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drivers definition

In this article, I’m going to explain a computer term that, like so many computer terms, isn’t very well understood by most people. And in many cases, isn’t understood at all. It could be as a result you’ve done internet searches for things like: “meaning driver”, or something like that and looked in vain for simple answers.

Please understand there’s no judgement implied in that — if you’ve always been baffled by this term, it’s just because it was never explained to you in a way that actually made sense.

Keep reading and you’ll be surprised how much sense it makes.

I have a simple way to explain it that will just make sense for you. This article will help you make sense of computer terms like driver and more.

To start with, just to make sure we all we’re all on the same page, let me take a moment to clarify the difference between “hardware” and “software”.

It’s actually not hard to understand : “hardware” refers to all of the physical pieces of equipment, like your mouse, your computer’s screen, the hard drive, and so on.

“Software” would be all of the parts of the computer that you really aren’t able to observe or touch directly. Software would include things like Microsoft Excel, your email program, Windows or the Mac OS, as well as all of your own files like letters, pictures, MP3s, etc.

Here’s another way to think about it: hardware is like your brain, a physical part of your body, while software is like your mind or your thoughts — the non-physical part of yourself.

Software runs on hardware, just like your thoughts “run on” your brain.

Understand? OK, let’s talk more specifically about drivers.

Here’s the easy way to grasp what a driver is. It’s almost like every piece of hardware, including your printer, your mouse, etc., talks a different language.

So one speaks French, another one speaks Italian, another one Japanese, etc.

So when you plug in a new printer and turn it on, your computer says hi and the printer answers in a foreign language the computer can’t make sense of.

So it needs an interpreter.

And when I say interpreter, I mean just like in the real world, just as if a foreign diplomat visits the country but doesn’t understand the local language. They need an interpreter to help them talk with the locals.

That, simply put, is what a driver is — an interpreter that helps your computer talk to a particular piece of equipment. And (most of the time) you need a different interpreter for each piece of equipment that you attach the computer.

Understand?

Now in some cases, the driver may be “preinstalled” on your computer (in other words, the computer already has the interpreter ready and waiting in case it’s needed) and in other cases, it needs to either be installed from a CD, or gotten from the Internet, and then put into the computer.

But in any case, the computer needs that driver before it can speak to the printer or whatever other thing you may have hooked up to your computer.

Hope that makes sense.