Star Trek: 10 Biggest Differences Between Kirk's Enterprise And Picard's

Starfleet's computers have gone through numerous changes over the years. Touchscreens were not commonplace in The Original Series and most computers were bulky and had very indistinct buttons and dials plastered all over. Their design harkens back to early computers from the '60s. Presumably, the set designers failed to anticipate how far computers would advance.

In The Next Generation, we are introduced to L.C.A.R.S., short for Library Computer Access and Retrieval System. L.C.A.R.S. is the operating system that all of Starfleet uses in the 24th century, characterized by its bright-coloured borders separating different pieces of information, as well as its touchscreens, which greatly resemble the technology in modern smartphones.

The design of the computers was not the only thing to change however, as 23rd century starships operated with duotronic systems, whereas, in the 24th century, they used isolinear cores. The differences between these two types of computers are not clearly defined, but it's safe to assume that the isolinear circuitry is much faster.