generation. VLSI technology came ULSI ((Ultra Large Scale Integration) technology
in fifth generation resulting in production of Microprocessor chips having ten million
electronic components. In fact, the speed of microprocessors and the size of main memory
and hard disk doubled almost every eighteen months. As a result, many features found
in the CPUs of large mainframe systems of third- and fourth-generation systems became
part of microprocessor architecture in fifth generation. This ultimately resulted in availability
of very powerful and compact computers becoming available at cheaper rates and death
of traditional large mainframe systems. Due to this fast space of advancement in computer
technology, we see more compact and more powerful computers being introduced almost
every year at more or less the same price or even cheaper. Notable among these are
portable notebook computers that give the power of a PC to their users even while
travelling, powerful desktop PCs and workstations, powerful servers, and very powerful
supercomputers.
Storage technology also advanced very fast making larger and larger main memory and disk
storage available in newly introduced systems. During fifth generation, optical disks also
emerged as a popular portable mass storage D-ROM (Compact Disk - Read Only Memory).
During fifth generation, there was tremendous outgrowth of computer networks.
Communication technologies become faster day-by-day and more and more computers were
networked together. This trend resulted in emergence and popularity of the Internet and
associated technologies and applications. The Internet made it possible for computer users
sitting across the globe to communicate with each other within minutes by use of electronic
mail (known as e-mail) facility. A vast ocean of information became readily available to
computer users through the World Wide Web (known as WWW). Moreover, several new
types of exciting applications like e-commerce, virtual libraries, virtual classrooms, distance
education, etc., emerged during the period.
Tremendous processing power and massive storage capacity of fifth-generation computers
also made them a very popular tool for a wide range of multimedia applications that deal
with information containing text, graphics animation, audio, and video data. In general, the
data size of multimedia information is much larger than textual information because
representation of graphics, animation, audio, or video media in digital form requires larger
number of bits than that required for representation of textual information.

Characteristic features of fifth-generation computers are as follows:
1. Portable PCs (called notebook computers) are much smaller and handy than PCs of
fourth generation allowing users to use computing facility even while travelling.
2. Fifth-generation desktop PCs and workstations are several times more powerful than
PCs of fourth generation.

12 LOVELY PROFESSIONAL UNIVERSITY