Quantum computing harnesses the strange properties of quantum mechanics to process information in fundamentally new ways. While classical computers use bits that are either 0 or 1, quantum computers use qubits that can exist in multiple states simultaneously.
This property, called superposition, allows quantum computers to explore many possible solutions at once. Another quantum property, entanglement, creates correlations between qubits that have no classical equivalent.
Quantum computers excel at specific problems: simulating molecular interactions for drug discovery, optimizing complex logistics, breaking certain encryption methods, and training machine learning models. They won't replace classical computers but will complement them.