AGENTS
Software programs that can ask questions, respond to commands, pay attention to users' work patterns, serve as a guide and a coach, take on owners' goals, and use reasoning to fabricate their own goals.
ANIMATION
The process of simulating motion with a series of still pictures.
APPLICATION PROGRAM (APPLICATION)
A collection of several related application programs that are also sold as separate programs.
APPLICATION SUITE (OFFICE SUITE)
Software tool that allows a computer to be used for
specific purposes.
ARCHITECTURE
Design that determines how individual components of the CPU are put together on the chip. More generally used to describe the way individual components are put together to create a complete computer system.
ASCII
American Standard Code for Information Interchange, a code that represents characters as 8-bit codes. Allows the binary computer to work with letters, digits, and special characters.
AUDIO DIGITIZERS
Hardware devices or software programs that capture a sound and store it as a data file on a disk.
A copy of a file created as insurance against the loss
of the original.
BACK-UP MEDIA
A copy of a file created as insurance against the loss
of the original.
BUTTON
A hot spot on a screen that responds to mouse clicks. A
button can be programmed to perform one of many tasks,
such as opening a dialog box or launching an
application.
CD-ROM DRIVE
A common optical drive in computers that can read data
from CD-ROM disks.
CD-RW DRIVE
A disk drive that can read and write on rewritable
optical disks.
CENTRAL PROCESSING UNIT (CPU)
Part of the computer that processes information,
performs arithmetic calculations, and makes basic
decisions based on information values.
CLICK
The action of pressing a button on a mouse.
CLIPBOARD
A word processing program text editing tool for
temporarily storing chunks of text and other data.
COPY
A word processing program text editing tool that allows
you to make a copy of a set of words or data and place
the copy elsewhere in the same or a different document.
CUT
A word processing program text editing tool that allows
you to delete a set of words or data; often used with
the copy function to move text around.
DISKETTES (DISKS)
Small, magnetically sensitive, flexible plastic wafers
housed in a plastic case, used as a storage device.
DOCUMENT
A file, such as a term paper or chart created with
applications.
DONGLE
Dongle is a little hardware device that plugs into the serial or USB port of a computer. Its purpose is to ensure that only authorized users can use certain software applications.
DOUBLE-CLICK
To click a mouse button twice in rapid succession.
DRAG
To move the mouse while holding the mouse button down.
Used for moving objects, selecting text, drawing, and
other tasks.
DRAG-AND-DROP
A word processing program text editing tool that allows
you to move a selected block of text from one location
to another.
DVD DRIVE
An optical disk drive that can read high-capacity DVD
disks.
ELECTRONIC MAIL (EMAIL)
Allows Internet users to send mail messages, data files,
and software programs to other Internet users and to
users of most commercial networks and online services.
FILE
An organized collection of related information stored in
a computer- readable form.
FILE COMPRESSION
The process of reducing the size of a file so that you
can fit more files into the same amount of disk space.
FILE DECOMPRESSION
The process of restoring a compressed file back to its
original state.
FIND
A command used to locate a particular word, string of
characters, or formatting in a document.
FIND-AND-REPLACE (SEARCH AND REPLACE)
A word processing program text editing tool that allows
you to make repetitive changes throughout a document.
FOLDER
A container for files and other folders. Also called a
directory.
FONT
A size and style of typeface.
FORMATTING
The function of software, such as word processing
software, that enables users to change the appearance of
a document by specifying the font, point size, and style
of any character in the document, as well as the overall
layout of text and graphical elements in the document.
HARD DISK
A rigid, magnetically sensitive disk that spins rapidly
and continuously inside the computer chassis or in a
separate box attached to the computer housing. Used as a
storage device.
HARDWARE
Physical parts of the computer system.
HYPERLINK
A word, phrase, or picture that acts as a button,
enabling the user to explore the Web or a multimedia
document with mouse clicks.
INTERNET
A global interconnected network of thousands of networks
linking academic, research, government, and commercial
institutions, and other organizations and individuals.
Also known as the Net.
KEYBOARD
Input device, similar to a typewriter keyboard, for
entering data and commands into the computer.
MEMORY
Stores programs and the data they need to be instantly
accessible to the CPU.
MENU
An onscreen list of command choices.
MONITOR
An output device that displays text and graphics
onscreen.
MONOSPACED FONTS
Fonts like those in the Courier family that mimic
typewriters; characters, no matter how skinny or fat,
always take up the same amount of space.
MOUSE
A handheld input device that, when moved around on a
desktop or table, moves a pointer around the computer
screen.
OPEN
To load a file into an application program's workspace
so it can be viewed and edited by the user.
OPERATING SYSTEM (OS)
A system of programs that performs a variety of
technical operations, providing an additional layer of
insulation between the user and the bits-and-bytes world
of computer hardware.
PASTE
A word processing program text editing tool that allows
you to cut or copy words from one part of a document and
place the copy elsewhere in the same or a different
document.
PERIPHERAL
An external device, such as a keyboard or monitor,
connected via cables to the system central processing
unit.
PERSONAL COMPUTER
A small, powerful, relatively low-cost microcomputer.
POINT SIZE
A measure of character size, with one point equal to
1/72 inch.
PRINTER
Output device that produces a paper copy of any
information that can be displayed on the screen.
PROPORTIONALLY SPACED FONTS
Fonts that enable more room for wide than for narrow
characters.
SANS-SERIF FONTS
Typeface fonts in which the characters have plain and
clean lines rather than embellishments at the ends of
the main strokes.
SERIF FONTS
Typeface fonts in which the characters are embellished
with fine lines (serifs) at the ends of the main
strokes.
SEARCH
Looking for a specific record.
SEARCH ENGINE
A program for locating information on the Web.
SOFTWARE
Instructions that tell the hardware what to do to
transform input into output.
SPAM
Internet junk mail.
SPEAKERS
The personal computer peripherals that emit music,
voices, and other sounds.
TYPEFACE
All type, including roman, bold, and italics, of a
single design, such as Palatino or Helvetica.
URL (UNIFORM RESOURCE LOCATOR)
The address of a Web site.
USER NAME
A one-word name that you type to identify yourself when
connecting-logging in-to a secure computer system,
network, or email account. Sometimes called login name
or alias.
VIRUSES
Software that spreads from program to program, or from
disk to disk, and uses each infected program or disk to
make copies of itself. A form of software sabotage
WEB BROWSERS
Application programs that enable you to explore the Web
by clicking hyperlinks in Web pages stored on Web sites.
WEB PAGE
A single document on the World Wide Web (WWW), made up
of text and images and interlinked with other documents.
WEB SITE
A collection of related Web pages stored on the same
server.
WORD WRAP
A word processing program text editing feature that
automatically moves any words that won't fit on the
current line to the next line, along with the cursor.
WORLD WIDE WEB (WWW)
Part of the Internet, a collection of multimedia
documents created by organizations and users worldwide.
Documents are linked in a hypertext Web that allows
users to explore them with simple mouse clicks.
WYSIWYG
Short for "what you see is what you get," pronounced
"wizzy-wig."With a word processor, the arrangement of
the words on the screen represents a close approximation
to the arrangement of words on the printed page.Top↑
