86-411: A killer application (often shortened to killer app ) is any software that is so necessary or desirable that it proves the core value of some larger technology, such as its host computer hardware , video game console , software platform , or operating system . Consumers would buy the host platform just to access that application, possibly substantially increasing sales of its host platform. Although
172-471: A product but a feature that it was allowed to add to Windows, although the DOJ did not agree with this definition. The government alleged that Microsoft had abused monopoly power on Intel -based personal computers in its handling of operating system and web browser integration. The central issue was whether Microsoft was allowed to bundle its IE web browser software with its Windows operating system. Bundling
258-458: A settlement proposal allowing PC manufacturers to adopt non-Microsoft software. On November 1, 2001, the DOJ reached an agreement with Microsoft to settle the case. The proposed settlement required Microsoft to share its application programming interfaces with third-party companies and appoint a panel of three people who would have full access to Microsoft's systems, records, and source code for five years in order to ensure compliance. However,
344-455: A GPU integrated into the motherboard. Most computers also have an external data bus to connect peripheral devices to the motherboard. Most commonly, Universal Serial Bus (USB) is used. Unlike the internal bus, the external bus is connected using a bus controller that allows the peripheral system to operate at a different speed from the CPU. Input and output devices are used to receive data from
430-506: A breathtaking array of new products and innovations. ... Increasingly, however, some firms have sought to handicap their rivals by turning to government for protection. Many of these cases are based on speculation about some vaguely specified consumer harm in some unspecified future, and many of the proposed interventions will weaken successful U.S. firms and impede their competitiveness abroad." Judge Jackson issued his findings of fact on November 5, 1999, holding that Microsoft's dominance of
516-450: A clone of Netscape's flagship product for free. A number of videotapes were submitted as evidence by Microsoft during the trial, including one that demonstrated that removing Internet Explorer from Microsoft Windows caused slowdowns and malfunctions in Windows. In the videotaped demonstration of what then-Microsoft vice president Jim Allchin stated to be a seamless segment filmed on one PC,
602-590: A commensurate increase in energy use and cooling demand. The personal computer is one of the most common types of computer due to its versatility and relatively low price. Virtual hardware is software that mimics the function of hardware; it is commonly used in infrastructure as a Service (IaaS) and platform as a Service (PaaS). Embedded systems have the most variation in their processing power and cost: from an 8-bit processor that could cost less than USD $ 0.10, to higher-end processors capable of billions of operations per second and costing over USD$ 100. Cost
688-511: A computer's hardware and software—is based on the one devised by von Neumann in 1945. Despite the separation of the computing unit and the I/O system in many diagrams, typically the hardware is shared, with a bit in the computing unit indicating whether it is in computation or I/O mode. Common types of ISAs include CISC ( complex instruction set computer ), RISC ( reduced instruction set computer ), vector operations , and hybrid modes. CISC involves using
774-458: A cord, light or takes some kind of battery. Some companies, such as Dell and Apple , will recycle computers of their make or any other make. Otherwise, a computer can be donated to Computer Aid International which is an organization that recycles and refurbishes old computers for hospitals, schools, universities, etc. United States v. Microsoft Corp. United States of America v. Microsoft Corporation , 253 F.3d 34 (D.C. Cir. 2001),
860-545: A larger expression set to minimize the number of instructions the machines need to use. Based on a recognition that only a few instructions are commonly used, RISC shrinks the instruction set for added simplicity, which also enables the inclusion of more registers . After the invention of RISC in the 1980s, RISC based architectures that used pipelining and caching to increase performance displaced CISC architectures, particularly in applications with restrictions on power usage or space (such as mobile phones ). From 1986 to 2003,
946-573: A larger product or one that would supplant its competition, as the Microsoft Computer Dictionary defined it. Introducing the iPhone in 2007, Steve Jobs said that "the killer app is making calls". Reviewing the iPhone's first decade, David Pierce for Wired wrote that although Jobs prioritized a good experience making calls in the phone's development, other features of the phone soon became more important, such as its data connectivity and ability to install third-party software (which
