Graphics and Multimedia
A graphics package is used for creating and editing graphical images or drawings. This type of program usually has a set of icons called a toolbox to access the most commonly used graphics tools. It allows users to perform functions, such as creating shapes, scaling them to different sizes, rotating them and filling them with colour. Simple drawings can be created using a combination of pre-defined shapes such as squares, rectangles, triangles, and ellipses. Multimedia is a combination of text, graphics, animation, sound and video. A popular multimedia encyclopedia program created by the Microsoft Corporation is called Microsoft Encarta. The text displayed on the screen contains hyperlinks, i.e. words that are linked to other text. When the user clicks on a link, the linked text is displayed on the screen. Encarta also has icons for displaying maps, charts, tables, pictures, sounds, animation, videos, and interactive activities. Computers are general purpose instruments that are controlled by programs. Present-day computers are electronic devices but the first computers were mechanical. They were replaced by electro-mechanical computers that used electrical mechanisms. The first electronic computers used electronic switches in the form of vacuum tubes valves. Valves were later replaces by semiconductor transistors. The development of integrated circuits that contained millions of transistors in one small semiconductor chip enabled the development of microprocessors. This allows much smaller computers, called microcomputers, to be introduced. The most common type of microcomputer is small enough to sit on an office desk and is often referred to as a desktop computer. 3 Answer the following questions: 1 What type of program is used for creating and editing graphical images or drawings. 2 What is a toolbox? 3 What functions does a toolbox allow users to perform? 4 In what way simple drawings can be created? 5 What is the development history of present-day computers? 6 What enabled to do the development of integrated circuits?
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