Introduction of Generations of Computers

5 computer generations Exist till Date Now. Each generation has been discussed in detail in this article.

►   First Generation

The Time period of first generation was 1946-1959. The first generation used vacuum tubes as basic components for memory and circuitry for CPU. These tubes, produced a lot of heat they were expensive and could only be afforded only by large organizations. In this generation usually batch processing OS were used. Punched cards, magnetic tape and paper tapes were used as I/O devices. The machine code was used in this generation as programming language.

The main features of first generation are:

§  Vacuum tube were used

§  Unreliable

§  Consume lot of electricity

§  Only machine language supported

§  Very costly

§  Generated lot of heat

§  Slow I/O devices

§  Their size was Huge size

§  Non-portable

                           

Some computers of this generation were:

§  UNIVAC

§  IBM-701

  §  IBM-650  

►   Second Generation

The Time period of 2^nd generation was 1959-1965. Transistors were used in this generation that were consumed less power and were cheaper, more compact in size then 1^st generation, faster and reliable then the first generation. Magnetic cores were used as primary memory and magnetic disks and magnetic tape were used as secondary storage devices in this generation. Assembly language and high-level programming languages like COBOL, FORTRAN were used in 2^nd generation. The computers used multiprogramming OS and batch processing.

                                       

The main features of second generation are:

v  Transistors were used

v  Reliable as compare to 1^st  generation computers

v  Smaller in size then first generation computers

v  Generated less amount of heat as compared to 1^st  generation computers

v  Consumed less amount electricity as compared to 1^st  generation computers

v  Faster than 1^st generation computers

v  Very costly

v  A.C. needed

v  Supported assembly and machine languages

Some computers of this generation were:

§  IBM 1620

§  IBM 7094

§  CDC 3600

►   Third Generation

The Time period of 3^rd generation was 1965-1971. Integrated circuits (IC's) were used in place of transistors. A single IC chip has many resistors, capacitors and transistors. The development of IC made size of computers smaller and made them reliable and efficient. Remote processing, multi-programming OS, time-sharing, were used in this generation. High-level languages like FORTRAN-II TO IV, COBOL, PASCAL, BASIC, etc. were used in this generation

The main features of third generation are:

                                 

v  IC were used

v  More reliable than previous two generations

v  Smaller size than previous two generations

v  Generated less heat

v  Faster

v  Need Lesser maintenance

v  Costly

v  Consumed lesser electricity than previous two generations

v  Supported high-level language

Some computers of this generation were:

§  IBM-360 series

§  IBM-370/168

§  PDP(Personal Data Processor)

 
►   Fourth Generation

The time period of 4^th generation was 1971-1980. The 4^th generation computers used Very Large Scale Integrated (VLSI) circuits. VLSI circuits have about 5000 transistors and other elements and associated circuits on a single chip. VLSI circuits made it possible to have microcomputers of 4^th generation. 4^th generation computers became more reliable, compact, powerful, and affordable. And it gave rise to personal computer (PC) revolution. In this generation real time, time sharing, networks, distributed OS were used. All the high-level languages were used in this generation like C, C++ and DBASE etc.

The main features of fourth generation are:

                                           

v  VLSI were used

v  They are Very cheap

v  Reliable and Portable

v  Use of Personal Computers

v  Very small size

v  Internet was introduced

v  Computers became easily available

                                        

Some computers of this generation were:

§  STAR 1000

§  PDP 11

§  CRAY-1(Super Computer)

►   Fifth Generation

The time period of 5th generation is 1980-till date. In the 5^th generation, VLSI technology turned into ULSI (Ultra Large Scale Integration) technology, resulting in the development of microprocessor chips having 10million electronic components. This generation is based on AI (Artificial Intelligence) software and parallel processing hardware. All the high-level languages are used in this generation like C and C++, Java, .Net etc.

                                              

The main features of fifth generation are:

v  ULSI technology

v  Development of true artificial intelligence

v  Development of Natural language processing

v  Advancement in Parallel Processing

v  Advancement in Superconductor technology

v  More user friendly interfaces with multimedia features

v  Availability of very powerful and compact computers at cheaper rates

                                                                 

Some computer types of this generation are:

§  Desktop

§  Laptop

§  NoteBook