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#17330854217371032-524: A part of the installation of Windows software. Bill Gates was called "evasive and nonresponsive" by a source present at his videotaped deposition . He argued over the definitions of words such as "compete", "concerned", "ask", and "we"; certain portions of the proceeding would later provoke laughter from the judge when an excerpted version was shown in court. Businessweek reported that "early rounds of his deposition show him offering obfuscatory answers and saying 'I don't recall' so many times that even
1118-470: A primitive programming language similar to assembly language . In 1936, Alan Turing developed the universal Turing machine to model any type of computer, proving that no computer would be able to solve the decision problem . The universal Turing machine was a type of stored-program computer capable of mimicking the operations of any Turing machine (computer model) based on the software instructions passed to it. The storage of computer programs
1204-516: A product that would not work?" David Cole, a Microsoft vice president, replied, "In plain English, yes. We followed that order. It wasn't my place to consider the consequences of that." Gates and his successor as CEO Steve Ballmer were so worried about the outcome of the case that they discussed leaving Microsoft "if they really screw the company that badly, really just split it up in a totally irrational way," Gates recalled. Microsoft defended itself in
1290-463: A significant constraint for manufacturers seeking to sell their products for less money than competitors offering a very similar commodity . Profit margins have also been reduced. Even when the performance is not increasing, the cost of components has been dropping over time due to improved manufacturing techniques that have fewer components rejected at quality assurance stage. The most common instruction set architecture (ISA)—the interface between
1376-440: A time when offering even one free compiler was unprecedented. From its inception, UNIX drives high-quality typesetting equipment and later PostScript printers using the nroff / troff typesetting language, and this was also unprecedented. UNIX is the first operating system offered in source-license form (a university license cost only $ 10,000, less than a PDP-11), allowing it to run on an unlimited number of machines, and allowing
1462-400: A variety of plastics that are present in bulk in computers or other electronics can reduce the costs of constructing new systems. Components frequently contain copper , gold , tantalum , silver , platinum , palladium , and lead as well as other valuable materials suitable for reclamation. The central processing unit contains many toxic materials. It contains lead and chromium in
1548-460: A word processor. The manager has a spreadsheet." The definition of "killer app" came up during the deposition of Bill Gates in the United States v. Microsoft Corp. antitrust case. He had written an email in which he described Internet Explorer as a killer app. In the questioning, he said that the term meant "a popular application," and did not connote an application that would fuel sales of
1634-492: Is a growing movement to recycle old and outdated parts. Computer hardware contain dangerous chemicals such as lead, mercury, nickel, and cadmium. According to the EPA these e-wastes have a harmful effect on the environment unless they are disposed of properly. Making hardware requires energy, and recycling parts will reduce air pollution , water pollution, as well as greenhouse gas emissions. Disposing unauthorized computer equipment
1720-427: Is a particular concern with these systems, with designers often choosing the cheapest option that satisfies the performance requirements. A computer case encloses most of the components of a desktop computer system. It provides mechanical support and protection for internal elements such as the motherboard, disk drives, and power supply, and controls and directs the flow of cooling air over internal components. The case
1806-464: Is also part of the system to control electromagnetic interference radiated by the computer and protects internal parts from electrostatic discharge. Large tower cases provide space for multiple disk drives or other peripherals and usually stand on the floor, while desktop cases provide less expansion room. All-in-one style designs include a video display built into the same case. Portable and laptop computers require cases that provide impact protection for
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#17330854217371892-545: Is attempting to be the IBM of the software industry. Although Gates says that he isn't trying to dominate the industry with sheer numbers, his strategy for dominance involves Microsoft's new Windows operating system ... "Our strategies and energies as a company are totally committed to Windows, in the same way that we're committed to operating-system kernels like MS-DOS and Xenix ," says Gates. "We're also saying that only applications that take advantage of Windows will be competitive in
