Personal and desktop microcomputers (PC) have become indispensable office equipment in many firms. These powerful machines have revolutionized business computing and information management by their variety of applications. These PCs are equipped with internal memory and disk capacity through the workings of the microprocessor chip, which determines the varying degrees of sophistication, speed and applicability of PCs. These PCs usually have disk drives through which data is stored in floppy diskettes; hard disks and some have magnetic tape cartridges to provide back-up copies for security purposes. The basic PC would have a monitor, which is usually colour but can be monochrome, and it is often connected to a printer, of the dot matrix, inkjet or laser-type. The PC can also be attached to a modem to facilitate inter-PC communication and to allow downloading of data.

Within a desktop computer box there many components that make up a microcomputer. In this essay I will describe the major components of a microcomputer. The individual function of each component will be described, and how they integrate together to form a microcomputer. The main hardware com

With all these components integrated and connected they form the basis of a desktop microcomputer. Different configurations are available which determine the speed and reliability of the system. A desktop computer is a personal computer that is designed to fit conveniently on top of a typical office desk. A desktop computer typically comes in several units that are connected together during installation: (1) the main unit with processor, which can be in a micro tower or minitower designed to fit under the desk or in a unit that goes on top of the desk, (2) the display monitor, (3) and input devices - usually a keyboard and a mouse. Today, almost all desktop computers include a built-in modem, a CD-ROM drive, a multi-gigabyte magnetic storage drive, and sometimes a diskette drive. All of the component parts plug or clip into the motherboard, which provides all the interconnections between all the components. With out this piece of hardware the individual components cannot funct!

Visual display devices (Monitors) are the parts of the computer, which allow the processed information to be displayed, printed, used or stored according to the user's intentions. A display is a computer output surface and projecting mechanism that shows text and often graphic images to the computer user, using a cathode ray tube (cathode ray tube), liquid crystal display (liquid crystal display), light-emitting diode, gas plasma, or other image projection technology. The display is usually considered to include the screen or projection surface and the device that produces the information on the screen. In some computers, the display is packaged in a separate unit called a monitor.

Goldschalager and Lister, Computer Science- A Modern Introduction, Prentice Hall 1988

Some common words found in the essay are:
RAM ROM, GUI-based Windows, Desktop Computer, Unit CPU, PCs PCs, Storage PCs, Control Unit, , Arithmetic/Logic Unit, Modems Ethernet, desktop computer, control unit, central processing unit, central processing, communication devices, processing unit, components microcomputer, main memory, unit computer, hard disk, operating system, arithmetic logic unit, computer operating system, video display terminals, liquid crystal display,
Approximate Word count = 1692
Approximate Pages = 7 (250 words per page double spaced)