A general view on Personal computer

A personal computer or PC is commonly a microcomputer designed to be used by one person at a time, and appropriate for general purpose tasks like word processing, programming, sending messages or digital documents (comprising of images, text, audio or video) to added computers on the network (email), multimedia editing or game play, generally used to run software not written by the user. Unlike minicomputers, a personal computer is often owned by the human being using it, representing a low cost of purchase and ease of operation. The user of a modern personal computer may have considerable knowledge of the operating environment and application programs, but is not unavoidably interested in programming or even able to write programs for the computer.

In current usage PC nearly for all time refers to an IBM compatible and the word may even be used for machines that are in no way personal computers but still use the fundamental architecture of the IBM pc.

During the 1990s, the power of personal computers improved radically, blurring the previously sharp distinction between personal computers and multi-user computers like mainframes. At present higher-end computers time and again distinguish themselves from personal computers by greater dependability or greater ability to multitask, rather than by straight CPU power.