A microcomputer is a complete computeron a smaller scale and is generally a synonym for the more common term, personal computeror PC, a computer designed for an individual. A microcomputer contains a microprocessor(a central processing unit on a microchip), memoryin the form of read-only memoryand random access memory, I/Oports and a busor system of interconnecting wires, housed in a unit that is usually called a motherboard.
In an ascending hierarchy of general computer sizes, we find:
*.An embedded systems programming computer, which is embedded in something and doesn't support direct human interaction but nevertheless meets all the other criteria of a microcomputer
*.Microcomputer
*. workstation, as used to mean a more powerful personal computer for special applications
*. minicomputer, now restyled a "mid-range server"
*. mainframeor mainframe computer, which is now usually referred to by its manufacturers as a "large server"
*.Supercomputer, formerly almost a synonym for "Cray supercomputer" but now meaning a very large server and sometimes including a system of computers using parallel processing
*.A parallel processing system is a system of interconnected computers that work on the same application together, sharing tasks that can be performed concurrently
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