Personal computer

A personal computer (PC) is a computer whose original sales price, size, and capabilities make it useful for individuals.

A personal computer may be a home computer, or may be found in an office, often connected to a local area network. The distinguishing characteristic is that the computer is used only (or mostly) by one person at a time, in a very interactive fashion, with no significant delay between an operator action and response by the computer. This is opposite to the batch processing or time-sharing models which allowed large expensive systems to be used by many people, usually at the same time.

The capabilities of a personal computer have changed greatly since the introduction of electronic computers. By the early 1970s, people in academic or research institutions had the opportunity for single-person use of a computer system in interactive mode for extended durations, although these systems would still have been too expensive to be owned by a single individual. The introduction of the microprocessor, a single chip with all the circuitry that formerly occupied large cabinets, lead to the proliferation of personal computers after about 1975. Early personal computers generally called microcomputers, sold often in kit form and in limited volumes and were of interest mostly to hobbyists and technicians. By the late 1970s, mass-market pre-assembled computers allowed a wider range of people to use computers, focusing more on software applications and less on development of the processor hardware. Throughout the 1970s and 1980s, home computers were developed for household use, offering some personal productivity, programming and games, while somewhat larger and more expensive systems (although still low-cost compared with minicomputers and mainframes) were aimed for office and small business use.

Eventually the market segments lost any technical distinction; business computers acquired color graphics capacity and sound, and home computers and game systems used the same processors and operating systems as office-bound computers. Even local area networking, originally a way to allow business computers to share expensive mass storage and peripherals, became a standard feature of a home computer.

Today a personal computer may be a desktop computer, a laptop computer, or a tablet computer. The most common operating systems are Microsoft Windows, Mac OS and Linux, while the most common microprocessors are the x86 and PowerPC CPUs. Software applications for personal computers include word processing, spreadsheets, games, and a myriad of personal productivity and special-purpose software. Modern personal computers often have high-speed or dial-up connections to the Internet, allowing access to the World Wide Web and a wide range of other resources. While early personal computer owners usually had to write their own programs to do anything useful with the machines, today's users have access to a wide range of commercial and free software which is easily installed. The coming convergence between larger devices and the Personal Digital Assistants (PDAs), mobile phone and wearable computer markets which have similar functions, operating systems and even the same components, will decide if personal computer will refer to these devices.