Computers and computer technology is something that has changed the way some people live, communicate and get their information. In the early beginning, computers were nothing like what we have today. One of the things that was used a very long time ago was just some string with beads on them that helped add and subtract. The name for this was the Abacus (Huxley 136). The Analytical Engine was pretty much a giant calculator built in 1812 by Charles Babbage and is considered the basis for the modern computer (Evans 37).Now days people use computers in many different ways. In most places like grocery stores, computers track the inventory by using bar coded and scanners, check the customers credit, and transfer funds electronically. There are also computers in cars that help regulate fuel flow and increase gas mileage. Scientific research use computers to solve complicated mathematical problems and build models that would be to expensive to build in real life. Computers are used in the military to encode or unscramble messages and to keep track of supplies (Microsoft Encarta).The way a computer works is complicated because it has many parts that work together in it(Evans 15). The physical computer and the stuff in it that makes it work is calledhardware. The hardware includes things like the memory, input devices like the mouse and keyboard, and output devices like the monitor and printer that let the computer present information to the user. Software is the programs that run the computer. It is used to perform a certain type of task (HC).The operating system is the software that makes the computer work. The most popular operating systems are Microsoft Windows and Macintosh. These to systems use a graphical user interface, also called GUI. The graphical user interface is a display that uses tiny pictures called icons to represent different commands. To start those commands, the user just has to click the picture with the mouse or...