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Kb (Kilobyte
)
- Basically, this means 1,000 bytes, but it is actually 1,024
bytes.
Kb/s-
Kilobytes per second. A means of measuring throughput.
Mb (Megabyte)-
Basically means one million bytes, but is actually 1,024
kilobytes or 1,024 x 1,024 bytes, which equals 1,048,576 bytes.
Mb/s-
Megabytes per second. A means of measuring throughput.
Medium-
Physical material, like paper, disk or tape, used to store computer
data.
Operating System (OS)-
Software that controls the assignment and use of
hardware resources such as memory, processor time, disk space and
peripherals. An operating system is the basis on which software (applications)
runs. Windows, Mac OS and UNIX are among the most common.
Peripheral-
A generic term applied to printers, scanners, mice, keyboards,
serial ports, graphics cards, diskette drives and other computer subsystems.
This type of peripheral often relies on its own control software, known as a
peripheral driver.
Port, hardware-
A connection component (USB or IEEE 1394, for example)
which enables a microprocessor to communicate with a compatible peripheral.
Port, software
- A memory address which identifies the physical circuit used
to transfer information between a microprocessor and a peripheral.
Software-
In a nutshell, software is a set of instructions for the computer. A
set of instructions to perform a particular task is called a program. There are
two main types of software: system software (operating system such as Mac
OS or Windows) which controls the operation of the computer, and application
software (programs such as Word or Excel) which enables users to perform
tasks such as word processing, spreadsheet creation, graphics, etc.
Storage-
In computers, any equipment on/in which information may be kept.
PCs generally use disk units and other external storage media (diskettes, CD-
ROMs, magnetic disks, etc.) for permanent storage of information.
Utility-
Software designed to perform maintenance tasks on the system or its
components. Examples include backup programs, programs to retrieve files
and data on disk, programs for preparing (or formatting) a disk and resource
editor.
