1.3 Hardware, Software, Firmware and Live ware

Hardware

The term hardware refers to the physical components of a computer such as the system mouse, keyboard, monitor etc.Mt,

Software

Software, is a collection of programs or applications, which contain the instructions that makes the computer work. For instance, when you type words via the keyboard; the software is responsible for displaying the correct letter in the correct place on the screen. Software is held either on your computer's hard disk. CD-ROM, DVD or on a diskette (floppy disk) and is loaded (i.e. copied) from the disk into the computer RAM (Random Access Memory) when required.

Firmware 

The main memory of a computer consists of two parts. The Random Access Memory (RAM) and Read Only Menton (ROM). The RAM is used to load the software when you need to run them, while the ROM contains some programs written by the computer manufacturer, which can only be read but not written. These programs are called firmware and they are used to start up the machine (also called booting) with the necessary checks and then by loading the operating system to the RAM. Once the Operating System is loaded the control of the system is passed onto it.

 Live ware 

The human expertise needed in the field of IT. These people include: Software I:: Hardware Engineers, IT Managers, Project Managers, Database engineers, Network Administrators, Students: Teachers, etc.