GLOSSARY

Term	Description
Application Program	A software program that is designed to enable the user to perform a specific task. An example of an application program is a work processor.
Backup	A copy of the original contents. It is good practice to make backup copies of files.
Browser	A program that allows you to traverse and view internet web pages
Bug	A computer error
CD-ROM	A storage device that accesses compact disc-based information and also plays audio CD’s. CDRW drives allow you to record onto these disks
CPU (Central Processing Unit)	An integrated circuit chip that processes the data flowing in and out of a PC (also called a microprocessor)
Crash	Disk drive failure
Cursor	An item on your screen that shows where the next text character will appear or where the mouse is currently pointing
Data	Raw figures of information
Database	A program enabling users to manage, view and report large amounts of data.
Default	A command or location that the computer will assume if the user does not enter overriding information.
Desktop	The screen on the background on which program and data windows appear in the graphical user environment.
Desktop PC	A PC that fits on a desktop.
Desktop Publisher	An application program used to create magazine and newspaper like publications.
Disk	A flexible plastic disk coated with magnetic material and covered by a protective jacket, used primarily by computers to store data magnetically. Also called a diskette
Disk Drive	A device that reads data stored on a magnetic or optical disk and writes data onto the disk for storage
Download	To retrieve data (such as files) from a remote location.
Driver	Is a software routine that is able to tell windows how to communicate with specific hardware.
E-mail	Short for electronic mail – is mail transferred between recipients over modems, network connections and the internet.
Explorer	The name given to the Windows utility program that enables the user to view and manage disk drives and folders
Field	Is an area on the screen where a user can enter information, this is also called a text box.
File	A collection of related information stored on a drive
Filename	The name that is given to a file
Filename extension	The suffix after the filename that indicates the type of the file
Floppy disk	See disk
Floppy disk drive	A device that reads data stored on a magnetic disk and writes data onto the disk for storage
Folder	A collection of related files (and folders)
Format	The layout, design, arrangement of a document, page or a file.
FTP	An acronym for File Transfer Protocol (FTP)
Graphical User Interface (GUI)	An interface for issuing commands to a computer utilizing a pointing device, such as a mouse, that manipulates and sets in motion graphical images on a monitor
Hardware	The physical components that make up your PC
Header	The part of an email message or news article that precedes the body of a message. It can contain, among other things, the sender's name and e-mail address and the date and time the message was sent.
Home page	The first web page to appear when you connect to an internet website.
HTML	An acronym for Hypertext Markup Language. The language behind internet web pages
Icons	Pictures (usually small) that represent data, program, windows, file types and commands
Installation	The procedure that needed to put software onto a PC/server
Internet	A world-wide system (network) of interconnected computers
Internet explorer	A Web browser (made by Microsoft) provided free of charge from the internet and with the most major Microsoft packages.
Keyboard	A frequently used input device with alpha numeric and special characters that you type to get data into your PC.
License	A right to run a software application
Linux	An operating system – a trademark for an open-source version of the UNIX operating system
Media	Paper, disks, tapes and other items on which data can appear.
Memory	Storage
Multimedia	Relating to an application that can combine text, graphics, full-motion video, and sound into an integrated package.
Netscape Navigator	A internet web browser
Network	2 or more computers that are joined together for file or peripheral sharing.
Online	The status of being connected to an online service or to the internet
Operating environment	The environment where the operating system works with its users
Path, pathname	A specific location of a file.
Peripheral device	A device such as a floppy disk drive, printer or monitor that gets data to and from a PC’s CPU
Program	Is a set of instructions, stored in a file with a filename that tells a computer what to do
Programmer	A person who write computer programs
Programming language	A computer language used by a programmer to write a program
Root	The top level folder
Software	Consists of programs, data and applications
Subfolder	A folder that resides in another folder
System	A set of related parts working together to accomplish a specific goal. The personal computer is a set of components that make up a system
System program	A program that is able to manage other programs (eg, able to manage operating systems)
Taskbar	A row of buttons or graphical controls on a screen that represent open programs, among which the user can switch back and forth by clicking on the appropriate one.
Thumbnail sketches	A small preview of (eg. Of a picture or a printed page)
Toggle	any instruction that works first one way and then the other; it turns something on the first time it is used and then turns it off the next time
Undo	A feature enabling the user to reverse a recent activity within a program.
Uniform Resource Locator (URL)	Location of a specific Web page
Unix	A trademark name used for a computer disk operating system.
Wallpaper	The graphical background on the desktop
Web	An internet system made up of graphical screen pages that display graphics, text and other controls (also called WWW – the World Wide Web)
Windows	A trademark name used for a computer disk operating system.
Word processor	A software application that allows the user to run and create documents
WYSIWYG	Is the acronym for What You See (on the screen) Is What You Get (on paper).
Zip	A type of high-capacity (removable) disk drive.