Computer Storm: Hardware and Software

Computer Hardware

Computer hardware or hardware means the fixed parts that make up a computer.

Some examples include:

Processor

Memory (RAM & ROM)

Motherboard

Graphics card

Network card

Modem

USB flash drive

Hard-drive

Hardware needs software to tell it what to do. Without software, the hardware can not be used.

Software

Computer software (often called just software) is a type of computer program. It means the applications and operating systems used with computers.

The term software was first used in the late 1960s to show the difference from computer hardware, which are the fixed parts of a machine. Before compact discs (CDs) or Internet downloads, software came on "soft media" like magnetic discs and magnetic tape.

System software (or systems software) is computer software or an operating system designed to operate and control the computer hardware and to provide a platform for running application software.

Example: Operating system

A software system is a system of intercommunicating components based on software forming part of a computer system (a combination of hardware and software). It "consists of a number of separate programs, configuration files, which are used to set up these programs, system documentation, which describes the structure of the system, and user documentation, which explains how to use the system.