1978-524: Is in fact illegal. Legislation makes it mandatory to recycle computers through the government approved facilities. Recycling a computer can be made easier by taking out certain reusable parts. For example, the RAM , DVD drive, the graphics card , hard drive or SSD , and other similar removable parts can be reused. Many materials used in computer hardware can be recovered by recycling for use in future production. Reuse of tin , silicon , iron , aluminum , and
2064-465: Is key to the operation of modern computers and is the connection between computer hardware and software. Even prior to this, in the mid-19th century mathematician George Boole invented Boolean algebra —a system of logic where each proposition is either true or false. Boolean algebra is now the basis of the circuits that model the transistors and other components of integrated circuits that make up modern computer hardware. In 1945, Turing finished
2150-434: Is surrounded by cooling fluid) and direct-to-chip (where the cooling fluid is directed to each computer chip) can be more expensive but are also more efficient. Most computers are designed to be more powerful than their cooling system, but their sustained operations cannot exceed the capacity of the cooling system. While performance can be temporarily increased when the computer is not hot ( overclocking ), in order to protect
2236-517: Is the first program available on a microcomputer that has been responsible for sales of entire systems", and Creative Computing ' s VisiCalc review is subtitled "reason enough for owning a computer". Others also chose to develop software, such as EasyWriter , for the Apple II first because of its higher sales, helping Apple defeat rivals Commodore International and Tandy Corporation . The co-creator of WordStar , Seymour Rubinstein , argued that
2322-534: Is the main component of a computer. It is a board with integrated circuitry that connects the other parts of the computer including the CPU , the RAM , the disk drives ( CD , DVD , hard disk , or any others) as well as any peripherals connected via the ports or the expansion slots . The integrated circuit (IC) chips in a computer typically contain billions of tiny metal–oxide–semiconductor field-effect transistors (MOSFETs). Components directly attached to or to part of
2408-466: The D.C. Circuit Court . On June 28, 2001, the Circuit Court overturned Judge Jackson's rulings against Microsoft. This was partly because Jackson had improperly discussed the case with the news media while it was still in progress, violating the code of conduct for American judges. The Circuit Court judges accused Jackson of unethical conduct and determined that he should have recused himself from
2494-452: The Department of Justice (DOJ), led by Janet Reno , opened its own investigation later that year, resulting in a settlement on July 15, 1994, in which Microsoft consented not to tie other Microsoft products to the sale of Windows but remained free to integrate additional features into the operating system. In the years that followed, Microsoft insisted that Internet Explorer (IE) was not
2580-541: The ENIAC project at the University of Pennsylvania —devised the underlying von Neumann architecture that has served as the template for most modern computers. Von Neumann's design featured a centralized memory that stored both data and programs, a central processing unit (CPU) with priority of access to the memory, and input and output (I/O) units . Von Neumann used a single bus to transfer data, meaning that his solution to
2666-566: The IBM PC . Noting that computer purchasers did not want PC compatibility as much as compatibility with certain PC software, InfoWorld suggested "let's tell it like it is. Let's not say 'PC compatible', or even ' MS-DOS compatible'. Instead, let's say '1-2-3 compatible'." The UNIX Operating System became a killer application for the DEC PDP-11 and VAX-11 minicomputers during roughly 1975–1985. Many of
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2752-526: The Sherman Antitrust Act . On June 7, 2000, the District Court ordered a breakup of Microsoft as its remedy. According to that judgment, Microsoft would have to be split into two separate units, one to produce the operating system and one to produce other software components. Microsoft immediately appealed the judgment to the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals . After Microsoft filed its appeal,
2838-401: The operating system to map virtual memory to different areas of the finite physical memory. Computer processors generate heat, and excessive heat impacts their performance and can harm the components. Many computer chips will automatically throttle their performance to avoid overheating. Computers also typically have mechanisms for dissipating excessive heat, such as air or liquid coolers for
