II, Computer sizes and power

Personal Computers
Workstations
Minicomputers
Mainframes
Supercomputers


Computers can be generally classified by size and power as follows, though there is considerable overlap:
§ Personal computer: A small, single-user computer based on a microprocessor.
§ Workstation: A powerful, single-user computer. A workstation is like a personal computer, but it has a more powerful microprocessor and, in general, a higher-quality monitor.
§ Minicomputer: A multi-user computer capable of supporting up to hundreds of users simultaneously.
§ Mainframe: A powerful multi-user computer capable of supporting many hundreds or thousands of users simultaneously.
§ Supercomputer: An extremely fast computer that can perform hundreds of millions of instructions per second.