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How Computers Work, 10th Edition: Enhanced Web Version, 10th Edition

Web Edition

  • Sorry, this book is no longer in print.
  • About this Web Edition
  • A Web Edition is an online learning product that you view in your web browser while connected to the Internet. Some Web Editions include additional interactive features, such as videos, quizzes, or live code editing. Read the product description for more details. A Web Edition will be accessible from your Account page after purchase.

    Viewing a Web Edition requires a web browser that fully supports HTML5. Supported platforms are:

    • Windows XP (Firefox only)
    • Windows 7, 8, or 10 (IE10, IE11, Chrome, or Firefox)
    • Mac OS X (Safari, Firefox, or Chrome)
    • Linux (Chrome or Firefox)
    • iOS 6, 7, or 8 (Mobile Safari)
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Description

  • Copyright 2015
  • Dimensions: 8" x 10"
  • Edition: 10th
  • Web Edition
  • ISBN-10: 0-13-309678-5
  • ISBN-13: 978-0-13-309678-1

The How Computers Work, Interactive Web Version is an enhanced digital copy of the How Computers Work, Tenth Edition print book, which can be accessed via a web browser.  It includes many new and exciting features that take the one-of-a-kind How Computers Work print book experience to the next level. Here's a look at just a few of the new features you'll find in the Interactive Web Version:


Designed for the Web—This new digital edition of How Computers Work is built from the ground up to work in today's most popular web browsers. Whether you use Windows, Mac, or a tablet, you'll find a viewing experience that works for you.


Animations—See first-hand how morphing software morphs a photo or how video compression and resolution change the quality of a digital video. Watch as an interactive firewall blocks dangerous data, while letting safe packets through. Have you ever wondered just how a transistor physically controls the flow of electrons to turn itself on and off? You'll see it in action here!


Interactive Elements—Directly interact with more than a dozen of the topics covered in this book. Drag data into a processor to see how it divides up a work load and computes an answer. Or use a virtual laser to photoetch a micochip. You'll even control the flow of light through an LCD monitor as you learn how it generates an image!


How Computers Work, Tenth Edition is your full-color, fully-illustrated guide to your whole modern world of computing: your PC, your notebook, your tablet, your smartphone, all of it! With nearly 2 million copies sold, this is one of the world's most popular computer books: long admired for Tim Downs' exquisitely detailed illustrations, and Ron White's brilliance in simplifying complex technological concepts so everyone can understand.
No other book on the planet covers everything you'll find here, and none rival it in elegance or flair. Now, White and Downs have completely updated their legendary classic for today's computing environment, and today's technologies. Their new Tenth Edition takes you under the hood with:

  • iPads and iPhones
  • Android tablets and smartphones
  • eReaders like Kindle, including eInk technology
  • Windows 8
  • Touchscreens, LEDs, and LCDs
  • New flash memory and low power chips
  • Twitter, Facebook, and Skype
  • Fiber Internet
  • Texting
  • Multiplayer gaming, and much more

How Computers Work, Tenth Edition covers all the ways you use your technology now: from how your browser streams video to how game consoles generate 3D worlds. It demystifies everything from the Internet and your home network to spyware and security software. A marvel in book publishing for two decades, there's never been anything like it—and it's now better than ever!

Sample Content

Table of Contents

Part 1 What Makes a Computer

Ch 1  Computers, Computers Everywhere

Ch 2 How Circuits Juggle Data

Ch 3 How a Computer Comes Alive

Ch 4 How an OS Controls Hardware

Ch 5 How Computers Use Power
  
Part 2 How Microchips are the Brains of the Operation

Ch 6 How Computers Remember

Ch 7 How a Microprocessor Works
  
Part 3 How Disks Store Data

Ch 8 How Hard Drives Store Data for the Long Haul

Ch 9 How Hard Drives Pack it in Tight

Ch 10 How PCs Use Lasers to Store Data
  
Part 4 How a Computer Takes it in and Sends it Out

Ch 11 How You Control Your Computer

Ch 12 How a Computer Shows You Stuff

Ch 13 How Computers Play With Your Ears

Ch 14 How it All Goes Back and Forth
  
Part 5 How Computers Network

Ch 15 How LANs Work

Ch 16 How PCs Connect to the Internet

Ch 17 How We Reach Each Other Through the Net
  
Part 6 How Software Makes Computers Useful

Ch 18 How Programming Languages Work

Ch 19 How Windows Works

Ch 20 How Applications Do Your Work

Ch 21 How Web Browser Put It All at Your Fingertips

Ch 22 How Games Create Worlds

Ch 23 How Security Fights Off PC Invaders
  
Part 7 How Computers Capture, Scan, and Print

Ch 24 How Digital Photography Works

Ch 25 How Scanners Capture Words and Images

Ch 26 How Printing Works

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