
Computer | Definition, History, Operating Systems, & Facts | Britannica
Oct 17, 2025 · A computer is a programmable device for processing, storing, and displaying information. Learn more in this article about modern digital electronic computers and their design, constituent …
Digital computer | Evolution, Components, & Features | Britannica
Oct 17, 2025 · Since the development of the Harvard Mark I, the digital computer has evolved at a rapid pace. The succession of advances in computer equipment, principally in logic circuitry, is often …
Computer - History, Technology, Innovation | Britannica
3 days ago · Computer - History, Technology, Innovation: A computer might be described with deceptive simplicity as “an apparatus that performs routine calculations automatically.” Such a definition would …
USB flash drive | Definition, History, & Facts | Britannica
Beginning in the early 21st century, some personal computers and laptops were produced that used solid-state drives (SSDs) that relied on flash memory chips instead of hard disks to store information.
Personal computer (PC) | Definition, History, & Facts | Britannica
Nov 27, 2025 · A typical personal computer assemblage consists of a central processing unit, which contains the computer’s arithmetic, logic, and control circuitry on an integrated circuit; computer …
Computer virus | Definition & Facts | Britannica
Oct 18, 2025 · A more damaging virus can wreak havoc on an extremely large computer system within a matter of minutes or hours, causing it to crash and thereby destroy valuable data, or can disable a …
Client-server architecture | Definition, Characteristics, & Advantages ...
Oct 31, 2025 · Client-server architecture, architecture of a computer network in which many clients (remote processors) request and receive service from a centralized server (host computer). Client …
Printer | Definition, Types, & Facts | Britannica
Printer, electronic device that accepts text files or images from a computer and transfers them to a medium such as paper or film. Important printer characteristics include resolution (in dots per inch), …
Integrated circuit (IC) | Types, Uses, & Function | Britannica
Nov 20, 2025 · What is the ICL 2966 computer and how does it work? Learn about the ICL 2966, a mainframe computer utilizing integrated circuit technology, made in the United Kingdom in the 1980s.
Analog computer | Definition, Examples, & Facts | Britannica
Oct 13, 2025 · Analog computer, any of a class of devices in which continuously variable physical quantities are represented in a way analogous to the corresponding quantities in the problem to be …