Benefits

Improved Technology

As computer clusters have been developing and evolving, so has networking technology. And, as the technology has been getting better and better, the price has gone down. This makes the technology more affordable. Computer cluster technology involves using a single virtual local area network, which treats each computer as a node. Data is passed through the network, without any information bottlenecked between the computers or nodes.

Awesome Processing Power

The processing power of a high performance computer cluster is the same as a mainframe computer. With many computers in a cluster, the processing power may even exceed that of a mainframe.

What is a PC?

A personal computer (PC) is any general-purpose computer whose size, capabilities, and original sales price make it useful for individuals, and which is intended to be operated directly by an end-user with no intervening computer operator. In contrast, the batch processing or time-sharing models allowed large expensive mainframe systems to be used by many people, usually at the same time. Large data processing systems require a full-time staff to operate efficiently.

Software applications for personal computers include, but are not limited to, word processing, spreadsheets, databases, Web browsers and e-mail clients, digital media playback, games, and myriad personal productivity and special-purpose software applications. Modern personal computers often have connections to the Internet, allowing access to the World Wide Web and a wide range of other resources. Personal computers may be connected to a local area network (LAN), either by a cable or a wireless connection. A personal computer may be a desktop computer or a laptop, tablet PC, or a handheld PC.

While early PC owners usually had to write their own programs to do anything useful with the machines, today's users have access to a wide range of commercial software and free software, which is provided in ready-to-run or ready-to-compile form. Since the 1980s, Microsoft and Intel have dominated much of the personal computer market, first with MS-DOS and then with the Wintel platform. Alternatives to Windows include Apple's Mac OS X and the open-source Linux OSes. AMD is the major alternative to Intel. Applications and games for PCs are typically developed and distributed independently from the hardware or OS manufacturers, whereas software for many mobile phones and other portable systems is approved and distributed through a centralized online store.^[1][2]

In July & August 2011, marketing businesses and journalists started to talk about the 'Post-PC Era', an era where the desktop form factor was being replace with more portable computing such as netbooks, and Tablet PC's.