2924-458: The x86 -based personal computer operating systems market constituted a monopoly , and that Microsoft had taken actions to crush threats to that monopoly, including applications from Apple , Java , Netscape , Lotus Software , RealNetworks , Linux , and others. On April 3, 2000, Jackson issued his conclusions of law , holding that Microsoft had engaged in monopolization, attempted monopolization, and tying in violation of Sections 1 and 2 of
3010-421: The 1970s. In the 19th century, Englishman Charles Babbage invented the difference engine , a mechanical device to calculate polynomials for astronomical purposes. Babbage also designed a general-purpose computer that was never built. Much of the design was incorporated into the earliest computers: punch cards for input and output, memory , an arithmetic unit analogous to central processing units , and even
3096-571: The 2002 settlement, industry pundit Robert X. Cringely believed a breakup was not possible, and that "now the only way Microsoft can die is by suicide." Andrew Chin, an antitrust law professor at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill who assisted Judge Jackson in drafting the findings of fact at the initial District Court trial, wrote that the settlement gave Microsoft "a special antitrust immunity to license Windows and other 'platform software' under contractual terms that destroy freedom of competition." Law professor Eben Moglen noted that
3182-403: The CPU and GPU and heatsinks for other components, such as the RAM . Computer cases are also often ventilated to help dissipate heat from the computer. Data centers typically use more sophisticated cooling solutions to keep the operating temperature of the entire center safe. Air-cooled systems are more common in smaller or older data centers, while liquid-cooled immersion (where each computer
3268-416: The DOJ did not require Microsoft to change any of its code nor did it prevent Microsoft from tying other software with Windows in the future. On August 5, 2002, Microsoft announced that it would make some concessions towards the proposed final settlement ahead of the judge's decision. On November 1, 2002, Judge Kollar-Kotelly released a ruling that accepted most of the proposed DOJ settlement. Nine states and
3354-598: The District of Columbia (which had been pursuing the case together with the DOJ) did not agree with the settlement, arguing that it did not go far enough to curb Microsoft's anti-competitive business practices. On June 30, 2004, the D.C. Circuit Court approved the settlement with the Justice Department, rejecting the states' claims that the sanctions were inadequate. In its 2008 Annual Report, Microsoft stated: Lawsuits brought by
3440-546: The District of Columbia . The suit began on May 18, 1998, with the Department of Justice joined by the Attorneys General of twenty U.S. states and the District of Columbia. The case organized by the Department of Justice was focused less on interoperability, and more on predatory strategies and market barriers to entry ; the DOJ built upon the allegation that Microsoft forced computer makers to include its Internet browser as
3526-525: The Final Judgments" dealing with communications protocol licensing, and stated that if the government later wished to extend those aspects of the settlement as far as 2012, it would not object. The government made clear that the extension was intended only to give the relevant part of the settlement "the opportunity to succeed for the period of time it was intended to cover", rather than being due to any "pattern of willful and systematic violations". After
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3612-469: The PDP-11 and VAX-11 processors never ran DEC's operating systems (RSTS or VAX/VMS), but instead, they ran UNIX, which was first licensed in 1975. To get a virtual-memory UNIX ( BSD 3.0 ), requires a VAX-11 computer. Many universities wanted a general-purpose timesharing system that would meet the needs of students and researchers. Early versions of UNIX included free compilers for C , Fortran , and Pascal , at
3698-477: The U.S. Department of Justice, 18 states, and the District of Columbia in two separate actions were resolved through a Consent Decree that took effect in 2001 and a Final Judgment entered in 2002. These proceedings imposed various constraints on our Windows operating system businesses. These constraints include limits on certain contracting practices, mandated disclosure of certain software program interfaces and protocols, and rights for computer manufacturers to limit
3784-553: The U.S. government and the states in the suit requested a process that would skip the intermediate Circuit Court and send the case directly to the U.S. Supreme Court . Such an action is permitted by a section of the United States Code that gives the Supreme Court jurisdiction to hear direct appeals from the District Court level in certain antitrust cases initiated by the federal government, if "the district judge who adjudicated
