| M or Megabyte |
one
million bytes, or one thousand kilobytes, or more properly,
2 to 13th, or 1,048,626 bytes. Hard disks are often measured
in M. |
| Macro |
a
program within a program, used to accomplish some handy task
faster. To use a macro, you press one key that does the same
work as typing many other keys. |
| Mainframe |
before
minicomputers and macrocomputers, mainframe computers ruled
the world. |
| Menu |
a
list of choices shown on the screen, from which you can select
your preference. |
| Mbps |
Megabits per second
or one million bits per second. |
| Microsoft Windows |
see Windows.
|
| Microprocessor |
a
small built-in computer designed to carry out a series of given
functions, calculations o-r production steps. |
| MIPS |
stands
for Million Instructions Per Second. MIPS measures the processing
speed of the computer, the horse-power. |
| Mirroring |
The technique of writing the same
data to separate logical or physical disks at the same time
with no loss in speed, the same as writing to one disk alone.
If one disk fails, the data is still available on the mirror-copy
disk. The DG/UX operating system supports mirroring at the Logical Disk Level
and at the hardware level in HADA and CSS2 disk systems. |
| Modem |
stands
for MOdulator/DEModulator. A hardware device used to send information
over telephone wires from one computer to another. Modems can
be external, in a separate case, or internal, on a circuit board.
|
| Moiré patterns |
Moiré
patterns when two or more halftone screens are overlapped, usually
as part of process colour printing, a irregular pattern sometimes
results if the angles of the dots are not held exactly. |
| Monitor |
the computer screen you look at. |
| Monospaced |
characters printed in the same amount
of horizontal space, as on a typewriter. With monospaced type,
an "I" and an "M" take up the same amount
of space, while on a typesetter, all characters are proportionally
spaced, so that the amount of white space between each character
is consistent. |
| Mouse |
a
small device with one or more buttons that you roll around your
desktop with your palm to move the cursor and make selections
from the screen. |
| Network |
more
than one computer connected to share data. Other input and output
devices can also be connected to a network. |
| NFS |
(Network
File Service)-A distributed file system product developed and
licensed by Sun Microsystems. For most UNlX file system operations,
NFS gives users the ability to access files over a communications
link, typically over Ethernet LANs. |
| OCR |
(Optical
Character Recognition) -a computer process whereby printed characters
are scanned and "recognized" -converted to a text
file that can be edited, rather than just a scanned digital
image (like artwork). |
| Offline |
Describes
any component or device that is used in conjunction with a system
but it is not connected to the system or the network. |
| Online |
connected
to the computer, or ready to work. A printer is online when
it is ready to print. You turn it off-line to add paper or change
ribbons. |
| Open System |
A
computer system that allows application portability by adhering
to and implementing industry standards, in contrast to a closed
system which is implemented against a particular vendor's proprietary
software and hardware technology . |
| Operating system |
the
master control program that gives any computer its basic personality.
Operating systems are often compared to traffic cops who direct
all the information moving around the computer. The operation
system must be carefully chosen, because not all applications
are available under each operating system. Some common operating
systems are MS-DOS, Unix, and the Apple Macintosh System. Operating
systems include a certain number of handy commands to do some
everyday things such as copying files, seeing what's on a diskette,
and so on. |
| OSI |
(Open Systems Interconnection, or
Open Systems Interconnect).A model developed by ISO (International
Organization for Standardization) to allow computer systems
made by different vendors to communicate with each other.The
goal of OSI is to create a worldwide open systems networking
environment where all systems can interconnect.Most communications
protocols today are based on the OSI model. |
| Output |
anything
you get out of computer; words on a screen or in a printout
are the most common forms. |
| Paint |
in
desktop and Web publishing, "painting software" employs
a bit-mapped graphics, as opposed to "drawing software",
which uses vector graphics. |
| Parallel |
a
connector from the computer to the outer world. Most printers
plug into parallel connectors. |
| .PDF |
The file extension for a Portable
Document Format file.Portable Document Format was designed by
Adobe Systems, Inc.In order to view a .pdf file the user will
need Adobe Acrobat Reader, a freeware product available for
download via the Web. |
| Peripherals |
any
hardware units in a computer system outside the basic computer.
Examples are printers, hard disks, and modems. |
| Pixel |
picture
element. An individual dot of light on a screen, that can be
turned on or off, or a point imaged on paper on film by a laser
printer or image setters. The sharpness or resolution of a screen
is most often measured in pixels (dots) per square inch. |
| Plotter |
a peripheral
used to produce large graphics such as blueprints. |
| Portrait |
vertical
page orientation, versus landscape, or horizontal, |
| Ports |
a connector from the computer to
the outside world, generally either a serial or parallel port.
A socket at the back of a computer used to plug in external
devices such as a modem, mouse, scanner, or printer. In a communications
network, a logical channel is identified by its unique port
number. |
| PostScript |
the
most popular page description language, supported by both Apple
and IBM. The most important innovation of Postscript was "
device independence", a feature that allows many different
output devices from different manufacturers to print the same
file. |
| Processcolour |
four
colour printing cyan, magenta, yellow and black; as opposed
to (a single) spot colour. |
| Processor |
the part of
the computer that does all its actual work. |
| Program |
step-by-step
instructions telling the machine (in excruciating detail) how
to do something. Also calls an "application", and
generically referred to as "software" |
| Proportional spacing |
each
letter is printed in a unique amount of space, depending on
how thick it is. So an "I" and an "M" take
up different amounts of space. All typeset material and some
computer printers do proportional spacing, while typewriters
and dot matrix printers offer monospacing or fixed spacing.
|
| Protocol |
A protocol is a detailed set of rules
to which both ends of a connection need to adhere in order for
successful data communications to take place. Published by standard
organizations and computer manufacturers, protocols exist for
every level of communications from the type of electrical signal
to put on the cable to how to transfer a file. The set of related
protocols sufficient to implement all levels of functions is
called a protocol stack. |
| Protocol Stack |
A protocol stack, or protocol suite,
is a set of related protocols which, taken together, implement
a complete communication system. Low-level protocols, near the
hardware, provide services for higher-Ievels, near user applications.
The 05[ Model is
a blueprint for a seven layer protocol stack. |
