The desktop computer is a type of computer that is sized to be used on a desk in an office or home.
This classification serves to distinguish them from portable computers such as notebooks or PDAs, or larger computers such as mainframes.
It is also called: desktop computer or desktop computer, in Spain.
These computers cannot be easily moved from their location and often require a support desk. The most typical configuration of a desktop computer is: cabinet, monitor, keyboard, mouse, and some peripherals such as a printer. Currently there are the all-in-one that combine the cabinet and the flat screen monitor, making them a little more portable.
Desktop computers became very popular in the 1980s and 1990s, used both in offices and at home. They began their decline in 2000 due to the replacement of more portable devices such as notebooks, tablets and smartphones.
Components of a desktop computer
The components of a computer can be basically distinguished into two:
-Hardware
– Software
• See: Components of a computer (computer)
• See: Computer peripherals
history of desktop computers
The first computers were the size of an entire room, of course they could not be classified as «desktop». Then came the minicomputers, the size of a refrigerator, some offices of large companies had these computers.
In the 1960s there were programmable computers/calculators, such as the Programma 101 (1965), the size of a typewriter, that fit on a desk.
Other models that could be programmed in BASIC were also introduced in the 1970s. These were small versions of the minicomputers that had a small one-line LED screen that displayed alphanumeric characters. Print graphs using a plotter.
Hewlett-Packard Model 9830 Programmable Calculator – CreativeCommons License
It was really in the 1980s that desktop computers became the dominant type, with the most popular being the IBM PC, followed by the Apple Macintosh and the Commodore Amiga (the latter declining in popularity in the early 1990s).
Early desktop computers, like the 1981 IBM Personal Computer, were encapsulated in a case that fit perfectly on a desk, oriented horizontally, with the CRT screen on top of it.
IBM Personal Computer model 5150 – Creative Commons License
By the 1990s, desktop computers were becoming more affordable and the cabinet was separated from the monitor. In this case the cabinet (the vertical tower cabinet began to appear) could be located on the floor under the desk. They were becoming more powerful, monitors of more inches and even LCD flat monitors were already coming.
Laptops of the day were too expensive and their LCD monitor had a very short viewing angle.
By the mid-2000s, laptops began to become very popular, and desktop purchases began to decline.
In 2007, 109 million notebooks were sold, a growth of 33% over the previous year. In 2008 there were 145.9 million notebooks, in 2009 it rose to 177.7 million. The third quarter of 2008 was the first time in history that more notebooks were sold than desktop computers worldwide (38.6 million notebooks vs. 38.5 million PCs). The trend continues to accentuate.
Some analysts suggest that desktop sales were closely tied to the Windows operating system. The versions considered «bad» of Windows, made the sales of these computers drop sharply, probably because people did not feel the need to change/update them. Windows Vista and Windows 8 are the clearest examples of this phenomenon.
The declining trend in desktop computer sales is also due to a replacement of these by other more portable and more personal devices such as notebooks, netbooks, tablets and smartphones.
All-in-One Computers
iMac, all-in-one
All-in-one computers (all in one), which group the monitor with the processing cabinet, already existed in the early 1980s, such as the Kaypro II, Osborne 1, TRS-80 Model II and Compaq Portable. While the Commodore and Atari included the computer’s motherboard in the keyboard, they were usually connected to a television. Apple also made several all-in-one models, including the original Macintosh in the mid-1980s and the iMac in the late 1990s and early 2000s.
By the early 2000s, most all-in-one computers used flat panel displays and began to include multi-touch screens.
In general, both all-in-ones and notebooks are more complicated to extend or customize components compared to classic desktop computers.
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