Generation of Computer

First Generation (1945-1956):

The computers of the first generation were physically very large machines because they used vacuum tubes, they were very unreliable, required a lot of power to run, and produced so much head that adequate air conditioning was critical to protect the computer parts.

They had slow input and output devices, were slow in processing, and had small storage capabilities. The programmers had to code all computer instructions and data in actual machine languages. They also had to keep track of where instructions and data were stored in memory.

Second Generation (1956-1963):

The computers of the second generation were used transistors instead of vacuum tubes. Transistors were smaller, less expensive, generated almost to heat, and required very little power. The use of small, long lasting transistors also increased processing speeds and reliability. The storage capacity was greatly increased with the magnetic disk, magnetic cores for main storage. High speed card readers, printers, and magnetic tape units were also introduced. Internal processing speeds increased. The programmers allow using mnemonic operation codes for instruction operation.

Third Generation (1964-1971):

The computers of this generation were used solid-state logic microcircuits or integrated circuit (IC) which reduces the physical size of computer even more and increases their durability and internal processing speeds. The smaller circuits allow for faster internal processing speeds resulting in faster execution of instructions. New mass storage, such as the data cell, Drum and disk capacities and speed have been increased, the portable disk pace has been developed, and faster, higher density magnetic tapes have come into use. Considerable improvements were made to card readers and printers. Applications using online processing, real-time processing, time sharing, multiprogramming, multiprocessing, and teleprocessing have become widely accepted.

Fourth Generation(1971-Present):

The computers of the fourth generation are used integrated circuit with great capacity is microprocessor. As result of this technology, computers are significantly smaller in physical size and they have retained large memory capacities and are ultra fast. An entirely new breed of computers called microcomputers and minicomputers which provide a large amounting power. The mass storage latest technology are used such as optical disk, DVD etc.

Fifth Generation (Present and Beyond):

The PIM/m-1 machine, one of the few "fifth generation computers" ever produced. The fifth generation computer systems project was an initiative by Japan's Ministry of International Trade and Industry, begun in 1982, to create a "fifth generation computer which was supposed to perform much calculation utilizing massive parallelism. The new generation computer system is a disruptive technology. The new generation computer system is creating a specialized hardware and an operating system entirely written in a variant of Prolog programming language, as this was believed to be truly parallelizable language. The "parallel interface machines" were eventually produced.

This generation will be used completely Robotic and artificial intelligence. The biochip will be applied for dynamic and high power computation capability and very latest technology will be used for input.