3870-548: The annual rate of improvement in hardware performance exceeded 50 percent, enabling the development of new computing devices such as tablets and mobiles. Alongside the density of transistors, DRAM memory as well as flash and magnetic disk storage also became exponentially more compact and cheaper. The rate of improvement slackened off in the twenty-first century. In the twenty-first century, increases in performance have been driven by increasing exploitation of parallelism . Applications are often parallelizable in two ways: either
3956-618: The atmosphere, landfill or waterways. While electronics consist a small fraction of total waste generated, they are far more dangerous. There is stringent legislation designed to enforce and encourage the sustainable disposal of appliances, the most notable being the Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment Directive of the European Union and the United States National Computer Recycling Act. E-cycling ,
4042-402: The case enters an order stating that immediate consideration of the appeal by the Supreme Court is of general public importance in the administration of justice." The states also filed a petition for certiorari before judgment at the Supreme Court, requesting the same direct appeal process without going through the Circuit Court. The Supreme Court rejected these requests and sent the appeal to
4128-446: The case. Thus the Circuit Court adopted a "drastically altered scope of liability" due to Jackson's conduct, which was favorable for Microsoft. Jackson's response was that Microsoft's conduct itself was the cause of any "perceived bias"; Microsoft executives had, according to him, "proved, time and time again, to be inaccurate, misleading, evasive, and transparently false. ... Microsoft is a company with an institutional disdain for both
4214-415: The claim that Windows is slowed down when IE is removed. Mark Murray, a Microsoft spokesperson, berated the government attorneys for "nitpicking on issues like video production". Microsoft later submitted a second inaccurate videotape into evidence. The issue was how easy or difficult it was for America Online users to download and install Netscape Navigator onto a Windows PC. Microsoft's videotape showed
4300-557: The design for a computer (the Automatic Computing Engine ) that was never built. Around this time, technological advancement in relays and vacuum tubes enabled the construction of the first computers. Building on Babbage's design, relay computers were built by George Stibitz at Bell Laboratories and Harvard University 's Howard Aiken , who engineered the MARK I . Also in 1945, mathematician John von Neumann —working on
4386-443: The design of the CPU, memory, and memory interconnect . Memory hierarchy ensures that the memory quicker to access (and more expensive) is located closer to the CPU, while slower, cheaper memory for large-volume storage is located further away. Memory is typically segregated to separate programs from data and limit an attacker's ability to alter programs. Most computers use virtual memory to simplify addressing for programs, using
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#17330854217374472-626: The external world or write data respectively. Common examples include keyboards and mice (input) and displays and printers (output). Network interface controllers are used to access the Internet . USB ports also allow power to connected devices—a standard USB supplies power at 5 volts and up to 500 milliamps (2.5 watts ), while powered USB ports with additional pins may allow the delivery of more power—up to 6 amps at 24v. Global revenue from computer hardware in 2023 reached $ 705.17 billion. Because computer parts contain hazardous materials, there
4558-411: The fact it is hard or rigid with respect to changes, whereas software is soft because it is easy to change. Hardware is typically directed by the software to execute any command or instruction . A combination of hardware and software forms a usable computing system, although other systems exist with only hardware. Early computing devices were more complicated than the ancient abacus date to
4644-427: The government noticed that some icons mysteriously disappeared and reappeared on the PC's desktop , suggesting that the effects might have been falsified. Allchin admitted that the blame for the tape problems lay with some of his staff. "They ended up filming it—grabbing the wrong screen shot", he said of the incident. Later, Allchin re-ran the demonstration and provided a new videotape, but in so doing Microsoft dropped
4730-449: The government's tape and conceded that Microsoft's own tape was falsified. When the judge suggested that Microsoft offer a version of Windows that did not include Internet Explorer, Microsoft responded that the company would offer manufacturers a choice: one version of Windows that was obsolete, or another that did not work properly. The judge asked, "It seemed absolutely clear to you that I entered an order that required that you distribute
