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INTENDED COMPUTER USEISSUE OF COMPATIBILITYHome and OfficeHardware IssuesOperating SystemPurchasing A ComputerMany consumers are pondering the idea of purchasing a microcomputer for home use. In recent years, microcomputers have become fairly popular consumer items for adults as well as children. A consumer must consider a number of important factors when purchasing a microcomputer for the home. The factors to consider are: 1) the use to be made of the computer 2) compatibility, 3) special requirements, 4) where to purchase the hardware, 5) software considerations, 6) hidden costs and 7) components of the typical computer system,INTENDED COMPUTER USEConsider the functions you want your computer to perform. Will you be writing letters, a book, or performing any other type of text entry? Will you need to incorporate pictures, drawings, or artwork into your work? Do you have any need for a computerized address book and/or budget? Do you want to do financial planning or track your personal finances? There are even more questions you should probably ask yourself. For instance, will you or your children be using it for homework? Will you want to do work and take it to the office? Examine your individual situation. The above listed concerns will just help you get started. Practically speaking, most people need a word processor, a drawing package (most frequently included as an integral part of Windows), a spreadsheet package, and possibly a database package. You can get this type of software in integrated packages like Works or you can purchase a full suite of software like Microsoft Office. Prices for software packages range from between thirty dollars and twenty-five hundred dollars. For the average user, the prices are between thirty dollars and two hundred fifty dollars. When you are purchasing a computer, examine what software is included with the machine. In the past year or so, companies have begun to bundle many different types of useful software with their machines.ISSUE OF COMPATIBILITYOne of the most important issues to address when purchasing a microcomputer is compatibility. Different manufacturers’ computers cannot always easily “talk” with other manufacturers computers. You must, therefore, decide exactly why you want the machine. At this time, many consumers’ purchasing decision becomes clouded by brand loyalty to some particular machine. This is the worst way to make a purchasing decision!Home and Office Do you want to be able to take work home from the office with you? In this case, your machine choice is limited to the types of microcomputer(s) you use at the workplace. Youdo not want to purchase a computer that cannot read information generated by a machine at the office. If you are purchasing a machine for your children, will it be able tocommunicate with the children’s computers at school? This allows a child to do work at home and then take it to school. Compatibility with school can be extremely important because many schools have programs that allow students to check out software for use at home.Hardware IssuesToday there are two basic types of computer standards: Apple and Intel-based computers. Apple has about 10 percent of the market, while the remaining is shared among a numberof computer manufacturers that utilize Intel microprocessors or Intel-compatible microprocessors. While some Apple computers can run software written for Intel computers, this is not always the case.The type of computer that you purchase will determine the operating system included with the computer. An Intel-based or compatible computer will be running in the Windows environment and an Apple computer will be running the interface made popularby the Macintosh computer. While there are other operating systems available, those operating systems are not included with computers marketed toward the typical consumer.Operating SystemOne decision that consumers try to address today is whether to purchase a computer with the Windows 98, 95 or Windows 3.1 operating system installed. Today the computer manufacturer most frequently decides this choice for you. Most computer manufacturers are automatically including Windows 95 with the computer simply because most software firms that produce Windows-based software are moving to the Windows 98 or 95 environment. In the next two or three years, not only will software firms not be producing software for the Windows 3.1 environment, but they will also be dropping support for software that they previously produced for that operating system. This is indeed already the case with many of the DOS-based software packages and was caused by the widespread acceptance of Windows 3.1 in the market


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USA CIS 150 - Purchasing A Computer

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