What is hardware?

Hardware is best described as a device that is physically connected to your computer or something that can be physically touched. A CD-ROM, monitor, and printer are all examples of computer hardware.

How hardware can cause issues

Computer hardware requires resources to correctly operate with the computer and the software installed in the computer. If your computer does not have the available resources, such as available IRQs, this will cause your computer to not properly work and/or the devices to not function properly.

In addition to needing resources, not all computer hardware will work properly with all computers, or may have incompatibilities with hardware that is already installed in your computer.

Finally, almost all computer hardware requires some type of software or drivers to be installed before it can properly communicate with the computer. If these drivers contain problems or do not properly work with the computer, this can cause issues with the hardware device you are attempting to install in the computer.

How software can cause issues

Software is one of the leading causes of computer related issues. Because of the large variety of computer hardware configurations and other software programs that may be on a computer, it is nearly impossible to program software that is flawless.

Because of the various types of software and the high potential of errors or bugs when the software is created, software can be the leading cause of computer issues. These issues are generally resolved by either not running two or more programs at the same time if they are causing issues with one another, or reinstalling the software. If the software has an actual software bug in the program, these bugs are generally resolved by patches or software updates.

The above information is only applicable to some of the software found on today's market. Generally, when any software is released it undergoes an extensive amount of testing or Beta Testing by the company or individuals whom volunteer their services for a chance to look at and test the software.

What is software?

Software is a collection of instructions that enables a user to interact with the computer or have the computer perform specific tasks for them. Without any type of software the computer would be useless. Below is a listing of different types of software a user may have on his or her computer. For a computer to be functional, most computers will include a software operating system and a collection of different software programs. Below is a listing of different software programs that may be included on a computer.

• Application
• Audio software
• Game
• Operating system
• Program
• Utilities
• Video editing

Mozilla teases surfers with near-final version of Firefox 3.6

Mozilla spun out a near-ready version of Firefox 3.6 over the weekend, all of which suggests that the final build of the next iteration of the open source browser could be imminent.

The outfit said on Sunday that over 75 per cent of the thousands of Firefox Add-ons had now been upgraded by their authors to be compatible with the Release Candidate version of Firefox 3.6.

Mozilla noted that the RC “may update itself periodically, and will eventually be exactly the same as the final Firefox 3.6 release itself”.

More than 100 bugs have been patched in the latest test version of the browser, which is built on the org’s Gecko 1.9.2 platform.

It comes loaded with Personas, allowing surfers to change Firefox’s appearance with a single click of the mouse.

Perhaps more interestingly, Mozilla has tweaked how third party software bolts itself onto Firefox, to make the browser more secure.

Meanwhile, support for the WOFF font format, HTML 5, CSS, DOM web technologies, full screen open, native video and poster frames have been added to this version. There’s also support for the HTML 5 File API, said Mozilla.

Even though Firefox 3.6 is more of an incremental rather than major upgrade to the browser, the org was still keen to emphasise improved JavaScript performance.

Some Firefox users have complained recently that Mozilla had broken away from its roots too much, and that the surfing tool was becoming increasingly bloated with each new release.

Mozilla did not confirm when it would squirt out the complete version of Firefox 3.6, but unless the outfit is hit by any showstopping bugs it’s likely the browser could land before the end of this month.

At the end of December, Mozilla delayed the release of Firefox 3.6 until the first quarter of 2010. It had previously promised to deliver the next iteration of its celebrated browser before the decade was out.

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'Google' crowned word of the decade

The American Dialect Society has crowned the verb "google" as its Word of the Decade, while honouring "tweet" as its 2009 Word of the Year.

Mercifully, the "linguists, lexicographers, etymologists, grammarians, historians, researchers, writers, authors, editors, professors, university students and independent scholars" who vote on the matter "act in fun and do not pretend to be officially inducting words into the English language".

Which is just as well, since google saw off strong opposition from "blog". Grant Barrett, chair of the New Words Committee of the American Dialect Society, said: “I really thought blog would take the honors in the word of the decade category, but more people google than blog, don’t they? Plus, many people think ‘blog’ just sounds ugly. Maybe Google's trademark lawyers would have preferred it, anyway.”

Other contenders for the Word of the Decade were "text" (SMS), "9/11" and "Wi-Fi", while CBS describes "un-" as the "decade's dominant prefix".

Doubtless there are those who consider words such as "unfriend" a good example of epic "fail", and they'll be delighted to learn that the American Dialect Society considers the "noun or interjection used when something is egregiously unsuccessful" as the "Most Useful" term of the last ten years.

Chillingly, American Dialect Society executive council member Ben Zimmer told CBS that "un-" represents "a metaphor for the decade". He offered: "It extends into social relations. It has big social ramifications because the whole concept of friendship is changing."

Other high points gracing the society's press release (pdf) include "Any name of the decade 2000-2009, such as Naughties, Aughties, Oughties", considered the "Least Likely to Succeed".

Agreeably, PETA can also take a bow for spawning the choice of "Most Unnecessary" term with "sea kittens", an unlikely appellation for what people generally call "fish".

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