PC Introduction

Introduction.

Personal Computers (PC) are a class of computers that are used by individuals for their own personal or business work.  Though a PC can be shared with others, it is most commonly used by one individual.  Often very confidential information is stored on a PC such as pictures, tax returns, home budgeting spreadsheets, and the like. PCs can be found in multiple settings, such as the home, the office, or public institutions such as libraries or commercial locations such as retail stores and warehouses.

Technically, a personal computer is a standalone device that runs its own operating system, and runs the software applications that are installed. It does not require a network, or Internet connectivity, to function.

Personal computers come in a few shapes and sizes. There are towers, mini-boxes, all-in-one PC-and-monitor combos, laptops, and even tiny PC-on-a-thumb-drive models.  A full-size tower model will be the most extensible of them all.  This means that you can upgrade the memory, persistent storage, network interface hardware, and even the CPU itself in some models.  Generally, the smaller the form factor, the less power and expansion flexibility it has.

Worldwide, at the end of 2019, 49% of households owned a personal computer.  PC ownership has increased roughly 2% every year since 2005, when it was at 27%.  In 2017, the country with the highest PC ownership per capita was Switzerland (65), followed by the USA (57) and Sweden (51).