4816-461: The hardware from excessive heat, the system will automatically reduce performance or shut down the processor if necessary. Processors also will shut off or enter a low power mode when inactive to reduce heat. Power delivery as well as heat dissipation are the most challenging aspects of hardware design, and have been the limiting factor to the development of smaller and faster chips since the early twenty-first century. Increases in performance require
4902-570: The hardware's complete specifications have been published, so that an alternative software to support the same hardware can be implemented freely. Chris Butts, writing in the Northwestern Journal of Technology and Intellectual Property , argued that the U.S. government recognized the benefits of including a web browser with an operating system. At the appellate level, the government dropped the claim of tying given that—as laid out in Section 1 of
4988-624: The honor of the first killer app should go to that popular word processor , given that it came out a year before VisiCalc and that it gave a reason for people to buy a computer. However, whereas WordStar could be considered an incremental improvement (albeit a large one) over smart typewriters like the IBM Electronic Selectric Composer , VisiCalc, with its ability to instantly recalculate rows and columns, introduced an entirely new paradigm and capability. Although released four years after VisiCalc, Lotus 1-2-3 also benefited sales of
5074-511: The industry will be impeded as a result. After the resulting settlement, the magazine Business & Economic Research wrote that, contrary to Friedman's forecasts, the case had to that point had little effect on Microsoft's behavior. The fines, restrictions, and monitoring imposed were not enough to prevent it from "abusing its monopolistic power and too little to prevent it from dominating the software and operating system industry." For that reason, Microsoft remained dominant and monopolistic after
5160-500: The initial trial, the United States District Court for the District of Columbia ruled that Microsoft's actions constituted unlawful monopolization under Section 2 of the Sherman Antitrust Act of 1890 , but the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit partially overturned that judgment. The two parties later reached a settlement in which Microsoft agreed to modify some of its business practices. By 1984 Microsoft
5246-413: The long run." Gates claimed that Microsoft's entrance into the application market with such products as Multiplan , Word and the new Chart product was not a big-time operation. The Federal Trade Commission began an inquiry in 1990 over whether Microsoft was abusing its monopoly in the PC operating system market. The commissioners deadlocked with a 2–2 vote in 1993 and closed the investigation, but
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#17330854217375332-525: The lungs, liver, and kidneys. Computer components contain many toxic substances, like dioxins , polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs), cadmium , chromium , radioactive isotopes and mercury . Circuit boards contain considerable quantities of lead-tin solders that are more likely to leach into groundwater or create air pollution due to incineration. Recycling of computer hardware is considered environmentally friendly because it prevents hazardous waste , including heavy metals and carcinogens, from entering
5418-535: The machines to interface to any type of hardware because the UNIX I/O system is extensible. One mark of a good computer is the appearance of a piece of software specifically written for that machine that does something that, for a while at least, can only be done on that machine. The earliest recorded use of the term in print is in the May 24, 1988 issue of PC Week : "Everybody has only one killer application. The secretary has
5504-470: The merging of Windows and IE was the result of innovation and competition, that the two were now the same product and inextricably linked, and that consumers were receiving the benefits of IE for free. Opponents countered that IE was still a separate product that did not need to be tied to Windows, since a separate version of IE was available for Mac OS . They also asserted that IE was not really free because its development and marketing costs may have inflated
5590-506: The metal plates. Resistors, semiconductors, infrared detectors, stabilizers, cables, and wires contain cadmium. The circuit boards in a computer contain mercury, and chromium. When these types of materials, and chemicals are disposed improperly will become hazardous for the environment. When e-waste byproducts leach into groundwater, are burned, or get mishandled during recycling, it causes harm. Health problems associated with such toxins include impaired mental development, cancer, and damage to
5676-443: The motherboard include: An expansion card in computing is a printed circuit board that can be inserted into an expansion slot of a computer motherboard or backplane to add functionality to a computer system via the expansion bus. Expansion cards can be used to obtain or expand on features not offered by the motherboard. Using expansion cards for a video processor used to be common, but modern computers are more likely to instead have
