What is the difference between hardware and software?

If you have reached this article it is because you want to know the difference between hardware and software. In the world of technology, both hardware and software go hand in hand, one cannot exist without the other and in this article we will explain in the most practical and educational way what is the difference between the two.

Do you want to know in detail their differences and how they live together? Let's start!

Index of contents

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What is the hardware ?

When we talk about hardware we are referring to all the physical components that make up electronic equipment. If we talk about computers or portable devices (mobiles, tablets, etc.), the hardware is made up of the monitor, CPU, memories, motherboard, keyboard, graphics card, network card, etc., etc. All we see and can touch is the hardware, and this brings us directly to the second point.

We could divide the hardware into two types of components, those that are inside our equipment and peripherals.

Hardware

The so-called hardware is all that essential component for the computer to function as such. We are talking about the motherboard, CPU, memory, storage unit and power supply. This is what a computer needs minimally to function, although there may be other components such as a graphics card or some expansion card that can also be connected internally, although they are not essential, see a sound card or a SSD unit connected via PCIe.

Any component inside the equipment or device can be considered a hardwre.

Peripherals

Although it is not considered hardware, it is the "gagdet" that is commonly connected to the computer through USB or other connectors, it is all that component that works externally. We are talking about monitors, keyboards, mice, headphones, microphones, printers, external storage units or any other component or device that connects through input ports.

What is software ?

A hardware is useless if there is a way to control it, for this there is software. Software is a set of computer rules, instructions, and programs that allow the user to control and manage what the hardware does.

The term software was first used in the 1950s, where computers did not exist as we know them today, but were really huge and very expensive machines. This would not change until the first ever personal computer, the Olivetti Programma 101, was released.

When we talk about software, we could divide it into three different categories.

OS

The first of these is the operating system, which is the main software that any self-respecting computer has. When turning on a computer, the first thing that acts is the system software. In this the first to act would be the operating system of the motherboard, which is responsible for managing correctly how each of the components will act.

This is something imperceptible to users, who should only see the boot of the system that we have installed, see Windows, macOS, Linux, Android, iOS or any other operating system. The drivers or drivers could also be considered in this category, since they ensure that the computer correctly controls a hardware component in the system.

Applications

Then we would have applications, which are computer programs that perform one or more specific tasks. A text editor, a video player, a drawing application, photo retouching, video games, all this is an application.

Programming

Finally we would have the programming tools, which are in charge of creating or editing new applications and even creating or editing new operating systems. We refer to compilers, interpreters, linkers, and debuggers.

Conclusions

As we can see, there is no term software or hardware, both are dependent on each other and are considered useless on their own. I hope this article has resolved your doubts between the differences between hardware and software. If you have doubts ask us!