Datasheet

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13
Chapter 1: Buying a Computer
protects your computer from unwanted intrusion by
malicious programs called spyware. See Part IV for
details about using utilities.
Explore Types of Computers
Just as there are many styles of shoes or mobile phones, you can find
several styles of computers. Some are small and portable, some use
different operating systems to make everything run, and some excel at
certain functions such as working with graphics or playing games. This
section explains some features you’ll need to consider when choosing
the type of computer you should buy.
Operating System: Windows is probably the most common com-
puter operating system, and this book mainly focuses on its features.
However, Macintosh computers from Apple are also popular. These
use Apple-specific software; however, many software applications
written for Windows are also available for the Macintosh, and you
can also set up your Mac to run the Windows operating system,
which gives you the best of both worlds. Some computers run on a
freely available operating system called Linux, which has similar
functionality to Windows.
Computer Design: Two types of computers you can buy are a laptop
and a desktop. Here’s the difference:
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A laptop is portable, weighing anywhere from two to
eight pounds (the lowest weight ones are called net-
books). The monitor, keyboard, and mouse are built
into the laptop. (Note that if the monitor is dam-
aged, you have to pay quite a bit to have it repaired
or hook it up to an external monitor.) Figure 1-3
shows an example of a laptop, which is sometimes
called a notebook computer. Choose a laptop if you
want to use your computer mainly away from home
or you have little space in your home for a larger
computer.