5762-422: The physical parts of a computer , such as the central processing unit (CPU), random access memory (RAM) , motherboard , computer data storage , graphics card , sound card , and computer case . It includes external devices such as a monitor , mouse , keyboard , and speakers . By contrast, software is a set of written instructions that can be stored and run by hardware. Hardware derived its name from
5848-455: The presiding judge had to chuckle. Many of Gates's denials and pleas of ignorance were directly refuted by prosecutors with snippets of e-mails Gates both sent and received." Intel Vice-president Steven McGeady , called as a witness, quoted Paul Maritz , a senior Microsoft vice president, as having stated an intention to " extinguish " and "smother" rival Netscape Communications Corporation and to "cut off Netscape's air supply" by giving away
5934-399: The price of Windows. Bill Gates himself denied that Microsoft was a monopoly, stating "Microsoft follows the rules. Microsoft is subject to the rules." He further compared the situation with IBM thirty years prior: "People who feared IBM were wrong. Technology is ever-changing." The case was initially tried before Judge Thomas Penfield Jackson at the United States District Court for
6020-459: The process as being quick and easy, resulting in the Netscape icon appearing on the user's desktop. The government produced its own videotape of the same process, revealing that Microsoft's videotape had conveniently removed a long and complex part of the procedure and that the Netscape icon was not placed on the desktop, requiring a user to search for it. Brad Chase, a Microsoft vice president, verified
6106-674: The public arena, arguing that its attempts to "innovate" were under attack by rival companies jealous of its success, and that government litigation was merely their pawn. A full-page ad appeared in The Washington Post and The New York Times on June 2, 1999, created by a think tank called The Independent Institute . The ad was presented as "An Open Letter to President Clinton from 240 Economists on Antitrust Protectionism." It said in part, "Consumers did not ask for these antitrust actions – rival business firms did. Consumers of high technology have enjoyed falling prices, expanding outputs, and
6192-552: The recycling of computer hardware, refers to the donation, reuse, shredding and general collection of used electronics. Generically, the term refers to the process of collecting, brokering, disassembling, repairing and recycling the components or metals contained in used or discarded electronic equipment, otherwise known as electronic waste (e-waste). E-cyclable items include, but are not limited to: televisions, computers, microwave ovens, vacuum cleaners, telephones and cellular phones, stereos, and VCRs and DVDs just about anything that has
6278-646: The same function is running across multiple areas of data ( data parallelism ) or different tasks can be performed simultaneously with limited interaction ( task parallelism ). These forms of parallelism are accommodated by various hardware strategies, including instruction-level parallelism (such as instruction pipelining ), vector architectures and graphical processing units (GPUs) that are able to implement data parallelism, thread-level parallelism and request-level parallelism (both implementing task-level parallelism). Microarchitecture , also known as computer organization, refers to high-level hardware questions such as
6364-423: The seventeenth century. French mathematician Blaise Pascal designed a gear-based device that could add and subtract, selling around 50 models. The stepped reckoner was invented by Gottfried Leibniz by 1676, which could also divide and multiply. Due to the limitations of contemporary fabrication and design flaws, Leibniz' reckoner was not very functional, but similar devices ( Leibniz wheel ) remained in use into
6450-563: The storage problem by locating programs and data adjacent to each other created the Von Neumann bottleneck when the system tries to fetch both at the same time—often throttling the system's performance. Computer architecture requires prioritizing between different goals, such as cost, speed, availability, and energy efficiency. The designer must have a good grasp of the hardware requirements and many different aspects of computing, from compilers to integrated circuit design. Cost has also become
6536-544: The term was coined in the late 1980s one of the first retroactively recognized examples of a killer application is the VisiCalc spreadsheet , released in 1979 for the Apple II . Because it was not released for other computers for 12 months, people spent US$ 100 (equivalent to $ 400 in 2023) for the software first, then $ 2,000 to $ 10,000 (equivalent to $ 8,000 to $ 42,000) on the requisite Apple II. BYTE wrote in 1980, "VisiCalc
