Nowadays with modern technology, 'computer' is most often used to refer to the desktop and laptop computers that are prevalent in most people's offices and homes. It is acceptable to refer to everything together as the computer that is, the monitor, keyboard, and mouse - even though with the desktop model, the term "computer" technically only refers to the computer itself.

This demonstrates the versatility of computers and distinguishes them from calculators. Words you may hear associated with this category include games, hardware, software, graphics and desktop customisation.

Some of the major parts of a personal computer - or PC as it is more commonly known as - include the motherboard, CPU, memory (or RAM), hard drive, and video card. It is a general purpose machine, usually comprising digital circuitry, that accepts (inputs), stores, manipulates, and generates (outputs) data as numbers, text, graphics, voice, video files, or electrical signals, in accordance with a program.

In addition to these components, many others make it possible for the basic components to work together efficiently. For example, every computer requires a bus that transmits data from one part to another.

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