The fifth generation of computers was invented in 1980 till today. The fifth generation of computers was invented by James Maddox who created a parallel computing system. They use the Ultra Large Scale Integration (ULSI) technologies which lead to the production of microprocessor chips. They have ten million electronic components. This generation mainly deals with parallel processing hardware and artificial Intelligence software.
The major aim of the fifth generation of computers is to develop devices which can respond to the normal language people use. This makes the computers act like human beings. They use extreme high language levels like C, C++ and java.
The main features of the fifth generation computers are:-
1.They have artificial intelligence
2.They recognise images and graphs
3.They solve highly complex problems and help in decision making
4.They use the super large scale integrated chips
5.They have a multi-processor system
6.The circuits use optical fibre
7.They have a huge storage capacity
8.They have a voice recognition feature
There are several types of fifth generation computers which include:-
1.Desktops- this is a computer that is designed to fit the desk. It consists of a mouse, keyboard and monitor. It is not portable. The first desktop was introduced in 1968; it was called the Hewlett Packard.
2.Laptops- this was the first ever portable computer. It was invented in 1979 by William Moggridge who worked in the Grid systems corporation. It had 340 kilobytes of memory. Many companies like apple also introduced portable computers. The first laptop was sold for 3500$, since then the laptop became a necessity. The best-selling companies of laptops are Toshiba and Compaq.
3.Notebooks- this is lighter than a laptop. The first notebook was introduced in 1981. The notebooks exploded in 1995 when Microsoft introduced the operating system windows 95. The operating system introduced allowed the notebooks operate like the normal laptops. It had improvements like the battery was power saving and it could hold much more data.
The advantages of the fifth generation of computers include:-
1.They are easy to use
2.They are portable
3.They are very fast compared to the others in the previous generations
4.They are much smaller in sizes
5.They have a developed artificial intelligence
6.They have an advancement in parallel processing
7.They are always readily available
8.They perform a lot of instructions in a minute
The disadvantages of the fifth generation of computers include:
1.They have more sophisticated and complex tools
2.They have replaced many human jobs
3.They are very expensive
4.They always defeat man in many games while gaming
Some of the applications of the fifth generation of computers are:-
1.Robots- they are programmed to work like human beings and carry out different tasks step by step without instructions. They decide what task to complete depending on the observations from the environment around it.
2.The intelligence can control and fend off attacks if any are detected.
3.Some programs translate documents from one language to a different language
The major challenge that the fifth generation of computers faces is that It only requires literate people to use them, illiterate people cannot understand them thus it has a limit to the people who are supposed to use them.
There are major differences between the fourth generation of computers and the fifth generation of computers, these include:-
1.The fourth generation of computers used floppy disks as memory devices while the fifth generation of computers uses bio chips and gallium Arsenide as memory devices.
2.The fourth generation of computers programming language was designed for a specified application, where programmers had to specify the logarithm while the fifth generation of computers programming languages allows computers to solve most of the problems themselves.
3.The fourth generation of computers had high speed in transmitting data while the fifth generation of computers has extreme speed when submitting data.
4.The fourth generation of computers did not have a lot of advancement in technology while the fifth generation of computers has a great advancement of technology from scientific coding to object oriented programming in most if not all of the computers.
The fifth generation of computers is the current computers that are used day in day out. They have simplified a lot of human work therefore making the reliable any day and time.