The document summarizes the five generations of computers from the first to the fifth generation. The first generation used vacuum tubes and were unreliable, costly, and generated a lot of heat. The second generation used transistors which were more reliable and smaller. The third generation used integrated circuits which were even more reliable and smaller. The fourth generation used microprocessors and were very small, portable, and reliable. The fifth generation uses ultra-large scale integration and is focused on parallel processing and artificial intelligence.

1. GENERATIONS OF
COMPUTERS

2. S.NO GENERATION DESCRIPTION
1
2
3
4
5
1ST generation(1946-1959)
2nd generation(1959-1965)
3rd generation(1965-1971)
4th generation(1971-1980)
5th generation(1980-onwards)
Vacuum tube based.
Transistor based.
Integrated Circuit based
VLSI microprocessor based
ULSI microprocessor based

3. 1st GENERATION OF COMPUTER
• A vacuum-tube computer, now termed a first-generation computer, is a
computer that uses vacuum tubes for logic circuitry.
• The computers of first generation used vacuum tubes as the basic components
for memory and circuitry for CPU (Central Processing Unit).

4. FEATURES OF 1st GENERATION
• Vacuum tube technology
• Unreliable
• Supported machine language only
• Very costly
• Generated a lot of heat
• Slow input and output devices
• Huge size
• Need of AC
• Non-portable
• Consumed a lot of electricity

5. 2nd GENERATION
• A transistor computer, now often called a second-generation computer
• A second-generation computer, through the late 1950s and 1960s featured circuit
boards filled with individual transistors and magnetic core memory.

6. FEATURES OF 2ND GENERATION
• Use of transistors
• Reliable in comparison to first generation computers
• Smaller size as compared to first generation computers
• Generated less heat as compared to first generation computers
• Consumed less electricity as compared to first generation computers
• Faster than first generation computer

7. 3RD GENERATION
• The computers of third generation used Integrated Circuits (ICs) in place of
transistors.
• In this generation remote processing, time-sharing, multiprogramming operating
system were used.

8. FEATURES OF 3RD GENERATION
• IC used
• More reliable in comparison to previous two generations
• Smaller size
• Generated less heat
• Faster
• Lesser maintenance

9. 4th GENERATION OF COMPUTER
• Computers of fourth generation used Very Large Scale Integrated (VLSI) circuits
• VLSI circuits having about 5000 transistors and other circuit elements with their
associated circuits on a single chip made it possible to have microcomputers of
fourth generation.

10. FEATURES OF 4TH GENERATION
• VLSI technology used
• Very cheap
• Portable and reliable
• Use of PCs
• Very small size
• Pipeline processing
• No AC required

11. 5TH GENERATION
• In the fifth generation, VLSI technology became ULSI (Ultra Large Scale
Integration) technology, resulting in the production of microprocessor chips
having ten million electronic components.
• This generation is based on parallel processing hardware and AI (Artificial
Intelligence) software
• This is the most recent and technologically advanced computer generation.
Modern high-level languages such as Python, R, C#, Java, and others are used as
input methods

12. FEATURES OF 5TH GENERATION
• ULSI technology
• Development of true artificial intelligence
• Development of Natural language processing
• Advancement in Parallel Processing
• Advancement in Superconductor technology
• More user-friendly interfaces with multimedia features
• Availability of very powerful and compact computers at cheaper rates