Supercomputer is a broad term for one of the
fastest computers currently available. Supercomputers are very expensive and
are employed for specialized applications that require immense amounts of
mathematical calculations (number crunching). For example, weather forecasting
requires a supercomputer. Other uses of supercomputers scientific simulations,
(animated) graphics, fluid dynamic calculations, nuclear energy research,
electronic design, and analysis of geological data (e.g. in petrochemical
prospecting). Perhaps the best known supercomputer manufacturer is Cray
Research.
Mainframe was a term originally referring to the cabinet containing the central processor unit or "main frame" of a room-filling Stone Age batch machine. After the emergence of smaller "minicomputer" designs in the early 1970s, the traditional big iron machines were described as "mainframe computers" and eventually just as mainframes. Nowadays a Mainframe is a very large and expensive computer capable of supporting hundreds, or even thousands, of users simultaneously. The chief difference between a supercomputer and a mainframe is that a supercomputer channels all its power into executing a few programs as fast as possible, whereas a mainframe uses its power to execute many programs concurrently. In some ways, mainframes are more powerful than supercomputers because they support more simultaneous programs. But supercomputers can execute a single program faster than a mainframe. The distinction between small mainframes and minicomputers is vague, depending really on how the manufacturer wants to market its machines.