6622-810: The trial, and it continued to stifle competitors and innovative technology. Richard Stallman , founder of the Free Software Foundation , advocating for computing freedom, has provided suggestions to Ralph Nader's Consumer Project on Technology for dealing with Microsoft's behavior in March 1999. He has suggested, for instance, that Microsoft shall be required to publish complete documentation of all interfaces between software components, all communications protocols, and all files. Shortly speaking, not releasing any implementations for undocumented interfaces. He has also noted that Microsoft should refrain from certifying any hardware as working with Microsoft software, unless
6708-455: The truth and for rules of law that lesser entities must respect. It is also a company whose senior management is not averse to offering specious testimony to support spurious defenses to claims of its wrongdoing." Ultimately, the Circuit Court overturned Jackson's holding that Microsoft should be broken up as an illegal monopoly. However, the Circuit Court did not overturn Jackson's findings of fact, and held that traditional antitrust analysis
6794-769: The two products was allegedly a key factor in Microsoft's victory in the browser wars of the late 1990s, as every Windows user had a copy of IE. It was further alleged that this restricted the market for competing web browsers (such as Netscape Navigator or Opera ), since it typically took extra time to buy and install the competing browsers. Underlying these disputes were questions of whether Microsoft had manipulated its application programming interfaces to favor IE over third-party browsers. The government also questioned Microsoft's conduct in enforcing restrictive licensing agreements with original equipment manufacturers who were required to include that arrangement. Microsoft argued that
6880-446: The unit. Hobbyists may decorate the cases with colored lights, paint, or other features, in an activity called case modding . Most personal computer power supply units meet the ATX standard and convert from alternating current (AC) at between 120 and 277 volts provided from a power outlet to direct current (DC) at a much lower voltage: typically 12, 5, or 3.3 volts. The motherboard
6966-420: The visibility of certain Windows features in new PCs. We believe we are in full compliance with these rules. However, if we fail to comply with them, additional restrictions could be imposed on us that would adversely affect our business. Microsoft's obligations under the settlement, as originally drafted, expired on November 12, 2007. However, Microsoft later "agreed to consent to a two-year extension of part of
7052-513: The way Microsoft was required to disclose its APIs and protocols was useful only for “interoperating with a Windows Operating System Product”, not for implementing support of those APIs and protocols in any competing operating system. Economist Milton Friedman wrote in 1999 that the antitrust case against Microsoft set a dangerous precedent that foreshadowed increasing government regulation of an industry that had been relatively free of government intrusion, and that future technological progress in
7138-504: Was a landmark American antitrust law case at the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit . The U.S. government accused Microsoft of illegally monopolizing the web browser market for Windows , primarily through the legal and technical restrictions it put on the abilities of PC manufacturers ( OEMs ) and users to uninstall Internet Explorer and use other programs such as Netscape and Java . At
7224-504: Was added later). The World Wide Web (through the web browsers Mosaic and Netscape Navigator ) is the killer app that popularized the Internet , as is the music sharing program Napster . The term applies to video games that persuade consumers to buy a particular video game console or accessory, by virtue of platform exclusivity. Such a game is also called a "system seller". Computer hardware Computer hardware includes
7310-411: Was not equipped to consider software-related practices like browser tie-ins . The case was remanded back to the D.C. District Court for further proceedings on this matter, with Judge Colleen Kollar-Kotelly presiding. The Department of Justice announced on September 6, 2001 that it was no longer seeking to break up Microsoft and would instead seek a lesser antitrust penalty. Microsoft decided to draft
7396-506: Was one of the most successful software companies, with $ 55 million in 1983 sales. InfoWorld wrote: [Microsoft] is widely recognized as the most influential company in the microcomputer-software industry. Claiming more than a million installed MS-DOS machines, founder and chairman Bill Gates has decided to certify Microsoft's jump on the rest of the industry by dominating applications, operating systems , peripherals and, most recently, book publishing . Some insiders say Microsoft
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